grayhawk

If you're working solo, then by definition it can't be high stakes.

These little kids do weird stuff, which challenges the fringes of the rules. The OP's play(s) are HTBT based on what we see the runner and defense doing. I suspect what the OP described was a designed play that failed because R1 missed his sign and didn't actually try to steal.

Agreed, if 2B is occupied. But with R1, who is not stealing, and F1 does an inside move and just throws to F6 away from the bag? That's a balk.

Little kids do strange things on the ball field. This was probably a designed play because with R1 & R3, R1 steals about 90% of the time in 12U (the other 10% is when R1 misses the sign). If F6 doesn't even break to the bag when R1 isn't going, and F1 does an inside move and throws to F6 just standing at his position, that should always be a balk. If R1 does a hard fake, and F6 breaks to the bag and F1 throws to him, then it could be legal if the umpire judges R1 gave the impression that he was stealing. If R1 does attempt to steal, then this should be considered making a play on the runner, and no balk.

This was Estabrook's view, and the video shows the ball disappear before this. I don't blame him for missing the pitch. The rest was...unfortunate.

That's not physical assistance, and shouldn't have been called (whether it's legal or illegal for a teammate to assist). It was more like physical deterrence.

Keep working, brother!

You forgot one: SWMBO. She Who Must Be Obeyed.

Make your call. If you don't know if he's off the bag or not, and the ball beats him, then call the out. If the coach for the offense comes out, then get with your partner and get information from him on if he had F3 off the bag or not. If he's 100% sure F3 was off the bag (not, "I think so," and not, "he might have been"), then you can change your call. Your partner isn't "overturning" your call, he is giving you information you lacked for you to change your call. It's YOUR call, so it's YOUR decision. The reason you should call the out if you aren't sure if he was off the base or not is because it looks MUCH better to do it that way than to say, "Safe, he's off the bag!" only for your partner, who has a better angle to tell you he's 100% sure F3 held his foot.

Definitely not in 2 man, unless BU is immobile and can't beat BR there. I'm sure most of us have worked with guys like this. In 3 man, I love this mechanic. It looks fantastic when you have PU waiting on the outside for the BR to slide into a close play, with U1 waiting at home.

If he had asked you to check with your partner, then in that circumstance, it would have been fine for you to do so. In general, we do NOT confer with our partner(s) on pure judgment calls, but in cases where you are blocked out, where there may be a pulled foot or a swipe tag, where the ball is on the ground on a tag or in your case, blinded by the sun, we can. Why don't we ask our partners on pure judgment calls? Two main reasons. First, because it's not a democracy. You saw it one way, and I saw it differently. Who's to say I'm right? Second, and more importantly, it opens a can of worms that teams are going to ask us to confer on every judgment call they disagree with. It also makes you look weak and easily manipulated. As The Man in Blue said, however, MAKE YOUR CALL. Don't ask your partner what he had before making your call. Then, if the coach asks, you can decide if you want to get information from your partner to change YOUR call. The people who told you this is PU's call did you a valuable service. You know you should NEVER listen to them again on umpire mechanics. If you've ever worked solo and had to make this call, then you know your angle is horrible.

I have a feeling it's going to go about as well as reviewing pass interference in the NFL that one year.

It's not OBS in NCAA.

Made ya look!

This situation is covered in OBR under 5.06(b): (4) Each runner including the batter-runner may, without liability to be put out, advance: One base, if a catcher, or his protective equipment or mitt, becomes lodged in a stand or a bench, or on a field fence or backstop. The ball is dead;

It's a time play either way. Tagging the runner and tagging the base are both appeals, so if R3 scored before the appeal was completed, then the run scores. This is not a force out.

2013 NFHS Rules Interpretations: SITUATION 11: On a base hit to the outfield, the runner from third base comes home but misses touching home plate. The on-deck batter physically stops him and shoves him back to the plate, where he then touches it. RULING: Physical assistance by a teammate is not allowed unless both players are viable runners. The assisted runner is out and his run does not count. (2-21-1c, 5-1-2f, 3-2-2) Is a runner who has scored a viable runner?

NCAA is the same as OBR.

Orange slices. Plenty of Orange slices.

I don't know LL rules anymore (calling @Velho) but just wanted to quote Mark Twain (even though you warned us): "I didn't have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead."

It might depend on what rule set they were playing under. When you say the runner never left the baseline, it sounds like he wasn't running legally in the runner's lane? If he wasn't in the runner's lane and the pitcher threw over him then: In NFHS/NCAA, this is very likely runner's lane interference (RLI) because the runner, out of the lane, hindered the pitcher's THROW to first. In OBR, this could be RLI if the runner being out of the lane hindered F3's ability to catch the throw.

If the deflection (not just touching) ended up hindering the F2 from fielding the ball, then the BR would be out and runner(s) return. In your scenario, it sounds like the ball just touched his leg and F2 didn't know where the ball was. Very different. Yes Seems like a good way to think about it, but I would add if the batter or umpire hits the ball AND in doing so, it clearly hinders F2 from fielding the ball. If this is a play where the batter doesn't become the batter-runner, yes. Correct.

The difference is simply the judgment of the umpire(s). If a runner just takes a big secondary lead, this is not something I would interpret as demonstrating or creating the impression of his intent to advance. If the runner makes a hard charge towards the next base and F1 steps and throws to that unoccupied base, which then causes the runner to reverse course, then I have a legal play. But if the runner takes some aggressive steps and stops before F1 steps and throws, it would be a balk. So much of this could be dependent on the timing of everything. In the end, sometimes you just have to umpire.

I went back to the 2016 BRD and found this which was quoted from Paronto: "There is no language in NCAA rules that prevents another player [from] assisting ... another teammate. Our rules only prevent a coach from assisting a player." So unless Bruns were to post something more current, I would say the OP's play in NCAA is legal.

I disagree and I think people are misinterpreting this part (note where I bolded) "If a pitch that is not caught remains in the vicinity of home plate and it is inadvertently deflected by the batter or umpire, that ball is a dead ball and the runners should return to the bases they occupied at the time of the pitch (but if the pitch was strike three, the batter is out)." This is for situations where the batter does not become the batter-runner and cannot advance to 1B. 0-2, 1 out, R1 only. The batter swings and misses, the pitch bounces off F2's chest and is then inadvertently deflected (NOT just touches him, but actually deflects away) by the batter and R1 advances. The batter is out on strike 3. Kill it and send R1 back. HOWEVER... This is from 7-11h Note (NCAA) and 6.01(a)(1) Comment (OBR): "If the pitched ball deflects off the catcher or umpire and subsequently touches the batter-runner, it is not considered interference unless, in the judgment of the umpire, the batter-runner clearly hinders the catcher in their attempt to field the ball." This is for situations where the batter becomes the batter-runner. The umpire must judge whether or not the BR clearly hindered (intent not required). In the OP, he only says the ball hits the batter in the leg. Unless something else happened (such as the BR kicking the ball away), this gets a safe signal and "That's nothing."