Obstruction on the catcher

[cbiesecker]

Made an obstruction call last night in a 12U game that my UIC says I should have let go.

OBR, 2 outs, R3, 12U game. BR hits a towering pop-up towards the front of the mound. F2 moves out to field the ball, F1 calls him off. As F2 is backing up towards the first base line he collides with the BR who has started running towards 1B. The collision occurred about 10' up the line. R3 is heading home and scores just as F1 drops the pop-up. F1 collects the ball and fires to F3 who gets the BR by about 2 steps. I judge that the BR would have been safe if he hadn't collided with F2. So I call time, award BR 1B, and count the run. I screwed up my mechanics as I should have called OBS when I saw it, but at least I got the call right in the end, or so I think.

After talking the call over with my UIC he asked me if the BR could have gotten around F2 when running up the line. From what I could tell (I was mostly looking at F1 as he prepared to catch the ball), both the BR and F2 had their heads up looking at the pop-up and never saw each other. F2 was not making a play on the ball, so I had judged that he shouldn't have been in the base path.

Did I kick this one?

[UmpJM]

cbieseker,

No, your UIC kicked it. You got it right.

JM

[semper_fi_72]

12U - I think we have a train wreck and let it go.

F2 was indirectly still making a play on the ball so it is 50/50 whether you have interference or obstruction.

Take the out, run does not count and inning over.

BR needs to learn to run up the line to 1B without watching the ball.

[UmpJM]

...

F2 was indirectly still making a play on the ball so it is 50/50 whether you have interference or obstruction.

...

semper_fi,

Gotta' emphatically disagree with you on this one.

A fielder who is "indirectly fielding" ( ) a batted ball is afforded NO protection. It's absolutely obstruction and since the umpire had F1 as the "protected fielder" (of which there can be only one at any given instant) there is no possibility that it was interference.

F2 needs to learn to stay out of the BR's way when he's not in the act of fielding nor in possession of the ball.

JM

[carolinablue]

only one fielder gets the benefit of "protection" and it sounds like it was F1. Unless BR did something unusual, sounds like he got it right.

[Welpe]

I agree with JM and Carolina, only one fielder is protected and since it was not F2, he is obligated to stay out of the way of the BR. The fact the UIC feels the BR could have "gone around" the F2 actually supports the obstruction call.

[cbiesecker]

Thanks for the feedback. I need to work on my mechanic, but its good to know that I at least got the call correct.

[grayhawk]

WOW - this one could be a mess if F1 catches the ball. According to the rules, this is type A obstruction and an immediate dead ball.

7.06 When obstruction occurs, the umpire shall call or signal “Obstruction.â€

( a ) If a play is being made on the obstructed runner, or if the batter-runner is obstructed before he touches first base, the ball is dead and all runners shall advance, without liability to be put out, to the bases they would have reached, in the umpire’s judgment, if there had been no obstruction. The obstructed runner shall be awarded at least one base beyond the base he had last legally touched before the obstruction.

The BR was impeded, before touching first base, by a fielder who was not in possession of the ball, and was not in the act of fielding the ball. So you kill it, call the obstruction, send BR to first and allow R3 to score - all on a play where a simple pop up was caught for the third out in the infield. I know this wasn't your scenario, but a catch makes it ten times worse for the defense.

[Welpe]

Gray, by interpretation, obstruction on a batter runner on a fly ball is ignored if the ball is caught.

[grayhawk]

Gray, by interpretation, obstruction on a batter runner on a fly ball is ignored if the ball is caught.

Makes total sense to me. Can you share the interpretation for my benefit?

[sdix00]

Professional umpires are taught to leave the ball in play on fly balls.

From

JEA:

Professional Interpretation: This rule is not clearly written and can be easily

misinterpreted if not studied carefully.

Part II. This rule specifies that obstruction should be called anytime the B-R is

obstructed before reaching 1st base.

In actuality

, the following guidelines are used in

professional baseball: If the batter hits a fly ball, the obstruction should be signaled by

pointing laterally at the Obstruction

:

but 'Time" should not be called immediately

. If the

ball is caught, the obstruction is disregarded. If the ball is not caught, "Time" is called

and the penalty for type 7.06(a) Obstruction is enforced, at least one base.

If the batter hits a ground ball, "Time" shall be called immediately and the penalty for

type 7.06(a) Obstruction enforced, at least one base.

Fielders may obstruct runners without actually touching them. For instance, an infielder

who is not in the act of fielding a thrown ball cannot stand in the runner's projected base

path forcing him to "go around" the fielder to avoid contact. This would be obstruction.

FRUM the WUM:

If an immediate play is being made on the obstructed runner, the obstructed runner is in a

rundown, or a

batter-runner is obstructed before he advances to first base on a

ground ball to

the infield

, the ball is dead immediately and all runners shall advance, without liability to be

put out, to the bases that they would have reached had the obstruction not occurred. The

obstructed runner shall be awarded at least one base beyond the base he had last advanced to

before the infraction

[mstaylor]

Once the ball hits the ground, kill it and award first. "Getting around the catcher" is the obstruction, it doesn't matter that he did get around him, it matters that he had to do it. If the ball is caught there can be no obstruction.

[Rich Ives]

Gray, by interpretation, obstruction on a batter runner on a fly ball is ignored if the ball is caught.

Makes total sense to me. Can you share the interpretation for my benefit?

MLBUM 6.22

Case 2: Batter-runner is obstructed before reaching first base on a pop-up or line drive to an

infielder.

Ruling: Call the obstruction by pointing at the obstruction and calling, "That's obstruction."

However, leave the ball in play. If the pop-up or line drive is caught, batter-runner is out.

However, if the pop-up or line drive is dropped (and is a fair ball) and if the batter-runner has not

yet reached first base when the ball is dropped, "Time" is called and the batter-runner is awarded

first base under Official Baseball Rule 7.06(a).

[grayhawk]

Thanks for the interpretations, gentlemen. Even as I was writing my post, I kept thinking there is no way that we can award the BR first on a caught fly ball, but couldn't find any language in the rules to support it.