Obstruction

[Guest robert]

I was umpiring a adult softball championship game rec league. We follow combination of USA and USSSA. batted ball hit. R1 is rounding third as the ball comes in from left field. The catcher runs up from home to middle of 3rd base line to catch it. She catches it and tags him for the out. But I felt he slowed down before he got to her because she was in his path without the ball even though she was receiving a throw. Should I have called obstruction here.

[JSam21]

36 minutes ago, Guest robert said:

I was umpiring a adult softball championship game rec league. We follow combination of USA and USSSA. batted ball hit. R1 is rounding third as the ball comes in from left field. The catcher runs up from home to middle of 3rd base line to catch it. She catches it and tags him for the out. But I felt he slowed down before he got to her because she was in his path without the ball even though she was receiving a throw. Should I have called obstruction here.

I'm not familar with softball rules, at all, but I will answer your question with a question. Do either of those rule sets have an exception from obstruction for being in the act of fielding a thrown ball? The answer to that question will answer your question. 

[Guest TOMUIC]

Under 0BR, this entire play is perfectly fine. At the present time, the USSSA slow pitch rule mirrors the OBR. However, all other SOFTBALL codes have wording that can easily yield an interpretation resulting in obstruction being called, which is extremely unfortunate, considering the fact that the catcher must go where the throw takes him and if he can receive the throw and make a tag on the approaching runner, that should always result in an out call.

[beerguy55]

I'll throw a wrinkle in this one - does this league have a commit line?   Most rec leagues - especially co-ed - do...so 250 pound men aren't killing 110 pound female catchers.

If there's a commit line (ie. runner doesn't/can't touch home plate) there's a much higher bar for obstruction, since the runner has basically a 30 foot wide path to pass home plate, and really has no business being near the plate or baseline.

Not to mention a tag beyond the commit line is (typically, though not always) not allowed.

[The Man in Blue]

Slow pitch?  Obstruction all the way.

The proper mechanic is to raise the left hand ... with another beer in it.

[BigBlue4u]

Several years ago, the NCAA instituted the current rule about blocking the basepath without the ball.  When first instituted, the rule made no provision for a catcher trying to field a throw.  This caused quite an argument between opposing views. After a year or two, the NCAA concluded a catcher should not be penalized for attempting to field a thrown ball.  

[Rich Ives]

The OBR interp at lease at one point was that the thrown ball is close enough the the fielder must be there to field it. But the fielder cannot t set up there to invite the throw to that position.  

In the OP if the throw a was on  line there was no need for the fielder to go get it so it's likely obstruction.

 

[beerguy55]

13 minutes ago, Rich Ives said:

The OBR interp at lease at one point was that the thrown ball is close enough the the fielder must be there to field it. But the fielder cannot t set up there to invite the throw to that position.  

In the OP if the throw a was on  line there was no need for the fielder to go get it so it's likely obstruction.

 

This is a good point...with a throw from left field there is typically very little reason for the catcher to have to move to the ball up the third baseline - the ball will come to her...F2 can move right to left to field a poor throw, but should not have license to move forward into the oncoming runner and get away with OBS...IMO that directional move drops the bar for OBS - it's not just about fielding the throw, it's what you MUST do to field the throw.