F3 fumbling for ball, Obstruction?

[BLWizzRanger]

So I had this one this past week.  Imagine the F3 taking a throw from F6.  The F3 has to pick the ball, but, doesn't get it clean and the ball rolls through his legs toward home plate.  He tries reaching for it but takes one or two steps backwards looking for it and then turns and finds it and picks the ball up while off of the bag.  He is straddling the base line at that point roughly 4 feet from the bag.  The runner slows up because he sees the F3 fumbling with the ball and doesn't try to avoid him other than slowing down.

I didn't call it obstruction though I thought it was after playing it through my mind. It was just one of those plays.  Ultimately, getting to brass tax, F3 hindered the BR, making the BR slow down due to the F3 being in the base path without the ball. 

It was a middle school game and I got an out, so I didn't worry too much about it.

 

 

[The Man in Blue]

Sounds like text book obstruction to me since step-and-a-reach is on a batted ball, not a thrown ball.  Sometimes things do just happen, but that doesn't mean they aren't obstruction/interference by rule.

 

How about this one?

Varsity softball.  Bases loaded.  Ground ball to F5 who is trying to field the ball and step on third base.  F5 ends up straddling the the base line between second and third, facing third base, about 8 inches off the bag.  Perfect spot for an obstruction ... but then I'm thinking "step and a reach ... I'm protecting the fielder, gonna' have to kill this on an interference."  I start working my angle to be able to see more of what is going to happen with the runner's base path.

As F5 is fumbling around, the runner sees a perfect path to slide under the fielder and reach the base.  The runner's slide kicks the the fielders glove to the ball and the fielder secures it ... for a tag as the runner goes under and through!

I point to the tag and sell the out with a loud, "TAG!"  The HC/3BC immediately starts yelling, "She wasn't on the bag!"  (Maybe the coach thought I said "BAG!" ... 🙄)

"Right coach.  She tagged her as she slid under."  

The coach did ask me to go to my partner on the tag, and I did agree because my angle did prevent me from being 100% certain that the ball was secure.  My partner confirmed it was a good tag and I reaffirmed the out.  After the inning the coach said, "That was an amazing call, but I wasn't going to tell you that at the moment.  Too many guys would have just stood still and never would have seen that."  I'll take it!

[maven]

17 hours ago, BLWizzRanger said:

I didn't call it obstruction though I thought it was after playing it through my mind. It was just one of those plays.  Ultimately, getting to brass tax, F3 hindered the BR, making the BR slow down due to the F3 being in the base path without the ball. 

Sounds as if you DID call OBS, just never got around to verbalizing it!

Yes, F3 hindered the BR without the ball. And this is a call we HAVE to get, because this BR did the right thing by not crashing F3. We penalize his correct choice if we ignore it.

[Tog Gee]

On 5/10/2023 at 6:53 AM, maven said:

Sounds as if you DID call OBS, just never got around to verbalizing it!

Yes, F3 hindered the BR without the ball. And this is a call we HAVE to get, because this BR did the right thing by not crashing F3. We penalize his correct choice if we ignore it.

I want to echo this. My players (as runners) know that they cannot truck a defensive player.

They're trained to slide into an opening or go around. Yet we don't have many officials who know the rule or are on the lookout for OBS (a lot of newer umpires). So we end up being liable for MC with almost no OBS calls. Puts my offense at a disadvantage, especially at home plate where some catchers like to wait for a throw while completely blocking the plate up the 3B line or standing ON the 3B base side of the plate (youth ball).