Joe Shlabotnik wrote: ↑April 27 21, 8:55 pm
AWvsCBsteeeerike3 wrote: ↑April 27 21, 7:48 pm
Here's one:
Ball is hit down the first base line, first baseman somewhat bobbles it, picks it up and has a second or so before the runner gets to him. The runner, with one foot in fair territory and one foot in foul territory truck sticks the first baseman and knocks the ball out.
Is that legal?
What code? OBR (pro), NFHS (high school), or little league?
OBR, depends on how blatant and if the runner was running at the bag or at the first baseman, IMO. NFHS and LL, I've got at least interference (runner out) and, depending on circumstances, maybe malicious contact which is a warning or, if it is blatant enough, an ejection.
Yeah, I looked up the LL rules and found this:
Runners may not leave base until the ball has been hit by the batter. If a runner leaves a base
prior to the ball being batted, the runner is at risk of an out. If not put out, the runner or runners
must return to the original base or bases, or to the unoccupied base nearest the one left early.
Runners may advance on a batted ball unless called a foul ball.
Runners should be taught to avoid a tag by sliding. Umpires will enforce the contact rule.
Contact deemed malicious by an umpire will result in an out and a player ejection. Player safety
and proper instruction takes precedence over wins and losses.
Offensive interference is an act by the team at bat that interferes with, obstructs, impedes,
hinders, or confuses any fielder attempting to make a play. If an umpire declares the batter,
batter-runner, or a runner out for interference, all other runners shall return to the last base that
was, in the judgment of the umpire, legally touched at the time of the interference, unless
otherwise provided by these rules. In the event the batter-runner has not reached first base, all
runners shall return to the base last occupied at the time of the pitch.
It was probably malicious, but even if not, it should have been an out due to the no contact rule. Any rule I can find wrt to baserunning always talks about sliding, though you obviously can't do that 3/4 of the way to 1st.
Where I get confused is with interference on a tag play. If, say, a runner is running to 1st and there is a collision while the pitcher is attempting to field the ball, that's offensive interference because the position player has the right to field the ball.
I think it's the same thing for a 2nd basemen trying to field a ground ball and a runner going from 1st to 2nd runs into him....though I'm not sure.
Another nuance I'm not sure of is in the same situation, if a runner is going from 1st to 2nd and the 2nd basemen is behind the baserunner, how much leeway does the runner have to get in front of the fielder? Running in a straight line, head down, and jumping over the groundball is permissible as I understand it, but stopping and letting the groundball go through the runners legs is interference?