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| SOFTBALL LINKS |
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Psychological Obstruction!
by Dave
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
A reader writes in to ask:
"I was wondering if you might share your thoughts/understanding on interference and obstruction. I am a coach and league official for 8U softball. I am trying to figure out how to deal with what is a minor problem, girls standing in the base path when not involved in a play.
For example, a runner is on second, another one on first, and SS is directly between the bases. The ball is hit to 2B who tries to make a play at third to force out the runner from second. SS never moves and runner has to go around her. Does that constitute obstruction?
Another example happens when runner is on second, SS in the baseline again, and ball is hit to 2B who makes a play at first. Even though there is no play at third, the runner has to run around SS get to the base. Is that obstruction?"
There are any number of scenarios we could draw up where a fielder stands in the basepaths and, thereby, theoretically forces the baserunner to go around her. The particular circumstances don't really matter. There are only three items that matter: whether the fielder does, in fact, obstruct the runner; whether the umpire calls it; and what we want to teach 8s, 10s, etc.
First of all, there is no such thing as an obstruction where the fielder's position causes a runner not to run because she wants to avoid confrontation. There is no such thing as psychological obstruction! Obstruction, the act (or inaction) by a defensive player which hinders, impedes, or prevents the opffensively player from doing hitting the pitvched ball or advancing between bases, must actually occur. This is probably a more important differentiation at 8U where a girl at second might not even go towards third because the SS is in the way. But if she goes, is forced to go around the SS and is put out before reaching third, at least theoretically, the umpire should call obstruction and award her the base.
The scenarios which the reader presented do constitute obstruction. Anytime a defensive player impedes an offensive one without making a tag on her (having posession of the ball), that would constitute obstruction. -; But just because something constitutes obstruction does not mean it will result in a call and even when it is called, there can be no need of enforcing it.
In order for an obstruction to be called, the baserunner must, in the opinion of the umpire, have been able to make it to the next base but for the obstruction. The umpire sees the obstruction; judges that if the runner were not obstructed, she would have been safe at the next base; calls delayed dead ball by holding out his fist; and, if the runner is put out before reaching that base, awards it to her, negates the putout.
If the runner is not put out, if she gets to the base where the umpire thought she would and is safe there, the call is not enforced since there is no need. In fact, the umpire will most likely not say another word about it. Say he/she puts out his hand in a fist and says "obstruction" but the girl gets to the base safely. He/she will put there hand down and never explain to anyone what it was he called.
More importantly, an obstruction call depends on the umpire seeing the obstruction to begin with. I don't think I have to tell you that obstructions sometimes occur without umpires witnessing them and go uncalled. Just like anythihng else in life, if it ain't called, it ain't an infraction.
Further, umpires cannot see what doesn't happen. So, if a runner is at second when a grounder is hit to 2B and she doesn't go because the SS is in the way, most likely no call will result. I think it is important to make young girls understand that a fielder standing in their way should never cause them to not run to the next base. That can be a difficult hurdle, particularly in rec ball. But we need to make them understand what obstruction is. They should be taught not to stand in basepaths and, if they are running the bases, to not stop merely because someone is in the way.
Very often at 10U, 12U and, yes, even at 14U we see players unintentionally blocking basepaths. Say a ball is drilled past the outfielders. Many times I have seen a third baseman carelessly watching the outfielders retrieving the ball while she is standing right near the bag. She isn't focused on her position yet because she is not in the play until the ball gets back closer to the infield. Runners trying to round third sometimes are forced to alter their paths. Actually, I've seen that at all age levels. That fairly frequently gets called but often yields no change to the play as the runner easily makes it to third and then home.
Another scenario which can frequently result in obstruction occurs when there is a runner on first, the 2B has positioned herself in the baseline and the runner attempts a steal of second without the 2B noticing. I see that all the time in 12U. In 14U, generally girls are more aware of the base stealer. And this almost never gets called.
I have also seen numerous kids intentionally obstruct baserunners. There is a local 14 year old travel first baseman who must have been schooled in how to be an aggressive defensive player. She frequently gets in the way of base runners when she does not have possession of the ball. She commits other deliberate aggressive acts too but we haven't got time for those today. In any event, girls mostly shy away from her blocking of the base and umpires seldom call her for obstruction. This has encouraged her to increase her tendency to obstruct.
I have seen other infielders, particularly 2Bs who appear to intentionally get in the way of baserunners. They too give off the appearance of having been schooled to play aggressively. And umpires also seldom call them for their deliberate actions either because they don't see them or because they don't feel the fielder is actually impeding the runner.
It is important to note that deliberate/intentional is not any part of the definition of obstruction. So it doesn't matter if a fielder is performing a deliberate act or not. But I mention deliberate obstruction, whether called or not because what this little piece is really about is what we teach players. And while, for example, whomever taught the first baseman to block the bag without the ball is probably pretty satisfied with the results, my sense is one day they may be forced to rethink that.
Almost every 8 will play 10U ball at some level. Almost every 10 will play 12U ball at some level. Almost every 12U travel player will play 14U and a good portion of those will play ball in high school, 16U travel, and perhaps beyond that. One of my main themes, in case you haven't noticed, is we should always give kids the tools they'll need at the next level. We don't really want to teach 10s only how to thrive in 10U ball. And teaching kids to do things like intentionally obstruct or failing to teach kids to get out of the way when they should can have some drastic consequences down the road.
Teach kids not to play 2B in the baseline. They should be behind it or in front of it. There's no real reason to be in it. We're talking about a couple feet either side of the direct line. The same is true for SS. For players who cover bags including all the infielders but probably outfielders as well, teach them where to stand, not where not to stand, with respect to the bag so as to not ever be called for obstruction. And let's drop this notion of teaching "hard nosed defensive play" to youngsters by having them deliberately block bags. That stuff might yield an extra out or a few outs at 10U or 12U but as soon as girls start playing this game for real, the kid is going to lose some teeth, break a leg, get severly spiked or receive a concussion.
For example, the first baseman I discussed is certainly going to get away with blocking the bag for a few years. She's a big strong kid. But soon she is going to find herself playing varsity high school ball in a league which has many Gold players. Those girls are going to get to know her tendency. They're going to talk about it and decide they need to teach her a lesson. Hard nosed defense is going to meet "sophisticated" offense from girls who can play this game at a high level and have seen these kinds of bush plays before. And whomever taught her this is going to realize it was a bad idea.
Similarly girls who unintentionally or intentionally get in the way of baserunners are going to meet kids who know how to deal with that. Players talk about this kind of thing all the time. And many recognize an opportunity to draw an obstruction call when they see it. The problem is, when girls who can run a 2.9 or 2.7 decide they want to hit that girl because she's in the way, real harm can be done.
As an additional thought, interference, the act of impeding or confusing a defensive player attempting to make a play should also be taught and understood. The most common scenario in which this is called happens when a middle infielder is making an initial play on a batted ball and the baserunner runs into her. I watched a game recently in which this happened and none of the players seemed to understand what was being called. I looked at the coaches for the offensive team and they too appeared to not understand the call. The coaches actually gave off the impression of being happy when their runner ran into the SS. I have to think they believed this to be obstruction. It isn't. It is interference, the runner is out and the batter-baserunner is awarded first base.
Too many of us think the baserunner is required to stay in the basepath when running the bases. The only time this is actually an issue is when a defensive player is trying to make a tag. That is, if a player is attempting to tag you and you leave the basepath to avoid the tag, you are out. But leaving the basepaths when nobody is trying to tag you is never an out. So if you are on second and a grounder is hit to the SS, you should go behind her so as to avoid interference. If she is deep and you cannot possibly run behind her, go in front but do not run over the grounder or otherwise do anything that can cause an umpire to think you caused her to be confused or otherwise impeded her making a play. That sounds complicated but it is not. If you do anything that causes her to have trouble making a play, you can be called out for interference.
I don't know if I have ever watched 8s play where the fielders don't get in the way of runners. I don't recall an obstruction ever being called at such games. Less frequently the same sort of thing happens in 10U and, again, it is seldom called. But I have seen as many as ten obstruction calls in a single 12U game. I have seen fewer in 14U because the girls are more experienced but I think I have seen more injuries due to an obstruction there as well. In 18U and high school ball, I see lots more injuries from offensive and defensive players colliding. And girls who deliberately or unintentionally get in the way are often not only the victim, but also get the worse end of the bargain. So teach your 8s and 10s to avoid obstructing runners. Don't teach them where not to stand. Teach them where to stand. And don't forget to teach your baserunners not to shy away from fielders in their way. Yes, we all should avoid contact of all kinds whenever possible. But bumping into the 2B when stealing is sometimes the only way you'll get the call. In teaching this, d0on't forget to go over interference. A runner who does not shy away from a fielder standing in the basepaths should be equally cognizant of the fact that if she is making a play on a batted ball, it is you who must stay out of the way.Labels: coaching, interference, obstruction
 
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