If you are looking for an interpretation of the rules, whether you are an official, coach or fan, please feel free to contact the Rules Interpreter
Terry Dostie
2010 Mid-Season Update from Terry Dostie, NHBUA Rules Interpreter
We have reached the half way point and I thought a few thoughts on rules were in order. Some have come from members who had these plays and some are my own thoughts on plays that may come up. First, we have had no protests so far! I would like to think it is because you are all doing a great job and not because the coach did not know the rule either or did not bother to protest because he was winning.
Rule#1 A runner is only guilty of interference if he slides PAST second base AND alters the play of the fielder. You may get 2 outs on this.
Rule #2 It is obstruction if the catcher prevents the batter from hitting the ball. No contact with the bat is necessary if the catcher reaches thru the plate or jumps in front of the plate to catch a pitch. It is a delayed dead ball. If it was a squeeze play score the run. It is tempting to want to call a dead ball, but use delayed dead ball signal. This is case book play 8.1.1 page 65.
Rule#3 A fielder kicks a ball out of play by accident , what number of bases do you award and from what point? .This depends if the fielders impetus caused the ball to go out or the force ot the throw or batted ball deflected off him. The play sent to me was a throw from the shortstop that the first basemen dropped but then kicked it out of play, what base does the batter runner get, second or third? Case book play 8.3.3 covers this, it is always 2 bases from the time of the KICK when the fielder caused it, 2 bases from the PITCH when the force of the batted or thrown ball caused it. In the play above the runner would get THIRD since he had reached first, then the fielder kicked the ball out. A batted ball that caroom off a fielder would be award from the time of the pitch, the batter would get only SECOND
Finally, how long does a fielder have to have possesion of the ball on a A) catch B) tag and C) a force play? All three situations have a different answer.
A) He must show that he is removing the ball from his glove , to start another play or action, TIME and DISTANCE are no factors RULE 2.9.1
B) Possession on a tag must SECURELY held, if the ball comes out even momentarily while the tag is applied, even it is never hits the ground the runner is SAFE. Time is a factor in determining how long a fielder hangs on to the ball. When the action is over, does the fielder still have the ball? Then he is out. RULE 8.4.1 and 2 H
C) Similar to a tag, usually does not involve contact with a runner but could. Possession again must be securly held until the bag is touched, time is a factor, but this requires the least time of the 3 situations. If a player collides with the fielder as soon as he touches the bag the runner would be out even if the fielder dropped the ball. Simple, fielder has the ball securly ,steps on the bag,OUT,play over, no need to wait like on a tag or catch Rule 8.4.1J
Notes from the rules interpreter:
The most frequently missed questions on the test were # 87, 60 ( 35,36 people answered incorrectly) # 20 (27 missed this one) # 25, 28, 95 ( 20 missed on these)
# 87 deals with Obstruction, it does not have to be intentional, the right of way goes to the runner, any thing that impedes him is Obstruction!
# 60 was trying to make you realize that a pitcher may touch the pitchers plate Unintentionally , which means the pitching regulations do NOT begin.
# 20 is a play that is VERY important to get right! It is a TIMING play not a FORCE play. So if your runner on second leaves to soon on a fly ball and the runner on third base leaves on time and they throw to second to nail the runner or appeal there the run on third MAY score if he crosses the plate first. Since 27 people missed this I thought it was important to clarify
# 25 wanted us to realize a batted ball is in flight even after it strikes a fielder, so it can be legally caught by another fielder for a OUT. I think we all know this but the wording of the question fooled people. Remember however that is has to be another fielder, if it hits an umpire or a runner on the fly and then is caught it is Not an out and keep the play alive! These are line drives that touched the fielder first.
#28 Is a reminder that a starting pitcher MAY come back in to pitch if he has been removed PRIOR to the fourth conference.
# 95 Involves a scoring play , You CANNOT score a run when a runner FORCED to advance is the third out of a inning!
# 68 had 17 wrong answers, please make sure batting out of order is only penalized before the next pitch, after that it is to late! The next batter then follows the IMPROPER batter!
# 83 was missed on 17 tests because it rarely happens but could, make sure ALL runners have advanced at least 1 base on the first play in the infield. So if the shortstop bobbles the ball and the batter runner is left handed and very fast, it is possible that he has reached first before the fielder releases the ball then your your reward for a wild throw will be the batter runner gets third!
Congratulations to the 64 umpires who received 100%!
The malicious contact play has come up this week. When you have a collision at home plate you have 3 options
No call , a train wreck when the collision could not have been avoided. The throw pulled the catcher into the runners path. The key question is did the runner have time to avoid the collision? If the answer is no, then you have no call but out or safe.
The runner is out because he did not slide or avoid and the catcher drops the ball.
You have malicious contact, the runner is out and ejected! Here is the problem though, the rule book does not define what is malicious contact, they assume we all know the definition, but do we? So here is the Webster's dictionary definition: Intent to INJURE another without just cause! My point is, was the runner trying to injure the fielder, for example an elbow to the head or face? These plays happen fast but try and get a good angle, see the distance between runner and catcher and watch what the runner does AS he hits the catcher, where does he hit him, how hard. does he try to hold up and does he do anything extra after the initial contact? Not all severe contact is malicious and very slight contact good be malicious, the batter runner deliberately stepping in the ankle of the first baseman.
