View Message Board Guidelines
 |
Author |
TOPIC: Home plate |
|
| Dennis (Hosanna)
June 22, 2009
9:17:22 AM
Entry #: 3194411
| We use the official Softball Canada rule regarding plays at home plate and the safe line. Our league rules do modify the official slightly to include the strike mat. To summarize the rule, a runner is out if s/he touches the mat or home plate while being played on UNLESS it was done to avoid the fielder.
The reason I bring this up is that there seems to be a bit of misunderstanding regarding the rule. A couple of points:
-if there is no play at home, the runner is not automatically out for stepping on home or on the mat.
-if the catcher (or other fielder) obstructs the runner, the runner is expected to attempt to avoid contact. If this causes the runner to contact the plate or the mat, it is nothing.
-the runner is not automatically safe simply because the catcher is partly standing on the strike mat. So long as the catcher is contacting even a sliver of the plate, s/he is fulfilling the requirement for an out regardless of whether s/he is also contacting the mat.
-the runner may be tagged by a fielder between the commitment line and the safe line (note that some local leagues have house rules disallowing this).
To illustrate some of the confusion, we had the following play a few weeks ago. Our runner was attempting to score, so the defense threw to home. The ball got there in plenty of time, but the catcher bobbled it, and the ball got away from her and rolled into foul territory in front of the scoring line. The catcher went to retrieve the ball, which put her directly into the path of our runner. Seeing this, our runner veered inward to the 3B line as passed the catcher out of her reach as the latter came up with the ball. Our runner then stepped directly on the plate.
Seeing this, the catcher appealed that our runner should be out. I ruled that no, our runner was obstructed, and that by avoiding the contact, touching the plate was nothing. The catcher then appealed that the runner should have veered outside (i.e. more to the foul side) rather than inside. Again, I ruled that no, there is no requirement for that the runner may avoid the contact in whichever direction she chooses.
While I was correct by rule, my teammate then convinced me to call the out for two reasons: to keep the peace since the defensive team emphatically misunderstood the rule and our runner had clearly missed 3B. I saw the missed base, and so did several of my team mates, but the defense wasn't appealing it. But if she hadn't missed that base, I do not think I would have changed my call at home.
To understand the rules for home plate and the scoring line requires understanding the intent. The safe line is intended to reduce the likelihood of a collision at home plate (which is where some of the worst collisions happenespecially in Major League baseball). So on a typical play at home, the runner is required to stay away from home plate because that's where the catcher is expected to play. But sometimes, the fielder is drawn into the runner's path, and we then expect the runner to try avoiding a collision. In this case, we cannot penalize the runner for doing what they are supposed to be doing, so the requirement for avoiding home plate (or the strike mat) is superseded by the requirement to avoid the collision.
Note that the same concept applies to the safety base at 1B.
|
|
| Jon W
June 22, 2009
10:02:36 AM
Entry #: 3194476
| Thanks Dennis - just to clarify this though, there is a limit to how far off the base path a runner can go. If they are just dodging the defender to either escape a collision or avoid the tag, that would be ok. But they can't run 10 feet in/outside the base line in order to avoid a tag, or they are automatically out.
Should be common sense, but I've seen it happen a few times in the past with no 'out' called.
|
|
| Dennis (Hosanna)
June 22, 2009
11:45:51 AM
Entry #: 3194679
| Jon, you are correct, but you need to be careful. There are two issues that come to mind:
First, there is a rule that the runner may only dodge off their 'basepath' by up to 3 feet to avoid a fielder that is attempting to tag him/her. But note that this basepath isn't established until the fielder has the ball and is attempting to tag the runner. Before that instant, there is no limit to how far the runner may deviate from their basepath (or the baseline). And an experienced runner will likely begin their 'dodge' before the ball reaches the fielder.
Second, the scoring line officially extends for 6 feet from the third-base line (if I recall correctly). But the rule doesn't explicitly say that the runner must cross the line within that 6 feet (though in championshop play, I would tend to interpret that this is implied). Nor have I ever seen an interpretation or a case play with that requirement. For typical league play around here, I would lean towards allowing the runner to cross this line anywhere between home plate and the backstop. Unfortunately, this means that, unlike the bases, there isn't a specific target that the runner must reach.
I my umpiring experience, I would watch the path of the runner, and once the fielder has the ball and is attempting to tag the runner, the basepath is 'established', and I will only allow a three-foot dodge from that point.
|
|
