Obstruction gone wrong - 3 Coach reactions to horrible umpire calls in youth baseball games 

I got a little emotional when he said that. I wish all coaches were as good as this. Maybe we’d have some more stand up people out there these days

The umpire likely would have answered yes since he sent him home. LOL!! You can protest a rule violation or misinterpretation. Definitely agree with you here. But you can't protest a judgment call. No question he botched that one. with how long they took to discuss I think it is obvious his Crew Chief and the Director both tried to get him to change his ruling but he was set in what he had judged in the play.

The plate umpire did see the obstruction but he doesn't understand the rule, the umpire told the coach the player(first baseman) was making a play I guess chasing a ball is making a play and that's incidental contact when the first baseman knocked down the runner. Ruling - the runner should of been awarded second

Yea, one umpire is rough. I have been there. I would have understood if he just said "I didn't see it," but the response indicates he saw it and ruled it incorrectly.

​@@johnleonard6878 Yeah, I heard that. That ump was clueless. Watching these makes me want to get back into umpiring. I umpired little league when I was a kid. Then played a little in college.

@@patrickmcgraw3435 what would of you done better

@@johnleonard6878 I would have called time and awarded second base to the runner. The ump here said he saw the obstruction but "he was making a play on the ball and it was incidental contact." That is totally senseless. It's like he just said a bunch of random words and tried to make it into a coherent sentence. 37 years of being around this game, and I've never heard of "incidental contact" in baseball. Either he was making a play on a batted ball or he wasn't. Heck, it wasn't even a batted ball. It looked like somebody overthrew the pitcher and it went in the outfield. The ball was already in the outfield way past the first baseman when the contact occurred. The runner has a right to the base path. When I used to play in high school and college, if I ever caught a first baseman not paying attention while I was rounding first, I would round it hard and intentionally run right into the back of him and then go tumbling over to make sure the umpire caught it.

That's the problem with a 1 umpire system, huh. We need more people to do this so we can have AT LEAST two umpires at every game.

The ball was coming into second (first example), so guess where blues eyes are. Not first. Whoever the second coach was that was coach was who was yelling... He should have been put in his place by the head coach who was discussing it with the umpire. The umps explanation tells me he is inexperienced.

I've seen coaches blow up all the time even when they're totally wrong and have no idea what's going on.

@Michael Heathman Happened to me once in a softball game. Runner on 2nd, basehit up the middle. Shortstop had no play, and slightly hampered the "large" baserunner. Ball was fielded in very short centerfield by the CF'er(runner had no chance to score), but because the 3rd base coach saw my arm out for obstruction, he sent the runner, who had just rounded third, and was thrown out by a county mile as she tried to return to 3rd. Since, in my opinion, the runner had no chance to score, but the 3rd base coach thought he had a freebie, lets just say he wasnt happy when I called her out since she was only protected between 2nd and 3rd.

Exactly. And even more so, if the runner tried to score and had been thrown out easily, that out would/could have stand in type 2 obstruction, depending on the judgement of the umpires. Type 2 obstruction isn't a free pass, a lot of people seem to forget about that.

Agreed that's why he assuming and that's wrong if you miss just say sorry

Thanks. I am not 100% familiar with the High School rules, other than to know they are different for some stupid reason and that this difference explains why so many umpire and coaches don't understand them. I really wish High School would stop making these odd changes to the rules. (Dead ball on a balk automatically as another example.) A lot of guys umpire both high school and travel tournaments.

Those are the worst. The parents are crazy at that age.

@@dallascowboysfan5253 So I learned :) Moving up this year :)

Well, there's winners and losers in every game. As long as you know and understand the game, you'll do fine. What I mean is, use your experience playing the game to understand each situation and where the ball should go on a play. If you hustle and know where the next best play should go and get there, you'll be in position to make the call. Finally, take a comedy improv class (seriously) as it will help dealing with the crowd. They can be a bit brutal at times (there's a YT video of an umpire getting heckled. I know him and where he was working and they are a bit ruthless. he didn't handle it well, got frustrated and walked off the field). Here's a freebie: Often, I get asked what the score is. I don't keep track of the score as there is always an official scorekeeper. My reply is always the same: "I have no idea. In umpire school they teach us to count to three, four in a pinch. So, beyond that..." Once I trail off, everyone hears it and has a good laugh. It's self-deprecating and helps to break any tension on both side of the chain link fence.

Little League: Rule 7.06 (a) and (b). So it's actually type A and type B in Little League. Same rules as MLB rules. NFHS does NOT have the two types of obstruction. You can download the Little League Rules app for free.

In the end this is umpire judgement. If the umpire judges that had the obstruction not occurred, the runner likely could have made it home, then that is where he will send him.

maybe you don't understand the rule. Was the baserunner obstructed as he was heading to 3rd? Yes. In the opinion of THAT umpire, the runner had a chance to score, soooooo, he awarded home to the runner. If he only awarded the runner 3rd base, which obviously he got to with no problem(even though he was obstructed), whats to stop that 3rd baseman from obstructing every runner coming towards him? Not saying that I wouldve awarded him home, but that option is there. They got together for 6 minutes with the umpire in chief and allowed the play to stand......case closed

@@mptr1783 that is a gross misunderstanding/misapplication of the rule. maybe you don't understand the rule

@@davej3781 Haha, ok, youre right, I don't understand the rule.......you got me. Funny, the rule says the baserunner is protected between the 2 bases where he was obstructed, and CAN BE AWARDED the base(in this case homeplate) the umpire feels he wouldve reached if he wasnt obstructed. Did I say that the umpire was right? No, I didnt. I said that THIS UMPIRE felt homeplate shouldve been the award, so thats the way it goes. Times yours

The umpire was correct. You would be called out. All other runners return to the base they were on at the time of the pitch. Batter gets first base. On a hit ball, the infielder has the right to the ball and the runner must give him that right. Usually this happens and the runner not only didn't intend to interfere, but couldn't have gotten out of the way. Too bad, still called out. This is only on hit balls on the infield and only until the ball passes the fielder who had a play on the ball (not including the pitcher).

That's the correct call. If the fielder's making an initial play onyhe ball, the runner had the responsibility to avoid the fielder.

Art van center baseball fields

Yes

Little League plays by their own rulebook.

In high school rules it's not a dead ball. In official rules of baseball (MLB, Little League, USSSA) there are two types of obstruction. Type A, obstruction on a runner that a play is being made on (dead ball), Type B, obstruction on a runner that a play is not being made on (delayed dead ball).

Yes, but he missed it by a long shot. The type B obstruction is correct. Only there's no way the runner would have scored had that not occurred, so he's should be left at 3rd base. The fielder does have a right to attempt to field the ball, but once he doesn't, he's got to stay out of the runner's way which he did not do. Also, he had plenty of opportunity to not obstruct. But you are correct that if the fielder obstructs while in the act of making a play on a hit ball, that's not called. It's nothing. But that's not what happened here. The obstruction happened long after the ball got by him.

Yes and no. Yes his first responsibility is on the hit. Then he has to judge the play and do his best to see other possible situations. First issue I see with this umpire is he runs out and doesn't take his mask off until well after the obvious obstruction. If the umpire here is doing his job properly he has his mask off on the crack of the bat and after the initial hit he sees the ball being thrown over second towards first. He should have easily seen this play but he head never leaves CF even though the ball had been thrown towards first. I have had a million (exaggerating) of these plays over the years. It is not that hard to have the main focus on the ball and a peak to the base runners.

Horrible coaching. You are telling your players to intentionally run into another player and risk injury to either player. You should be banned from coaching and as an umpire if I heard a coach telling a kid to do something like that, the coach will have a very short day with a walk of shame to the parking lot.

@@baseballumpires6901 a fielder being out of position or in a base path is what leads to injuries. What should a runner do if a fielder is directly in a base path? Stop and pray? Run around them and get called for being out of the baseline? Hope the idiot umpire knows the rules well enough to make the correct call?

@@thomaspaquette9991 I would hope the idiot coach knows the rules to not coach his players into potential injury creating situations by having his runners intentionally run into fielders regardless of where they are on the field. Big difference between a runner intentionally running into a fielding and causing an injury and a fielder who makes a mis-step and an injury results. The second is part of the game. The first is unsportsmanlike and shameful to coach kids to do. Second, I would also hope coaches know what the base path is and what being out of the baseline is. Obviously you have displayed in your response that you do not. Yes, your runner can stop and you can appeal (even during live play) for obstruction. Much better than telling a kid to intentionally run into another kid risking injury to either. Yes. The runner CAN run around the fielder in this case. He would not be out of the baseline since there is no established baseline until a play is actually being made on the runner at which time the runner has 3' to either side of the established baseline (a straight line between the runner in his position and the base). Again, you can make your appeal for obstruction with a verbal "Do we have obstruction here" during live play and you can appeal again after the play. Obstruction is a judgment call. And yes, we can tell if a runner targets a fielder trying to get an obstruction call (hint, you won't get it if we see that runner target the fielder). Now the idiot coach hopes the umpire knows the rules when the idiot coach himself displays he doesn't know the rules. Funny how that goes isn't it?

@@baseballumpires6901 glad I got you to waste half an afternoon. Good day😚

@@thomaspaquette9991 LMAO!! I didn’t waste any time today. Calling out clueless haters like you I do just for fun. Glad to have triggered another Snowflake. 😘

Sometimes, yes. Usually just 2, but home plate has the authority.

In baseball that is true. I left that out to try and avoid getting too technical. (FYI, Softball still calls it obstruction). Not sure why baseball uses "interference" but it does.

There is catcher interference when a batter swings and the bat hits the catcher's glove, if the batter doesn't hit the ball he shall be awarded first base. If the batter gets a hit or even a home run then there is no interference

that's a special case of an old and technically incorrect term being retained in the rulebook because that's what it's always been called. NFHS has changed it to "Catcher Obstruction" (though it doesn't have to be the catcher by rule, but instances of any other fielder interfering with the batter must be few and far between). I suspect eventually other codes will rename it to some form of obstruction as well... it's an incongruity that bothers many. I generally call it "Catcher Obstruction" regardless of whether I'm umpiring/discussing NFHS, OBR or LL codes, though I worry that someone will assume I must be a softball umpire (the horror!)

I don't see how you can make that judgment. Defensive player turned to go for the ball and he / the runner ended up in the same spot. Malicious contact here wouldn't even be a thought. Not remotely close.

if only humans had been built with a head that rotates, and eyes that can move quickly in their sockets... but no, sadly, we can only look directly straight ahead

I have made obstruction calls on this type of play many times. Not difficult to see and call 1 man crew at all.

@@baseballumpires6901 To be clear, my OP wasn't intended to vilify umps. Just the opposite. It's incredibly difficult to watch the details of so many different areas of play. Even more so with multiple baserunners ... it's when we see shenanigans like baserunners going from 2B to home without ever touching 3B. Not because umps are blind, lazy, etc. Rather, because there are plays in the outfield, plays at 1B, plays way over at 3B, and one (maybe two) sets of eyeballs. Moronic first basemen guarding that inside base corner, however, is the most common form of obstruction I see in regular JV and below baseball (where there is typically 1-2 umps).

A moron huh? And you’re an idiot…..he’s learning and the coaches need to coach him up

reaching.... straw.... can't.... grasp.... trying... must.... grasp.... straw.... help....

The question is would the runner have scored without the obstruction. You cannot say he would have here just as much as you try to say he probably would have. Probably is not the same as would have.

That's true for Little League majors and younger. The game you're referring to was not little league.

In addition, the umpire needs to signal delayed dead ball and say 'that's obstruction".

You make great points. On the guy that blames the umpires. I've dealt with this as a tournament director and I'll ask them straight up...Are you really upset with the umpire, or are you upset that your team didn't play their best? I've yet to have a coach stick with blaming the umpire, because...they know.

huh? That would be coaches interference. Batter would then be out.

Obstruction is when the defensive team is at fault. Interference is when the offensive team is at fault. Since it's the defense that impeded a runner, it's called Obstruction. The defense can't impede a runner unless 1) they are fielding a hit ball, 2) they have possession of the ball. In those situations, the runner must avoid a fielder or be called for interference.

Yup. That happens a lot at the younger levels and scrimmages. At the younger level it's a cost thing. Having two umpires makes tournaments or games cost more and many families struggle to afford baseball at that point, so many tournaments and Little League have one umpire many times.

@@MJHBaseball Personally, I don’t think umpires are paid enough. Especially considering the abuse they endure. Sometimes I think that spectators and coaches expect perfection out of umpires when instead they should be glad to have officials. I’ve seen some fans tearing into 16 year kids trying their best to get the call right. That’s a great way to get yourself a shortage of umpires

Not BS at all the way you just explained it. You "bulled him over". Not "I couldn't react and ran into him". What you describe is intentional malicious contact with intent to injure.

@@baseballumpires6901 well honestly I aimed for the chest so I wouldn’t injure him. The next day he even said I shouldn’t have been ejected.

Not really, a well trained umpire can handle the majority of youth and even adult baseball game.

Very good question. The big guy was in the runners path without the ball. There is no need for contact. If the runner has to avoid or change direction due to a defensive player (who doesn't have the ball) that is obstruction. So this is going to be called obstruction by every experienced umpire based on the video. In real time, the umpire (she was one of the best this year BTW) saw that fielder not getting out of the way, and once the runner deviated as a result, she correctly called obstruction. THANKS FOR THE QUESTION

Kelly Dine! I did her sons game at a tournament this summer. She came over and talked to my partner and I before the game. Seemed like a very sweet lady! She’s done NCAA D1 games as well

Not in type B obstruction. Check the written rule. you are likely confusing this with where to place additional runners in type A obstruction. In type A obstruction the play is immediately dead and the runner obstructed gets awarded the base after the last base achieved at minimum. But following runners still on the bases, where do they go? they typically are awarded the base they were headed to. They, in that case, need to make an attempt.

MJH is correct. Another form of obstruction in all rulesets is the fake tag. A fake tag is considered to be obstruction and the next base is awarded. There is generally no attempt to advance in this case. But it is still obstruction and a base is still awarded.

@@MJHBaseball The only runner that can be awarded a base in obstruction is the runner obstructed. All other runners remain at risk and bases are not awarded.

Leagues do their best, but usually can afford only one. Plus, with competent training, one umpire can handle most youth games.

That will all depend on the rule set you are using. In OBR and Little League, players are allowed to leap over defensive players. In High School, this is not allowed. I think the NFHS rules are the only rules that don't allow jumping a catcher in baseball. I could be wrong...I don't know them all.

He never says "worse umpire call ever." And these videos help umpires, coaches, players. Very helpful.

Anthony Larson your joking right ? I’m the coach in the Mass Conn clip and coached that team with NO kid in the program . I did it for a few reasons but one of the biggest is I am also the head coach at our HS and I want to develop solid young men who learn that hard work , respect , dealing with adversity will prepare you for life beyond baseball. If you coach LL to just teach baseball please quit cause your in it for the wrong reasons!

Then don't start umpiring, because it's important to get calls like this correct.

The first clip he was alone. That was a fall game. It's a league of travel teams working with their new team and the games are glorified scrimmages, so no need to have two umpires.

Well high school baseball games like freshman and some a Jr Varsity are one man games. There are no set mechanics when your alone but over time you know to look for the obstruction more so around first base. When the batter hits a ball to the outfield for a base hit the umpire should watch all runners and obstruction by the fielders