During our local rec league yesterday, with a runner on 1st base, the batter hit a pop-up almost directly over the 1st base bag. The 1st baseman in going for the ball made contact with the runner and did not catch the ball. Of the 11 umpires on the field, a couple said interference. Rule 8.6 and 8.7 do not specifically address the runners right to stay on the bag. Is there a rule covering this?
SSUSA defaults to the USA Softball rule book for rules not spelled out in our book. On page 138, in the rules supplement portion of the USA book, it states: "A runner could be standing on a base and a defensive player bumps the runner while watching the flight of the ball. If the defensive player fails to make a catch on a ball that could have been caught, it is the umpire’s judgment whether or not interference should be called. The rule provides that a runner must vacate any space needed by a fielder to make a play on a batted ball, unless the runner has contact with a legally occupied base when the
hindrance occurs. In this case, the runner should not be called out unless the hindrance is intentional."
Donna.. I'm glad you answered this and NOT you know who.. lol
One of the players on the field during that game sent me this:
Larry, I think this interpretation is incorrect and will join that discussion group to talk about it.
There's nothing unclear about the SSUSA rule. "A runner must make every effort to avoid colliding with opposing players while running the bases." It makes it the runner's responsibility to avoid collisions with fielders on all plays (unlike USA and MLB, which limit interference to fielders who are attempting to field batted balls or make throws. This is a safety rule, and carving an exception out of it based on a "what if" is a mistake. What if I'm on the base? What if I'm standing still so I'm not "running"? What if the ball has already gone past the fielder? What if the fielder is just standing there obstructing the basepath? In all of these cases USA would also be different because USA does not prioritize avoiding collisions as much as SSUSA does.Let's imagine the worst case scenario. Runner on second and a soft popup is hit around 2B that the shortstop is going to make a play on at a dead run. S/he has no idea where the runner is and we don't expect the SS to stop watching the ball to find out. Runner has read the above interpretation and thinks that s/he should just stand on the base and wait for the ball to be caught or not and not even pay attention to the fielder. When the ambulance arrives, we tell them "well, nobody was responsible for avoiding that collision."
If it would be called interference then the runner has to look at the ball and at the fielder and realize s/he needs to clear the way for the fielder. Even if that means vacating the base. If s/he's smart s/he vacates towards the outfield to make it perfectly clear s/he's not trying to advance, and then under 8.6 and 8.7 the umpire should not call the runner out if the fielder manages to catch the ball and touch the base before the runner returns to it.Even if SSUSA has said "we will tolerate runners standing on a base getting sent to the hospital" I hope we won't and runners will prioritize safety and letting their friends try to make plays safely rather than have to worry about runners who might or might not be in their way. Fred should have had a chance to catch that ball yesterday.
Larry, please tell your friend that they should then AMEND your league rules to make it that way, pretty simple, no?
As an umpire, my responsibilities are to make sure the runner does not get in the fielders way EXCEPT if they are STATIONARY on the base because the fielder should know where the base is. So your buddy now wants me as the runner to try and decide how the fielder is going to catch a ball? So if I move to try to get out of the way and the wind blows the ball or the fielder drifts into me trying to move out of the way what is your buddies call?
How about if a guy is running so hard after a ball that he goes to the hospital because he ran through a base that quite possibly IF unattended he now trips over that base (where the runner was) and now goes to the hospital with a blown out knee?
I am sorry you don't agree with the rule as stated by our UIC and confirmed by BJ (and not DD) but the GREAT thing about local leagues is you CAN work with your league and add/amend your own rules.
The line Even if SSUSA has said "we will tolerate runners standing on a base getting sent to the hospital" was a bit much honestly without any known data to back up your statement. And what I mean by data = how many times has this actually happened where someone ran over a player standing on a base and one or both went to the hospital.
Bottom line, your playing a moving game, if the runner stays on the base and the fielder tracks the ball and gets close to the base, one would think the fielder should know that and if said fielder was barreling at me, I might move so I don't get run over but I shouldn't have to because THAT IS THE RULE!
