Sam wrote:
I don't know if Manny wants a free pass....I think he just doesn't want the defense to have a no risk situation by purposely engaging in OBS. Some umpires don't want to justify awarding bases in an OBS situation. In reality, a coach MUST risk an out in a situation where the runner always scores in order to have the base awarded in OBS. The defense is therefore incentivized to engage in OBS.
This simply is not true. If the coach deals what is in front of him/her, s/he need risk nothing. Not much anyone can do anything about cowardly umpires who either refuse to do the job for which they are paid or do not understand a relatively simple rule.
I don't know if there is an answer. I know the umpires are doing their best and the coaches are trying to do theirs. It might help if the umpires would point their fists toward the awarded/protected base to let everyone on the field know where the runner will end up or if the rule were changed to require an immediate dead ball and give the runner an automatic 1+1 base and additional bases if the umpire judges that the runner would have attained more. That woul penalize the defense and disincentiveize OBS.
It isn't necessary as the present rule already permits the umpire to award as many bases as s/he deems necessary to NEGATE the OBS. It is not a rule meant to penalize a team, nor to be a running strategy. Again, the coach just needs to coach and the umpire needs to umpire, properly. If the umpires do their job as trained, the defense will never gain an advantage through OBS.
What happens when this rule becomes punitive? Umpires turn a blind eye and that, in turn, endangers the players. This was quite evident a couple decades ago when NFHS required OBS to be awarded at least one base. There were constant pick-off attempts where F3 would drop a knee before getting the ball and OBS the baserunner. The coaches knew the umpires wouldn't call it, so there were constant collisions. Can you imagine that now with the metal spikes?
Once it was changed to the ASA-type of ruling, more umpires were willing to throw out the left arm.. It took a little while, but once the coaches realized they didn't have the opportunity for that out, the method of play changed as the gain vs. the risk factor changed so dramatically.
