sliding in at home plate.

[i'mcoaching3rd]

my DD was starting to slide into home. bad throw from out field took the cather 2-3 foot up 3rd base line. home plate ump called her out for not slidding. the ump explained himself and said "i know she was starting to slid and there was an arent throw from the out field that took the catcher off home to get the ball, but because she did not slid see is out" what is the call i say safe or obstuction on the catcher.

[Comp]

Unless you are playing in a rec league that has their own rules, no rules set I am aware of has a mandatory slide rule.

[i'mcoaching3rd]

so do you have to slid early and not make it to the plate because the catcher is blocking the plate without the ball.

[SoCalASABlue]

As stated in a post yesterday concerning ASA rules supplement 13, in order to avoid crashing into a defender WITH POSSESSION OF THE BALL AND WAITING TO APPLY THE TAG, the runner can slide, jump over the defender, go around the defender, or return to the last base occupied.

If the catcher is blocking the basepath without the ball, then she is obstructing the runner and you would expect that call to be made. However, obstruction is a delayed dead ball call. So if you daughter slid early rather than trying to avoid the catcher, your only hope is that the umpire would see it as obstruction and call it properly.

As stated previously by Comp, there is no mandatory slide rule unless it is a local rec league rule (at least as far as ASA is concerned).

[SoCalASABlue]

One more thing...and this is one of those big DUH moments...this once again reinforces the need for coaches, managers and even umpires to know the &^%&%&^*&)(*)(*_* rules if they're going to be involved with the game...

[Sam]

As stated in a post yesterday concerning ASA rules supplement 13, in order to avoid crashing into a defender WITH POSSESSION OF THE BALL AND WAITING TO APPLY THE TAG, the runner can slide, jump over the defender, go around the defender, or return to the last base occupied.

If the catcher is blocking the basepath without the ball, then she is obstructing the runner and you would expect that call to be made. However, obstruction is a delayed dead ball call. So if you daughter slid early rather than trying to avoid the catcher, your only hope is that the umpire would see it as obstruction and call it properly.

As stated previously by Comp, there is no mandatory slide rule unless it is a local rec league rule (at least as far as ASA is concerned).

The HP could also perceive a "train wreck" if F2 was not obstructing and the attempt to catch an errant throw caused her to veer in the runner's path.

I have to admit that I don't have a copy of the current rule book...but my 2006 ASA book states:

If a defensive player is fielding a thrown ball and the flight of the ball carries or draws him/her into the path of the base runner, this would not be a crash.

If the ball, runner, and defensive player all arrive at the same time and contact is made, the umpire should not invoke the collision rule (interference) or obstruction. This is merely incidental contact.

The wording may have changed a bit.

[softballdadcoach]

my DD was starting to slide into home. bad throw from out field took the cather 2-3 foot up 3rd base line. home plate ump called her out for not slidding. the ump explained himself and said "i know she was starting to slid and there was an arent throw from the out field that took the catcher off home to get the ball, but because she did not slid see is out" what is the call i say safe or obstuction on the catcher.

Based solely on what you have posted here, the umpire is ignorant of the rules. Unless you are playing some 'rec' league with a stated slide rule, the runner does not have to slide going into home--the words you attributed to the ump make it sound like he is invoking this non-existent rule. Even so, in the case of the throw pulling the catcher off home plate and he admits your DD was beginning the slide, the ump is wrong on several points--if she is required to slide for some reason (local rules?) and he says she was going into her slide--what more can you expect of the runner? At this point, you could only lodge a protest and see what happens...

[Rowdy1]

Based on what is said in the explanation the umpire made the only call that would have been wrong. He could have called obstruction and justified the call, he could have claimed incidental contact and justified the call as well. Unfortunately too many umpires don't take the rules seriously enough to learn them inside and out. As a coach of a competitive team you must know the rules well enough to challenge a situation like this one and win the debate. Too many coaches aren't prepared as well and in the end you can only blame yourself for not being prepared.