Catcher straddles home plate facing 3rd base, runner is coming home from third, pitcher throws to catcher, play is made at the plate, but ump calls runner safe because catcher blocked the plate. Good call or bad call? If good call, why?
by 
buddyweiser
ANSWERS: 3
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i think its a good call
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It's a "had to be there" play. It's very difficult to make a judgment without seeing the play or at least knowing a few more details. What rules are you playing under - obstruction is defined differently under different rule sets? When did the catcher glove the ball (before, after, or as the runner attempted to reach the plate)? If the catcher gloved the ball before the runner got to the plate, it probably was not obstruction. It's almost impossible for a player with the ball to commit obstruction. Did the runner have access to the plate or did the catcher completely block all access? Even if the catcher did not glove the ball prior to the runner getting there, if the runner still had access to the plate, it may not have been obstruction.
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In most cases I think it's a terrible call. The catcher is generally allowed to block the plate, with or without the ball. (I don't know all of the rule sets to which ab19901 refers -- and he knows a lot.) I think if the catcher were "lying down on" the plate or otherwise completely covering it, then there may be some basis for the umpire's call here. But generally the catcher can block the plate while he waits for the throw. If there's not going to be a chance for a play at the plate, then the catcher will allow the runner to tag simply to save his body, but otherwise the runner has to get through or over him, knock the ball out of his hands and touch the plate, and the catcher is allowed to block. Now, you didn't say how the pitcher got the ball. If this was a pitched ball and an attempted steal of home, and the catcher is out of the catcher's box when the pitch is thrown, then that's not legal. The umpire may award the run on that basis.
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