This is illegal in baseball,
but for some reason, this isn’t.
At least according to these umpires
who say according to the rules,
a runner cannot intentionally interfere with a thrown ball.
Cole Calhoun was in a pickle.
He knew he’s gonna get out,
so when he saw the ball get thrown,
he put his head in the way of it to block it.
The umps ruled this was intentional.
He interfered with the ball,
so he was out. But Charlie Blackman did something very similar.
When he got in this rundown,
he knew he was screwed,
so he purposely gave Gunner Henderson a throwing lane.
Then he immediately ran into this throwing lane,
hoping the ball would hit him.
By making a clear lane for Henderson to throw the ball,
then immediately closing it,
he tricked gunner, got hit by the ball,
and was called safe. This seemed to be on purpose.
However, he never sees the ball and never goes out of the base. Pass.
So should Charlie Blackman be out or safe here?