# Chone Figgins baesrunning play; Game 6 **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [October 26, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chone-figgins-baesrunning-play-game-6/515168 "2009-10-26T12:39:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chone-figgins-baesrunning-play-game-6/515168/1 "2009-10-26T12:39:28Z")
In the 8th inning of last night’s ALCS Game 6, Chone Figgins was on second base with one out and first base open. Torii Hunter hit a sharp grounder up the middle, but because Yankees second baseman Robinson Cano was playing toward the middle due to the runner there, he was able to field the ball. His momentum carried him to the shortstop side of the bag, where he turned and threw Hunter out at first. Meanwhile, Figgins was only a couple steps off second and was able to easily retreat back to his base. After he did so, he then _ducked to avoid being in the way of Cano’s throw._ I started wondering about that, so I looked up the runner interference rule: > [@Official MLB Rules](#): > > Rule # 7.08(b): Any runner is out when: He **intentionally** interferes with a thrown ball; or hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball. (bolding mine.) The way I read that is, though he was not allowed to _actively_ attempt to block the throw, neither was he under any obligation to _avoid_ blocking it. If he were standing straight up on second, minding his own business; and either the throw hit him, or Cano had to adjust his angle to avoid hitting him and didn’t make the throw in time; seems to me that would just have been a tough break for the Yanks. So: – Am I interpreting the rule incorrectly, and Figgins _would_ have been liable for interference if hit by a throw while standing safely on a base? – Was he just instinctively trying to save himself the possiblilty of getting hit by the ball, because it would have hurt? With the pennant on the line, I would have called that the very definition of “taking one for the team.” – Is there some unwritten proffesional courtesy/etiquette at play that says you just don’t _do_ that? – Something else I’m not thinking of? (For the record, I’m quite certain Cano would have made the play to first anyway, and this incident ultimately had no bearing on the game, but I still found Figgins’ ducking to be curious, and would like to hear what others think.) ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chone-figgins-baesrunning-play-game-6/515168/2 "2009-10-26T15:38:25Z")
You have no obligation to get out of the way. In fact, many times players going into second will make themselves larger (throwing up their arms “sliding”) to make the double-play turn more difficult for the fielder. If Cano had pegged Figgins while Figgins stood on the bag then tough luck for the Yanks. As for why he ducked, most likely instinct. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chone-figgins-baesrunning-play-game-6/515168/3 "2009-10-26T16:54:35Z")
> [@Jas09](#): > > You have no obligation to get out of the way. In fact, many times players going into second will make themselves larger (throwing up their arms “sliding”) to make the double-play turn more difficult for the fielder. > > If Cano had pegged Figgins while Figgins stood on the bag then tough luck for the Yanks. > > As for why he ducked, most likely instinct. Instinct was kinda what I figured too. Though, to be clear, it wasn’t like breaking up a double play. There was no play on Figgins; he started and ended the play at second. I get how a player can act without thinking in a situation like that, and as I said, it’s pretty unlikely the throw would have hit Figgins anyway. But it’s one of those “you never know” situations. If Hunter were safe at first, there might be baseball at Yankee Stadium tonight. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/chone-figgins-baesrunning-play-game-6/515168/4 "2009-10-26T17:48:59Z")
Oh, I know - I saw the play. I was just giving an example of a play where the base-runner goes right up to the line of “intentionally interfering” with a throw. And even then you rarely see the interference called. If the runner was actually standing on the base there is no way it would be called interference.