Flagrant Contact

Question
Hello!  Could you please help me understand what qualifies as flagrant contact?  We had a play yesterday where our catcher had the ball about a foot up third base side, runner did not attempt to slide or avoid contact, and came in hot/arms up.  Catcher ended up on her back about 1-2 feet on other side of home plate.  I realize this is a "had to be there" situation and the umpire's discretion and he ruled as "incidental contact" but I was wondering if there were any type of guidelines on this?

Thank you!

Answer
Hi Cheryl,

When a defensive player has the ball, the runner is out if they remain upright and crash into the player.  This obviously is a safety rule.

If a defensive player does not have the ball, they need to stay out of the way.
If they have the ball the offense needs to avoid contact if upright, they can veer, slide etc.
If the ball, the defense and the offense all arrive at the same place at the same time we have a "wreck" which is no call

If your player had the ball, just based on your description I think that what happened was more than "incidental contact".  When a player has position and the ball anything more than a minor bump I have the out and even an ejection,if flagrant.

Umpires look for the shoulder coming down, the forearm or elbow coming up as 1 tool to determine flagrant.

Mark