decoying runner

Question
I was running to home and the catcher put his glove down to the ground as if to catch the ball.  The ball was not thrown.  I did not slide and tagged home.  Was the catch guilty of "decoying" the runner and if so what punishment for the catcher? I play slow pitch softball.

Answer
Hi George,

What you are describing is called a "fake tag".

A fake tag occurs when the fielder w/out the ball attempts to deceive the runner.

If the runner is impeded "obstruction" can be called and those penalties would apply.  If the runner is not impeded we don't call obstruction but in both cases we warn the player and continued fake tags would lead to ejections.

If a runner slides on a fake tag and is injured the ejection is automatic.

A fake tag in my opinion is "chickensh.t" and I don't tolerate it.

Mark