Interference Question

[appyvol]

Witnessed this at a high school game. Runners on the corners, no outs. Batter hits a slow roller towards third. Third base runner is called for interference for impeding the third baseman from fielding the ball to make a play at first. Who's out and where do the base runners and batsman end up?

 

[IBlvNTmWrk]

My first question would be "how did the runner on 3B interfere with a slow roller to 3rd?" It seems like that would be odd base running.

It's been a while but my understanding is that with interference the play is immediately ruled dead. What I'm certain of is that the runner that interfered is called out, and the runner on 1st would return to 1st. If the ump ruled that the 3rd basemen had a legitimate play at tagging the runner from 3rd (which I'm assuming is certainly possible since there was interference) and then also throwing to 1st for the DP, then the batter would also be ruled out.

 

[Hacksaw]

I would expect both the 3rd base runner and the batter to be out. Runner from first is allowed to advance to second. Did I guess right?

 

[ShowmeVols]

High school case book has a similar play, but with runners on first and second.

Immediate dead ball.
Runner is out.
Batter runner is awarded first base, unless umpire judges the fielder could have tagged him and thrown out the batter runner, in which case batter runner is also out.
If the batter runner is declared out, the runner from first has to return.

 

[SDV]

Runner on 3rd out

Runner on first advanced to second

Batter advances to first

 

[appyvol]

Runner on 3rd out

Runner on first advanced to second

Batter advances to first

The umpire ruled batter out, runner back to first, and runner back to third. I thought then, and still do now that it was the incorrect call. He said the 3rd base runner was inside the baseline and interfered with the third baseman ability to make a play at first. So to me, the runner on third is out, the batter is out, and the first base runner returns to first.

 

[Hacksaw]

The umpire ruled batter out, runner back to first, and runner back to third. I thought then, and still do now that it was the incorrect call. He said the 3rd base runner was inside the baseline and interfered with the third baseman ability to make a play at first. So to me, the runner on third is out, the batter is out, and the first base runner returns to first.

I'm guessing that wasn't a popular decision with the team that was fielding at the time. The team that was batting had to be ecstatic. Sounds like the wrong call in that situation.

 

[appyvol]

I'm guessing that wasn't a popular decision with the team that was fielding at the time. The team that was batting had to be ecstatic. Sounds like the wrong call in that situation.

The fielding team was upset. The coach almost got tossed. The batting team was also upset that interference was called in the first place. Very odd play.

 

[IBlvNTmWrk]

The umpire ruled batter out, runner back to first, and runner back to third. I thought then, and still do now that it was the incorrect call. He said the 3rd base runner was inside the baseline and interfered with the third baseman ability to make a play at first. So to me, the runner on third is out, the batter is out, and the first base runner returns to first.

Did the coaches not ask for an explanation of the call? Subjective calls (e.g. "something seen") can not be questioned, but "rules" calls can always be questioned.

I would like to know the ruling of the ump, because it has always been my understanding that a runner that "interferes" with a play is automatically out. The only "subjective" part of the ruling would have been whether or not the 3rd baseman could have also thrown out the batter/runner at first.

 

[Hacksaw]

Without the interference, it would be reasonable to think that the batter would have been thrown out at first on the fielder's choice (depending on how slooow the slow roller was). The runner from first would have fairly advanced to second. The third base runner would be out due to his involvement in the interference. That's why I say the runner advances to second and both of the other baserunners are out. Just my opinion, of course.

Either way, though, I can't see how the guy on third wasn't called out.

 

[LocoVol]

Whos on first?