Quote:
Originally posted by harmbu
FED Rules. Batter attempts to bunt and pops it up down the first base line. The first baseman, the catcher and pitcher are all running toward the ball. The catcher is getting under the ball, but it is not obvious that he is going to be the fielder to attempt to catch the ball. The BR does the correct thing and goes around the catcher to avoid contact. The batter chooses to go around to the fair side of the line because the first baseman is on the foul side. When this happens, the BR collides with the pitcher and none of the three fielders catch the ball. The umpires called interference on the BR and called him out. Other than get the bunt down instead of popping it up, what should the batter have done to avoid this contact? Are all three fielders protected in this instance?
[Edited by harmbu on May 11th, 2004 at 12:54 PM]
|
The key to this ruling is in your post, ie "he does the correct thing and goes around the catcher to avoid contact". If your opinion is that he did the correct thing then the catcher is the fielder you have identified as the one to be protected,and the other players are not relevent. And the running lane is a non-issue on a pop-up.