Quote:
Originally posted by DonT
The ball deflected off the thidbaseman's glove and into the thirdbase coach's back. ... The umpire made the decision that it was interference and called the runner back to third.
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First, if interference had occurred, the correct action would be to call the runner out, not send him back to third.
Secondly, getting hit by a bad throw or missed catch isn't always interference. The coach or other player is supposed to vacate the space needed by a defensive player who is attempting to field the ball. The way you've described this, once it went past the fielder, he wasn't trying to field the ball.
Now if the ball had landed between the coach's feet and he didn't move when the fielder tried to retrieve it, interference should be called. Or if the third baseman was standing in foul territory for some reason and the coach was standing in the path of the throw, interference could be called, even if the coach didn't know a throw was coming (interference doesn't have to be deliberate).
But the way you described the play, I would have called the runner safe at home.
[Edited by akalsey on Jun 8th, 2004 at 05:26 PM]