Adult baseball league,(38+):
Batter pops up behind home plate;as catcher settles underneath ball to make the catch,batter yells"I got it Gene,I got it Gene",with the obvious intent to distract the catcher by making him think a teammate has an angle on the ball.
Although I was prepared to call the batter out for interference,OBR 2.00 Interference (...obstructs,impedes,hinders,or confuses....),F2 made the catch for the out.
Defensive Manager wants batter ejected,citing 4.06b. I disagreed,adding that the rule was specific to fielders interfering with a batter.Manager says"what's the difference?" My response was that I didn't write the rules,and I do not "add" to the rules.
Question #1: Would I have been within the rules to have called the batter out had F2 not made the play?
Question #2: Did the Manager have a point when he asked
what the difference was?
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All generalizations are bad. - R.H. Grenier
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