harmbu,
This is a little bit of a "HTBT", because there is certainly a degree of "umpire judgement" in this situation. However, I would take issue (in a respectful way, of course) with the umpire's assertion that:
"...he cannot call interference when the ball is already in the glove."
From the J/R discussion of defensive/catcher's interference (specifically what does constitute CI:
"EG: a batter swings belatedly on a fastball and smacks the mitt of a crouched catcher."
So, if a batter is making a legitimate attempt to bat the ball and is fooled to the point where the ball is already in the catcher's glove and he makes contact with the glove, I would say the CI call is definitely in order. Especially if the catcher's glove is over (or nearly over) the plate. If the batter doesn't initiate his swing until the catcher gloves the pitch, I'm certainly not going to give him a CI and we might be having an entirely different discussion.
Bottom line, umpire judgement - but, the ball in the catcher's glove at the time of contact is an incorrect criteria for making that judgement.
JM
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