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Dddun, there is NO such thing as willful indifference when discussing the rules, regardless of which system you are using. The problem is that guys who are looking at “willful indifference” are getting confused between determining whether there was intent on an interference situation, and determining whether there was interference at all.
In dealing with a situation where there might be interference, obstruction, or nothing, you FIRST have to make the determination of what it is. In those situations where, by rule, a player has interfered ONLY if it is intentional, then you eliminate the possibility of willful indifference because W/I is NOT intentional. In Rich’s example, the answer is interference, at least in OBR and NCAA (and it’s because the batter in those situations is considered “another teammate” and not authorized personnel. If you can, see J/R manual where they have some similar situations). That’s a specific situation. Now, was it intentional? No. Did he throw his arms up, or move in the line of the throw, of make contact with the catcher or the ball? NO! Obvious, drastic, and flagrant actions determine intent, not indifference. Therefore, apply the proper ruling which is interference because it's interference, NOT because it's W/I.
In BigUmps situation in another thread where a batter drops a bat in foul territory and F3 stumbled over it when trying to make the catch, the answer is no. Not interference because the only way interference can happen when a fielder trips over equipment in foul territory is if someone intentionally put it there. The ONLY way he could have intentionally put it there is if he stopped, and aimed or waited until the last second to put the bat directly in the path of the fielder, or threw the damn thing right at the fielder: drastic, obvious, and flagrant actions for intent. NOT INTERFERENCE. INDIFFERENCE IS NOT INTENT. Indifference CAN be interference, but it CANÂ’T be intent. Otherwise, EVERY interference situation would be willful indifference. Every time R1 gets hit by a batted ball could be W/I because he COULD have avoided it, he COULD have not had his head down and looked to see where the ball was instead of running right into it, and then we could call him out and the batter-runner out because he willfully broke up a double play. Um, no.
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