[greymule]

I received this question from a fellow umpire today, about a play that occurred yesterday in a large men's SP tournament:

Runner on 1B, no outs. Ground ball hit to first baseman, who steps on 1B to retire the BR, and then throws to 2B in an attempt to get the runner from 1B.

Runner waves his hands over his head as he is running. No contact with the throw. Second baseman moves a step to the side to catch the ball. They do not get the out.

Is the runner going to 2B safe or out?

I responded that unless the waving of the arms interfered with a fielder in any way, such as by blocking the fielder's vision, there was no call to be made. Simply waving the arms was not enough to constitute interference. Attempt to interfere is not enough; there has to be actual interference.

I also responded that the closer the runner got to the fielder when the fielder was attempting to make the play, the greater the chance the action could be considered interference, so in that way it's a HTBT play.

I also considered whether the ump would be justified in calling the runner out for USC, or whether that should be reserved for deliberate crashes.

Was I right or wrong, or does anyone have anything to add?

Incidentally, the umpires conferred and then called the runner out. The play occurred in the 7th inning, and the arm-waver's team lost 6-4.

[Edited by greymule on Aug 15th, 2005 at 05:50 PM]