[WestMichBlue]

Mike: If you abandon the portion of the rule as it refers to the fielder at 1B

I am not; I simply disagree with those that feel interference is only committed against the receiver. I want to expand it to include interfering with the throw, and the thrower.

Dakota: The defense does have to actually attempt a play here

Agreed – and my text was perhaps not clear. My definition of a play is a defender making a “quality” throw to a receiver in position such that the defense has a reasonable opportunity to make an out. I say “quality” throw because you can’t throw it in the dirt, and you can’t throw it in the dugout. You actually have to be trying to hit your teammate, but the throw may not be caught due to trying to throw around the runner, or it may be delayed, or it may be stopped by the runner.

Gary: If the runner is out of the lane . . . .and get hit with a throw . . . . the BR is out

This is what it has come down to. Case play after case play, discussion at meetings and on boards, training at clinics – all about hitting the runner. We argue endlessly about what part of the body was hit, and where the rest of the body was with respect to the chalk lines. When umpires talk about hit runners, and umpire documents dissect where runners are hit, then smart players and coaches know what they have to do to get the out.

Others have stated it – a B-R getting hit by the ball in itself is not interference. If the defender has a clear line to her teammate and hits the runner (who is out of the 3’ lane), that is not interference – that is a bad throw. But if the defender tries to get the ball past a B-R that is between her and her teammate, and her throw is off by 3” and hits the B-R, that is not a bad throw, that is interference. If she tries to force the throw past the B-R and her teammate cannot pick up the flight of the ball, or react to a wide or tall throw too late – that is not a bad throw, that is interference.

What it means to me is that if a B-R is outside her legal running lane, and is between the defender and the receiver, that she is interfering with the throw.

Interference is immediate dead ball. When the ball leaves the defenders hand we kill it; we don’t wait for the end of the play to see if the receiver can catch the ball. We don’t even wait to see if the B-R is hit.

At least, that is the way I feel we should base our interference judgments on 3’ lane violations.

WMB