[mcrowder]

OK... Now - my apologies because I intentionally asked the questions backward (regarding fair/foul). So now (keeping to the OP, ignoring the 1B-Line questions), does your opinion change if:

1) The ball is in FOUL territory at the moment R1 contacts F5. Do you still "immediately" rule interference? Is the act of fielding a ball in foul territory in order to prevent it from rolling fair considered "a play" in the context of "interfering with a play" or does the interference have to be "interference with a chance to get an out"?

2) If the ball was in FOUL territory, and we don't rule interference BECAUSE the ball was in foul territory... and then the ball rolls FAIR after the contact (and without being touched), do we retroactively rule Interference?

Here's why I think I botched it.

I ruled, on the field (alone - no partner), that R1 interfered with a play, in that F5 was trying to get the ball before it got back into fair ground. So, yeah, technically I have a dead ball and the ball never officially rolled fair while live, even though it did while dead. I called R1 out and placed BR on first base. Coach argued (quite possibly correctly) that R1 did not prevent F5 from getting an out, thus no play to be interfered with. I considered, "Dead ball!" at the time of interference, then coupled with "Foul Ball", which it was at the moment of the interference, and coincidentally was what WOULD have happened had there been no interference. In retrospect, if I was going to flub this one, I wish I'd flubbed it with this result as opposed to what I actually did.

Hence the reason I posted it here. This, coupled with the fact that I lended my rulebook to someone who's having to take the test without benefit of a group of umpires, thus I have no book to go get the exact verbiage on this rule from. I'd call my UIC or scheduler... but they are both me.

(Oh, and OBS is right out. F5 was the obvious fielder making a play. F1 was literally doing nothing, and F2 stayed home for the play there.)