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Originally Posted by Sky Popper
What does "through, or by, an infielder" mean? If an infielder reaches for a batted ball but has no legitimate play on it (using ordinary effort) and it strikes a runner who is not immediately behind the fielder, is the runner out? Or does any effort by an infielder who is positioned in front of the baseline to field the ball mean that the ball is live and the runner is not out?
Situation was: 10 year old Little League tournament. Runner on 1st, nobody out. 1st baseman playing in front of the runner. Batter hit the ball between 1st and 2nd. First baseman took a few steps to his right and reached toward the ball but had no play on it. It passed to his right by a couple of feet. It then struck the runner, who was the same distance to the right of the first baseman. The second baseman had no play on the ball. The umpire called the runner out and gave the batter/runner first base. A dad in the stands, who also umpires ("I've been doing this for 20 years") objected, saying the ball should have been live because the first baseman attempeted to field it ans was positioned in front of the runner. He admitted that the fielder had no legit chance to actually field the ball, but that it didn't matter because he had attempted to field it by moving toward and reaching for it. I thought the ump made the right call. Am I wrong?
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As evidenced by answers you're receiving, this relatively simple horse of a rule continues to be turned into a zebra by a lot of folks.
"Through or by" means, by professional interpretation, "through the legs of or within the immediate reach of" the fielder. If a ball goes "through or by" the fielder, AND another fielder does not have a play on the ball, then and only then is the runner NOT out.
In any other circumstance, (other than a deflected ball) the runner hit by a batted ball is OUT. If, in your situation, the ball was judged to have NOT been "through or by" using the definition I've stated, then the runner is OUT. No further conditions apply.