mcrowder,
I believe you and I are in "violent agreement" in regard to the question of the runner being out in the OP.
I'm not exactly sure what blueump (I'm guessing that's who "BZ" refers to) is suggesting; he seems to believe that infielders get special protection from offensive interference not afforded to outfielders. Simply because a couple of rules specifically mention infielders in defining rules regarding situations where, 99%+ of the time, infielders would be the fielders involved.
To my mind, the primary rules defining offensive interference are:
Quote:
INTERFERENCE
(a) Offensive interference is an act by the team at bat which interferes with, obstructs, impedes, hinders or confuses any fielder attempting to make a play. ...
|
and
Quote:
7.08
Any runner is out when --
...
(b) He intentionally interferes with a thrown ball; or hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball;
|
To me, these two rules make it clear that the underlying principle is that any fielder is protected from offensive interference.
These certainly aren't the only rules covering offensive interference, but to my mind, all of the other rules are just specific, representative examples of ways in which the offense might interfere, and how those situations should be ruled.
JM