[greymule]

I've been through this so many times in ASA that I don't have to look at the book.

If the catcher had the ball or was "about to receive the ball" (i.e., the ball was between the fielder and the runner, not up the line somewhere), and the runner remained on her feet and crashed into the catcher, then the runner is out and interference is called. (In flagrant cases, the runner is ejected.) The fact that the ball arrived just slightly before the runner does not justify the crash. The fielder (in ASA) does not have to be attempting to apply a tag.

But it has to be a crash, not a bump or running through the tag or something else. And if the throw draws the fielder into the runner, it's just a wreck. If ball, fielder, and runner arrive at the same time, it's just a wreck. If the ball shoots by the fielder and then there's a crash, it's just a wreck.

The one change that ASA made a couple of years ago was that they took out the word "deliberately" when defining the crash.

[Edited by greymule on Jun 13th, 2002 at 01:47 PM]