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Originally Posted by GarthB
I'm assuming for now that the answer will be that as long as it stayed in front of the fielder it will be ruled that he is still in the act of fielding the ball, as opposed to deflecting off his glove and going a distance to his side or behind him.
Please remember, that I prefaced my post above by stating that I am merely trying to predict what the interpretation will be when we hear about it from MLB. Don't shoot the messenger.
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This is what I said in post #3. Given that it's a spring training game, the discussion among MLB umps might well remain internal, especially if the umpiring supervisors decide that the call should have been OBS and not INT.
I've been thinking about how I would have ruled on the play if it happened in a HS game I was working. I think it's probably HTBT: I do like the "step and a reach" concept, (although I realize that it was not conceived for this kind of incident): if the fielding attempt doesn't cause the fielder to move much, I'm likely to rule INT. But if he has to come up 8 feet or more onto the grass to field the ball, even if right in front of him, I'd be leaning toward OBS.