[greymule]

Yes, POE #31 nails it. My book falls open to the permanent crease on 8-8-J. I think that rule should replace part 3, "with a fielder attempting to throw the ball," with the more general "with a fielder executing a play." I felt that simply having the ball, even if a throw was obviously imminent, was not the same as throwing the ball. I also wonder why the hard slide into 2B is considered fair and legal (in ASA and OBR), though it is obviously to cause the fielder, through physical contact, to be unable to execute the play.

My questions then are these:

1. Is the standard of interference with a fielder executing a play the same as for a fielder attempting to field a batted ball (where virtually any contact constitutes interference)? Or is there another standard, as I think Irish Mafia asserts?

2. What about the slide into second to break up the double play? Isn't that interfering with a fielder executing a play? Or is there something about nearness to the base that transforms that play into something else or makes it an exception? Or is it just accepted custom, like the "vicinity" play.

3. Is it something you simply have to judge case by case? In other words, if the fielder should have been able to make the play anyway, we ignore it?

Had a play not long ago where the BR went safely into 2B standing up on a close play and the fielder caught the ball right behind him. The BR stood motionless on 2B, and the fielder then attempted a throw home and got tangled in the BR. The defense wanted interference (naturally), but it seemed to me that if the BR is standing still right where he is supposed to be, he's OK. I felt that the fielder's actions brought him into the runner. Now I know that would have been a no-call when I played, but now I'm not so sure.

You've been very helpful, guys. Interference comes up a dozen times a year nowadays. When I played, it was not an issue—I can't remember ever seeing it!