Quote:
Originally Posted by Andy
Since the point of this is to dissect the play and make (or not) a call, I won't take the easy way and say HTBT to see the play. 
As a general rule of thumb, I would want to see the catcher attempt to throw the ball before I will rule interference. Since F2 did not throw the ball, I don't see an interference call here. I'm not going to try to read her mind as to whether she intended to throw and pulled up or was just faking a throw.
As a second point, is the B/R really interferring? With ball four, her status has changed from a batter to a batter/runner, does this take away the "protection" of being in the BB? From the description, I don't envision the B/R doing anything she should not be doing. I would expect her to drop her bat and move toward first base. Would this play be similar to a bunt in front of the plate with F2 coming out to play the bunt and B/R running to first and they get tangled? I don't have access to the book here at work...I'm leaning toward a no call here. |
What exactly is the BR's protection in the BB?
As described this sounds like interference, a runner moved into the space the catcher needed to make the throw. The catcher wisely didn't throw the ball since that would have resulted in an errant throw given the interference and the catcher wasn't sure the umpire would call it. Why would we need a throw to have interference, she had a play and couldn't make it because the batter interfered.
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Bong review