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wade, in the OP, the umpire's judgment was there was no play being made on a base runner before the batter knocked the ball loose. In the (B) scenario, where the players attempt to advance, they only do so after the batter knocks the ball loose. Seems very clear to me: batter inadvertently "interferes" (using dictionary definition) with the catcher when there is no play being made. This is a dead ball. Since it is a dead ball, the runners' advances in the (B) scenario officially did not happen, so they are returned.
Now, if you want to "what if" the scenario offered, and change the judgment of "no play" to "runners advancing and THEN the batter knocks the ball loose", OK, but that is not the OP scenario.
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Tom
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