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The book is FED.
The answer is (a).
That is one of the most significant playing differences between FED on the one hand and NCAA/OBR on the other.
There is one automatic double play in FED. It occurs when the lead runner in a force play violates the slide rule: He does not slide legally or run away from the fielder.
In every other instance the umpire must be certain the defense could have made a double play without the interference.
In my play B1 strikes out, but R1 was stealing. The only FED possibilities are:
1. R1 had the base stolen, so the penalty is: He returns. The interference did not prevent an out. That's what given in our quiz situation.
2. R1 would have been out without the interference, so the penalty is: He is out.
In OBR and NCAA, the correct answer is (b). Those upper-level books do not care whether the defense could have made an out. The offense interfered and will be penalized.
One other point:
The quiz situation specifically indicates the batter interfered; that's a given. But....
Gentlemen, please read the interference statute carefully as it applies to the batter. (And not just in FED!) Deliberate interference is required for an out only for hindrance of the catcher trying to field a dropped third strike.
Here's the general statement that covers: The batter may not interfere with the catcher's attempt to play on a runner, whether he is in the box or out of the box, whether it is accidental or deliberate.
I have argued for 40 years that the most common mistake made by amateur umpires is failure to penalize properly interference by the batter with the catcher's attempt to throw.
It's not my point here to cover batter interference. We'll do that over in the eUmpire.com Netazine in the coming month. I'm going to ask Jim Porter to step aside from his Little League duties to explain to all the esubscribers what the current official and authoritative interpretations are.
The main idea with this little exercise was simply explication of this significant rules difference:
Using FED rules, interference by a retired batter is NOT an automatic double play. Such interference must, in the umpire's mind, have prevented an out on the other offensive player.
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