Incidental Contact

[Mrumpiresir]

Originally Posted by BoomerSooner

Had the fielder still caught the ball, there wouldn't be interference even if the contact was intentional because the contact didn't interfere with the fielders ability to make a play (although there might be other penalties depending on the nature of the contact).

I have to disagree with this. As soon as the protected fielder is contacted or alters his play on the ball, we have interference and the play should be killed. We don't wait to see what happens next. The hypothetical catch never happened.