foul ball/batter interference

[dpr528]

I had two sort of strange plays last night in a 14 year old game. This league is pretty much just a league so the kids can play(everybody bats whether playing the field or not, unlimited free substitution, etc). The first play runner on 2nd is stealing 3rd. Batter swings and misses, but on his backswing hits the ball which had popped out of the catchers mitt and back towards the batter. Ball pretty much just went straight down, and the catcher had no chance for a play at 3rd anyway. I had a bit of a brain fart and just let the play stand. In retrospect I believe this is a foul ball, but wanted some confirmation.

The second play was a dropped 3rd strike which popped out in front of the plate. As the batter was running to first, after first taking a couple steps toward his dugout, he ran between the catcher and the ball which was about 3 or 4 feet in front of the plate. There was a little contact(incidental and completely unintentional), but not much and the catcher then picked up the ball and threw him out anyway. The catch is that there was a runner on 2nd when this happened(less than 2 outs though) and he advanced to 3rd on the throw to first. Is the batter immediately out and the runner remains at 2nd, a delayed dead ball where the fielding team can take either the result of the play, or the batter being out, or just let them play. I just let them play but wonder if I did the right thing. Thanks.

[David B]

Originally posted by dpr528
I had two sort of strange plays last night in a 14 year old game. This league is pretty much just a league so the kids can play(everybody bats whether playing the field or not, unlimited free substitution, etc). The first play runner on 2nd is stealing 3rd. Batter swings and misses, but on his backswing hits the ball which had popped out of the catchers mitt and back towards the batter. Ball pretty much just went straight down, and the catcher had no chance for a play at 3rd anyway. I had a bit of a brain fart and just let the play stand. In retrospect I believe this is a foul ball, but wanted some confirmation.

The second play was a dropped 3rd strike which popped out in front of the plate. As the batter was running to first, after first taking a couple steps toward his dugout, he ran between the catcher and the ball which was about 3 or 4 feet in front of the plate. There was a little contact(incidental and completely unintentional), but not much and the catcher then picked up the ball and threw him out anyway. The catch is that there was a runner on 2nd when this happened(less than 2 outs though) and he advanced to 3rd on the throw to first. Is the batter immediately out and the runner remains at 2nd, a delayed dead ball where the fielding team can take either the result of the play, or the batter being out, or just let them play. I just let them play but wonder if I did the right thing. Thanks.

You did the right thing.

Baseball sometimes is a contact sport.

Thanks
David

[akalsey]

Originally posted by dpr528
The first play runner on 2nd is stealing 3rd. Batter swings and misses, but on his backswing hits the ball which had popped out of the catchers mitt and back towards the batter.

Sounds like an illegally batted ball. If it hit the catcher's glove, it's no longer a pitch and the batter isn't allowed to hit it. Add a strike to the count and the ball is dead. The runners have to return to base.

[LDUB]

Originally posted by akalsey

Sounds like an illegally batted ball. If it hit the catcher's glove, it's no longer a pitch and the batter isn't allowed to hit it. Add a strike to the count and the ball is dead. The runners have to return to base.

The backswing is not part of the swing. Do you give the batters two strikes when they miss on the frontswing and the backswing? It's not like the ball was sitting on the ground and he golfed it into the outfield.

[akalsey]

Originally posted by LDUB

The backswing is not part of the swing. Do you give the batters two strikes when they miss on the frontswing and the backswing? [/B]

Whoops, I wasn't very clear was I?

What I meant was that he gets a strike for swinging in the first place, not an additional strike for the backswing. Since it's NOT a foul ball if there were two strikes on the batter before the pitch, the batter has now struck out.

[bluezebra]

"Batter swings and misses, but on his backswing hits the ball which had popped out of the catchers mitt and back towards the batter. Ball pretty much just went straight down, and the catcher had no chance for a play at 3rd anyway. I had a bit of a brain fart and just let the play stand. In retrospect I believe this is a foul ball, but wanted some confirmation."

**How can it be a foul ball if the batter swung and MISSED?

"Is the batter immediately out and the runner remains at 2nd, a delayed dead ball where the fielding team can take either the result of the play, or the batter being out, or just let them play. I just let them play but wonder if I did the right thing."

**The batter/runner was doing what he had to do, and F2 was doing his job. No interference, no obstruction. There is NO delayed ball on interference, therefore NO choice to be made.

[bob jenkins]

Originally posted by dpr528
The first play runner on 2nd is stealing 3rd. Batter swings and misses, but on his backswing hits the ball which had popped out of the catchers mitt and back towards the batter. Ball pretty much just went straight down, and the catcher had no chance for a play at 3rd anyway. I had a bit of a brain fart and just let the play stand. In retrospect I believe this is a foul ball, but wanted some confirmation.

I assume by "backswing" you meand "follow-through". If so, this is so-called "weak interference" under OBR -- the ball is dead and runners can't advance, but it's not an out (unless, of course, the swing was strike three).

See 6.06(c) CMT.

The rule is different under other rules codes.

[Kaliix]

Bob, what does the CMT mean after the 6.06(c)?

Originally posted by bob jenkins

I assume by "backswing" you meand "follow-through". If so, this is so-called "weak interference" under OBR -- the ball is dead and runners can't advance, but it's not an out (unless, of course, the swing was strike three).

See 6.06(c) CMT.

The rule is different under other rules codes.

[bob jenkins]

Originally posted by Kaliix
Bob, what does the CMT mean after the 6.06(c)?

Comment -- the small print stuff in most verions of OBR.

If you're using a LL rules book, you might not find this.