interference??

[Dan S.]

hi all - i'm new here, and this site is excatly what i've been looking for, especially as still being a 'rookie' in the umpiring field, and seeing new things everyday.

here's one thats really bugging me. it may be an easy one for you veterans, but i need to know if this is even debatable.

i had a batter swing (and miss) so hard that that he basically took one step out of the batters box in front of the plate on his momentum. of course, the runner was stealing, and the catcher on his throw collided with the batter trying to regain his balance. (the runner was safe) Everyone started yelling interference, so i thought about it for a few seconds and called it only because the batter was pretty much out in front of the plate.

but, thinking about it now, along with the obviousness of the batters movement being unintentional, the catcher who sets up 2 - 4 feet behind home plate, essentially needed a 3 - 6 foot throwing lane to get the ball off. he collided with the batter in front of home plate as he was letting the ball go! It just makes me wonder that maybe i could have let it go considering it could have been turned around and made the play the catchers own fault for crashing into the batter. what if it had been a dropped third strike, the batter started for first, but the catcher decided to try for the runner at second, or for that matter stepped out in front of the plate to throw to first as the batter started to run etc. etc.

any opinions? thanks