LL playoff game. R3 and 2 out. Passed ball to the backstop. R3 heads home. LH batter wandering in front of his batter's box, pitcher coming in from that side to cover plate, cannot get there due to batter being in the way. Catcher tosses ball to spot where pitcher would have been if batter not in the way. Would have been a close play at the plate (although not necessarily relevant). PU calls batter interference, 3rd out, and at start of next at bat for offensive team, has same batter up to the plate (i.e., R3, not batter, called out for the interference). Called on correct player? Is it interference at all? (Rule 6.06(c) applicable?) Thanks for any insight.

I may be wrong...
 

it sounds to me as if the umpire confused the penalty for 6.05n, a runner struck by a pitch while in the strike zone (runner out), with the penalty for 6.06c - batter out.

Unless LL rules are different from NFHS & OBR, with two outs the batter is out if the runner was not out due to the interference by the batter. The batter should have been declared out and the next batter would have been up next inning. Remember, the batter interefered and therefore is the one out, but it is a delayed dead ball so if the runner would have been put out the interference would have been ignored.

Batter out was my initial inclination, since there were 2 outs. What I began to wonder about, after going back to the rulebook, was whether interference should have even been called, or whether I might be reading the rule incorrectly:

6.06(c) [A batter is out for illegal action when] interfering with the catcher's fielding or throwing by stepping out of the batter's box or making any other movement that hinders the catcher's play at home base.

The batter did not interfere with the catcher's fielding or throwing (in a traditional sense, anyway). Did the batter hinder the catcher's play, or was it instead the pitcher's play, at the plate? Again, the batter was not in the way of the catcher performing his duties, until it came time to toss to the pitcher, who did not arrive in position until too late, due to having to get past the batter.

I don't do LL, but I have a LL book. It is pretty much the same as FED and OBR on this issue. 7.09(d)- before two are out and a runner on third base, the batter hinders a fielder in making a play at home base; the runner is out. 6.06(c) also applies - the batter is out for illegal action when interfering with the catcher's fielding or throwing b stepping out of the batter's box or making any other movement that hinders the catcher's play at home base EXCEPTION: Batter is not out if any runner attempting to advance is put out, or if runner trying to score is called out for batter's interference - which he should be under 7.09(d).

Long story short - in this situation, with R3 advancing, with 2 out batter is called out for batter interference. With less than 2 out runner is called out.

DG,

Thanks. The way that these two rules are written was leading me astray into thinking that there was (and there may well be) a loophole for a possible non-interference call. The acts of the batter in Rule 6.06 deal with the catcher specifically, whereas the interference was actaully with another fielder (the pitcher). With two out, seemingly, 7.09(d) would not be taken into consideration.

The better interpretation, as you have noted, is that, with two out, the act constituting interference in 7.09(d) will fall under the acts described in 6.06(c), and the batter will be called out.

I am just getting back into umpiring, at the LL level (my son plays LL) after a long hiatus (did Babe Ruth and fast pitch and slow pitch softball during college and for a couple of years after). Your contributions to this board are greatly appreciated.