Ruling

[bob jenkins]

Originally posted by LongIslandZebra
Man on first 1 out. Runner runs into second baseman who is camped under the ball. Umpire shows a fist for a delayed dead ball interference call. The ball falls to the ground, is picked up by the second baseman, and thrown to the shortstop at second. The batter/runner is safe at first. The ruling was: Batter/runner is out on the interference, the runner is out on a 4-6 force play because he chose to run. Since the batter/runner is out on the interference call wouldnt the runner at second need to be tagged out? The call seems to be only partly correct.

Well, the umpire's mechanics were wrong.

The specific ruling was also wrong.

The effective ruling (both are out) was correct for FED -- absent the interference, BR would have been out on the catch and R1 would have been out on appeal for not retagging first.

The effective ruling was correct for OBR if the umpire judged that the interference was intended to break up a double play. Otherwise, R1 shouild have been out and BR awarded first.