interference

[David Emerling]

Originally Posted by Okblu

You are correct BigUmp. The thing to remember is that this play is a delayed dead ball. I've seen a few umpires call this play dead immediately thus robbing the defence the opportunity to make the 2nd out. In your case the PU has the authority to call the 2nd out due to the fact that the batter was struck out and then interfered. this is in the delayed dead ball table for rule 5 in the FED rule book.

Play #1: R1. Count 2-0 on the batter. R1 attempts to steal and the batter interferes with the catcher's attempt to make a play.

Ruling: Delayed dead ball. Batter is out. If the runner is not retired, the umpire can either send the runner back to 1st, or, call him out if, in the umpire's judgment, the catcher would have retired the runner had there been no interference.

Play #2: R1. Count 0-2 on the batter. R1 attempts to steal as the batter strikes out. The batter interferes with the catcher's attempt to make a play.

Ruling: Ball is immediately dead. The runner must be declared out since an offensive player (not a batter) interfered with fielder's attempt to make a play on that runner. Whether the catcher had a legitimate chance of retiring the runner is not an issue (as it was in Play #1). The fact that there was a play is sufficient reason to call the runner out for his teammate's interference.

On interference, somebody must be out. In Play #2, since the batter is already (i.e strikeout) out, the only remaining choice is to call the runner out.

David Emerling
Memphis, Tn