runner struck by thrown ball

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by LDUB

I posted this earlier: "On a force play a runner hit by a throw between the bases is guilty of interference if he did not slide or run well away from the fielder making the throw." How is that not clear enough for you?

Well, I like what Carl Childress wrote about Rumble's interpretation:

"The Rumble ruling is consistent and illuminating, therefore helpful. But it is not definitive, for it leaves and important question unanswered: How close does the runner have to be to the "forced" base before the umpire rules interference? I repeat my recommendations from the last few editions: Let umpire judgment carry the day. If the runner is "close" and has time to avoid the throw (get down or run away), then it's interference. Otherwise, E4. After all, plays like that are why they hire umpires. I hasten to point out that Rumbles's ruling from 1998 has had six years to make its way into the casebook -- without success."

Now it is seven years, BTW, as this is from the 2005 BRD.