ball hits on deck equipment
 

what is the rule when an overthrown ball hits equipment that is left on the on-deck area? (bats, donuts, helmets) what if the throw hits coaches sitting on chairs or buckets outside of a dugout? does this rule differ between fed, ncaa, pro?

There is no interference, unless the contact was intentional, or if contact prevented the ball from entering DBT, in which case it should be ruled a dead ball and bases awarded accordingly.

OBR i believe you play on.

FED you're allowed to award bases or call outs if loose equipment interferes with a ball

We don't allow buckets or chairs outside of dugouts in our summer ball season this year. First game was Saturday, and during pregame we told them about the directive, they looked puzzled but didn't use the buckets.

Not if the object prevented the ball from entering DBT.

If it is the offense that left the equipment out, and that object prevented the ball from going into DBT, you do not award bases or kill the ball. The offense is prohibited from leaving equipment laying on the field. Rule 3.14.

Both teams are prohibited from leaving equipment laying on the field.

See FED CB 1.3.7, Situations A and B. Also see page 184 of the 2004 edition of J/R, which makes no distinction between offense or defense - "However, if a ball strikes a piece of equipment that is on LBT (usually the lip or top step of a dugout), and such ball would have entered DBT absent the contact with such equipment, then the ball is considered to have entered DBT."

This year's BRD (sec 208) says no penalty for OBR

JEA says basically the same thing:

Umpires should monitor the area in front of the dugouts and insure that gloves and equipment are not left lying on the playing field. Equipment lying on the "lip" of the dugout is legal but a thrown ball that strikes it is considered "in the dugout".

This subject is in the BRD because there is a difference between the various rules. FED says dead ball if equipment prevented the ball from going into DBT. This is stated not in the rules, but in the CB. NCAA has an AR in the rulebook that says the ball stays LIVE. OBR has no penalty listed in the Rule Book. J/R states a penalty for balls prevented from going into LBT and J/R is considered an authoritive source of expanded interpretation by some. Use it to the level you value J/R opinions.

I suppose if you were working an OBR game in a tournament where there was a protest committee in place it would be safer to go with NO PENALTY, since that is what is listed in the rule book and no one on the committee is likely to know what J/R is, much less have one on hand.

So for ggk's original question it appears there is a difference between FED, NCAA, and OBR, on balls prevented from going in the dugout by loose equipment. But in cases where there is just simple contact they all appear to be the same, ie LIVE.