Interference by on-deck hitter
 

FED Rules Situation I witnessed this past weekend.

R1 and R2. Two outs. Base hit. Runner from 2nd scores on the play. The throw from the outfield hits R1 as he is sliding into home and deflects the ball towards the on-deck hitter. The on-deck batter in his attempt to get out of the way actually swats at the ball and knocks it straight down. R2 heads for home as he sees the ball deflected off of R1. The defense still manages to field the ball and throw home for out #3. I know this is interference on the on-deck hitter for intentionally contacting the ball. This should be an immediate dead ball for the interference, but is R2 out on the interference, or do we simply send him back to 3rd base?

IF you rule interference here, then somebody's out. R2 just scored, so it can't be him. By rule, I believe it's the runner closest to home (don't have my book here), which should be R1 (wherever he might be, and it seems you might have reversed R1 and R2). Anyway, if somebody scores before the INT, the run counts and the next closest runner is out to end the inning.

I'm not convinced that you've got INT here, unless it's obvious to everyone that the on-deck guy is trying to interfere. If he's just protecting himself, then play on. I'm not going to award an out for the defense's screw-ups. Benefit of the doubt here goes to the offense.

This is a HTBT call. If the on deck batter hit the ball in self defense you could have nothing, especially since the ball went straight down and actually gave an advantage to the defense.
Rule 3-2-3 seems to be the correct reference:

Art. 3... No offensive team personnel, other than the base coach, shall be near a base for which a runner is trying so that a fielder may be confused; nor be on or near the baseline in such a way as to draw a throw; nor shall the base coach or members of the team at bat fail to vacate any area needed by a fielder in his attempt to put out a batter or runner. If a thrown live ball accidentally touches a base coach in foul territory, or a pitched or thrown ball touches an umpire, the ball is alive and in play. If the coach is judged by the umpire to have interfered intentionally with the thrown ball, or interferes in fair territory, the interference penalty is invoked.

msavakinas, This play sounds a little different then Huskerblue's play on a deflected ball.

In OBR, If he's out of the box, you got something.
6.60(c) A batter is out for illegal action when - He interferes 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.

If he's out of the box and interferes with a play intentional or not, it's far easier to make the interference call (delayed dead ball) rather than explaining to the defensive manager why this should not be called. With two outs in the play you described the batter would be out no run score. This would be the same in Fed.

6.06(c) applies if the ball is CLEANLY caught by F2. Once the ball gets away from F2 then the rules regarding a batter (meaning rule 6) no longer apply. You then have to go to rule 7.09 / 7.11 to get your answer.

One thing to rememebr as another poster said: Do not "bail out the defense" when they make an errant throw or misplay the ball. The offense has to do "something intentional" in order to rule interference.

Pete Booth

Was the on-deck batter where he was supposed to be, doing what he was supposed to be doing? The contact seems incidental in this case. You state, 'in his attempt to get out of the way', which indicates to me that the contact was accidental. It seems to me that the on-deck batter actually may have assisted the defense.