batter kicks the ball out of play

[Ran.D]

I seriously don’t understand why the batter would not be out for interference regardless of intent. Maybe I’m confusing softball rules, which I call more than baseball.

Again, here was my situation – runner on third, catcher bobbles the pitch, batter (with 1-1 count) kicks the ball, run comes home and scores.

The rule applies to the batter – who hinders the catcher. He is not yet a batter – runner.

Now, the rules do say a BATTER RUNNER is out when he intentionally interferes with the catcher on a dropped third strike or intentionally interferes with a throw, or thrown ball.

What am I missing?

[Dave Reed]

Originally Posted by Ran.D

I seriously don’t understand why the batter would not be out for interference regardless of intent.

If you are really serious about learning the rules of baseball, I strongly recommend that you buy the Jaksa/Roder Manual. http://www.rulesofbaseball.com/ Including shipping, it runs a little under $50. The situation that you are trying to understand is a good example of why J/R is useful. The unfortunate fact is that the OBR and FED rule books are frequently unclear, and sometimes multiple rules must be invoked to reach the correct ruling. Situations related to the batter, B/R, and other players near home plate possibly interfering are, in my opinion, hard to fathom using the standard rule books.

J/R is organized differently, and has a chapter entitled "Offensive Interference." In it you will learn that there are 4 ways (some of which are not intentional) in which a batter can interfere with the catcher, other ways in which B/R or runners can interfere, and still other ways in which offensive teammates can interfere.

You would then learn, appropos of your situation, that an offensive teammate includes "a batter after a pitch has gone past the catcher (such batter is no longer trying to bat the pitch and is treated as an 'offensive teammate' in a determination of whether interference has occurred)." It is interference if he "(1) blatantly and avoidably hinders" or "(2) intentionally hinders" or (3).....

J/R is not an official manual and sometimes uses terminology different than the rulebooks. It is however consistent in its teaching with the rules as they are actually practiced today (especially for OBR). I don't claim that J/R will allow you to easily understand "why", but it will allow you to understand the fabric behind the rules.

There are other books to read: the BRD (www.officiating.com) and the PBUC are publically available. JEA and MLBUM aren't generally available. MLBUM is the ultimate authority for OBR based rules, and JEA has the most background and explanation of the rules-- or so I am told.

People here are willing to answer direct questions about the rules, but they typically aren't willing to call out each of the rule numbers to justify their ruling. And they sure aren't willing to entertain sustained arguments about commonly understood rules. So buy J/R: you'll learn much faster, and everybody will be happier.

[End of lecture mode]

[MD Longhorn]

Originally Posted by Ran.D

I seriously don’t understand why the batter would not be out for interference regardless of intent. Maybe I’m confusing softball rules, which I call more than baseball.

Again, here was my situation – runner on third, catcher bobbles the pitch, batter (with 1-1 count) kicks the ball, run comes home and scores.

The rule applies to the batter – who hinders the catcher. He is not yet a batter – runner.

Now, the rules do say a BATTER RUNNER is out when he intentionally interferes with the catcher on a dropped third strike or intentionally interferes with a throw, or thrown ball.

What am I missing?

Sounds to me like what you're missing is the word INTENTIONALLY in the rules you just paraphrased. The OP is a sitch where the interference was UN-intentional. PS- this is identical in most softball codes too.

[JJ]

We had sitch #2 happen in a D3 tournament game up here several years ago. With two out and runners on first and second, the batter swung and missed at strike three which was in the dirt. He took off for first and UNintentionally kicked the ball into the dugout. Umpires called time, huddled up for a long discussion, and awarded the BR 2nd base and the two baserunners were also moved up two bases. Their explanation was the momentum of the pitch would not have caused it to go into the dugout (so no one-base award). They met with some argument, but since the situation had never been seen by anyone on that field before, everyone ultimately accepted the ruling and moved on. And lots of people dug into the rule book that night.

JJ