Interference over Foul Territory

[greymule]

From the Wendelstedt site:

Whether the ball is caught over foul territory is irrelevant, as the ball was dead before it became fair or foul. [The Wendelstedt School teaches baseball rules, not sequence of tenses.]

I would say there is precedent, since a fly ball caught for an out behind the plate is technically not a foul ball, even though we commonly hear, "He fouled to the catcher" or "He popped foul to the catcher," though you could make a case for it since the OBR definition does include "while . . . over foul territory, touches the person of . . . [a] player."

But note that the softball definitions specifically cover INT with a fielder so that they don't have to award the BR 1B on INT when the fly ball is over foul territory. Of course, that opens another strange door: R3, 0 out. Batter hits a pop foul near the 3B line. Runner runs into F5, ump calls INT and foul ball, and the ball lands untouched 6 inches foul and then bounces fair. According to the OBR definition, it's neither fair nor foul, and according to Wendelstedt, award the BR 1B. In softball, it's a foul ball because it was over foul territory when the INT occurred.

I guess the Wendelstedt theory is that you take the book literally. Runner (unintentionally) interferes with fielder attempting to make play on legally batted ball—runner out, BR to 1B. Frankly, I think the BRD instructions (R3 out, foul ball) are more sensible.