Is inadvertant contact on a force still interference?

[scarolinablue]

Originally Posted by jicecone

Not quite sure what you meant by "After he has made the force and is transferring to throw to first, he contacts R1."

This makes me question who contacted who?

If the runner by standing on the bag, caused F6 to alter the play then yes, I also have interference. However, if the fielder crossed the bag and ran into the runner that was trying to get out of the way , then I have nothing.

Also, from what I read, the runner may not have altered or interfered intentionally but, he did interfer and he did alter the play. Intent has nothing to do with it here.

Which is where I say HTBT, perhaps. The runner was out by about a step and a half, but the throw was behind F6, so he had to reach behind to make the catch. As his momentum carried him across the bag, R1 and F6 made contact, causing the ball to be dropped by F6. It was obvious it was not intentional, but he also did not appear to be avoiding contact, either. He ran straight to the bag but did not overrun the bag.

After digesting this, I'd say we should have called the FPSR violation as outlined in 8-4-2f and rang up the DP. However, I also feel it would have been hard for R1 to avoid the contact unless he slid, of which he is not required. However, inadvertent or not, the rule should still apply and the violation penalized, since contact was not avoided and the play was altered by the retired runner.

We'll get 'em next time. Thanks for the input.