Defense Giving Way or Giving up on Play - Interference

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by socalblue1

We virtually always give the benefit of the doubt to the protected fielder on a batted ball.

Ask yourself this: did the fielder pull up to avoid an imminent collision (IE: there would have been contact had the fielder not stopped)? If the answer is yes we have interference by the runner. No actual contact or intent on by the runner is required to make this call.

Should the runner clearly avoid the fielder (alter his path, stop, etc) I would be far less likely to make an interference call should the fielder pull up.

In the end, it's a HTBT situation.

I agree completely. The burden is on the runner to avoid the fielder and avoid affecting the fielding attempt. The umpire will have to judge whether the fielder misplayed the ball because of the runner, or whether the runner simply happened to be nearby. Only the former is INT.