Quote:
Originally Posted by mbyron
No, if the ball is within "a step and a reach," he's still in the act of fielding and still protected. Contact would then be interference.
The crucial difference is that in the OP the ball got past the fielder.
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Can a fielder reacquire protection if he is in the act of fielding his own previously deflected ball? The play I'm thinking of is the NCAA play from last year where the pitcher deflected it off his foot, chased it and was in the act of fielding it when the BR ran into him near the first baseline.
From reading J/R and the MLBUM, my impression that in OBR at least, the answer is no. Once the fielder deflects the ball beyond a step and a reach, he cannot reacquire protection but another fielder can be protected. Am I correct in that understanding?
Wed May 27, 2009, 12:41pm
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