Catcher catches the pitch in front of home plate

[SanDiegoSteve]

Well, since Chris Jaksa is the be-all-end-all guru of all things umpire, he has painted a very broad brush on Rule 2.00 INTERFERENCE (b). Does Evans or MLBUM weigh in on this as well? I did ask for someone to point these things out.

[Matt]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Well, this has been hotly debated (ad nauseum) in the past, and the consensus has always been that it is not interference.

Having been a member of McGriff's back in the day (wow, we're talking a dozen years ago!), umpire.org since its founding, and this particular site for a great while, I cannot remember any consensus on this particular form of (alleged) CI.

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Well, since Chris Jaksa is the be-all-end-all guru of all things umpire, he has painted a very broad brush on Rule 2.00 INTERFERENCE (b). Does Evans or MLBUM weigh in on this as well? I did ask for someone to point these things out.

MLBUM does not address this particular point.

[umpjim]

OC: " Why wasn't that Int." You: "Your batter didn't swing." OC: OK, next time he'll take the catcher's head off."

[dash_riprock]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Well, since Chris Jaksa is the be-all-end-all guru of all things umpire, he has painted a very broad brush on Rule 2.00 INTERFERENCE (b). Does Evans or MLBUM weigh in on this as well? I did ask for someone to point these things out.

MLBUM says 7.07 invokes the additional penalty of a balk when the catcher interferes with the batter and there is an R3 stealing home. It does not say (or imply) that 2.00 (Interference (b)) is enforced differently just because there is an R3 headed home. That would make no sense at all.