Intentionally Deviating to Add Difficulty

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by Rich Ives

By rule if out of the lane at first. But otherwise how could you sell an INT call on a throw the runner couldn't see? Maybe if he was waving his arms wildly in the air - but just running? Can a fielder deliberately hit the runner to try to get an INT call? Would he survive after doing that?

Throws hit runners as they are going into bases regularly. Never gets called. No one expects it to get called.

It's tossing out these "well maybe on the second Tuesday of the week when the moon is full" remote possibilities that get beginners thinking they can call it on a whim. It's counterproductive.

By rule, interference with a thrown ball requires intent. I agree that in most cases, intent is hard to prove if the runner isn't actively doing something out of the ordinary, such as waving the arms as you've stated.

But couldn't you judge intent to interfere if the runner starts running straight for the base, and suddenly pulls a 45-degree turn to place himself in the perceived path of the throw? If it's something that blatantly obvious, why should he be given the benefit of the doubt just because he can't see the ball?