Interference, or no? How many outs?

[teebob21]

Originally Posted by IRISHMAFIA

You need an act of interference by the runner. A runner legally sliding into a base is not an act of interference.

In other words, while legally sliding and making contact, intent is required, not just hindering the fielder. In other cases, the act of hindering/impeding/confusing is enough to rule INT, even without contact or intent.

It's not 100% logically consistent, and it's not the way I previously interpreted the rule, but I can live with this interpretation. This philosophy also answers my question about the non-contact INT scenarios, too.