Runner interference-does Ump judgement matter ?

[tcannizzo]

Referring to the question in the title - "does ump judgement matter?"

Overall, I suggest the answer is Yes.

In the scenario presented by the original poster, there would have to be a judgement that the interference hindered F6 in making a play. If F6 was attempting to make the play, I suggest that we have interference, regardless of which defensive player was closer to the ball. F6 might have had a better chance of making the play, even though F1 might have been closer.

Not to hijack the thread, but in keeping with the poster's question about judgement and , consider this:

R1 on 3B, B1 hits a pop up toward the 3B dugout (about half-way between 3B and HP). F5 makes contact with R1 about 10 feet down the line in attempting to get to the ball.

The pop up was not very high and in the umpire's judgement F5 would have not been able to reach the ball in time to catch it regardless of the contact with R1. Do we have interference?