Situation : Interference ?

[debeau]

Batter hits a slow roller down towards 3rd base in foul territory . Ron 3rd
F 5 moves towards ball and is banged into by runner . All this occurs in foul territory .
The ball eventually rolls into fair territory .
Do we have interference ?
If not what should we do ?

[CecilOne]

Originally Posted by debeau

Batter hits a slow roller down towards 3rd base in foul territory . Ron 3rd
F 5 moves towards ball and is banged into by runner . All this occurs in foul territory .
The ball eventually rolls into fair territory .
Do we have interference ?
If not what should we do ?

If F5 was "fielding" the ball.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by debeau

Batter hits a slow roller down towards 3rd base in foul territory . Ron 3rd
F 5 moves towards ball and is banged into by runner . All this occurs in foul territory .
The ball eventually rolls into fair territory .
Do we have interference ?
If not what should we do ?

Speaking ASA

Was it a fair ball? Was the defender "fielding" the ball? If the answer to both questions is "yes", then I believe you have interference.

[tcannizzo]

Does it really matter if the ball eventually rolled fair? If the defender was trying to touch the ball in foul territory to make it foul ball and was interfered with making this play, wouldn't it still be INT?

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by tcannizzo

Does it really matter if the ball eventually rolled fair? If the defender was trying to touch the ball in foul territory to make it foul ball and was interfered with making this play, wouldn't it still be INT?

Go back and see how that fits into the two questions I asked.

Speaking ASA

It is interference if a:
"batted fair ball"
"foul fly ball"
"fielder attempting to throw the ball"
"intentionally with a thrown ball" or
"intentionally with a defensive player haveing the opportunity to make an out with a deflected batter ball."

[Mountaineer]

You've got nothing but a foul ball until the ball becomes fair - correct? So, since you have a slow roller I'm guessing you'd just watch the play until the ball becomes fair and then kill the play - correct? Mike, would it be appropriate to give a delayed dead ball signal since it's a foul ball if it remains foul and the ball's then dead and if it goes fair it's dead . . probably minutia but interesting to me none-the-less.

[IRISHMAFIA]

Originally Posted by Mountaineer

You've got nothing but a foul ball until the ball becomes fair - correct? So, since you have a slow roller I'm guessing you'd just watch the play until the ball becomes fair and then kill the play - correct? Mike, would it be appropriate to give a delayed dead ball signal since it's a foul ball if it remains foul and the ball's then dead and if it goes fair it's dead . . probably minutia but interesting to me none-the-less.

The sticking point here is that the rule is that it applies to interfering with a defender attempting to field a "batted fair ball". If you rule interference immediately, the ball, by rule, is dead which would make it a foul ball and INT is not applicable. If you wait for the ball to become fair and the fielder is no longer attempting to field it, there is no interference.

To be honest, whatever you call, you better be able to sell it because someone is not going to be happy either way.