Another "Interference or Not"

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Originally Posted by sargee7

a) "in the on deck circle" Wow that was a lousy throw by the catcher, the on-deck circle is a pretty good distance from the home-plate area. I got nothing, the cathcer doesn't catch the pitch, I'm not going to punish the offense unless something is done intentionally to interfere with the throw.

b) depending on how close the on-deck batter was to HP, I would do the same thing as above. If she walked in bewtween the catcher and the throw, perhaps, but, I will still not punish the offense for a mistake the defense made.

Sarge,

I respectively disagree with you on this one.

ASA:
Interference: “The act of an offensive player…that impedes, hinders, or confuses a defensive player attempting to execute a play.”

Rule 7;1;D: “The on-deck batter may not interfere with a defensive player’s opportunity to make an out.”

As an umpire, IMO, applying the rules in a fair and consistent manner is never penalizing either team. In this case the on-deck batter has an obligation to get out of the way.