Runner's Intereference/Obstruction

[wenriquez]

The 1Bman was prevented from making the play and no fielder was camped under the popup preventing the Infield Fly Rule from being called. The 2Bman slid to catch the ball towards the 1B foul line and then get up throw across his body toward 3B, by the time he got up and positioned himself he opted to hold on. Thanks for the response, I wasn't too clear on the popup being a difficult enough play for the 2Bman.

First off, it sounds like you had an infield fly situation, and the IFF should have been called. That being said, the defense no longer had a play on the batter-runner. Furthermore, it didn't sound like the defense had a play on any runner except MAYBE for R2 (the runner on 1B). However, it sounds like that play would've been extremely unlikely.

Now, F4 (the second baseman) made the catch while sliding, and that MAY have affected his ability to make the play on R1 (the runner on 2B). Maybe, maybe not. The ball would have been caught where F4 was standing anyway, so I don't think it helped/hurt his chances much.

As for "the runner can run into a fielder on a pop fly," well, that sounds a bit fishy to me, and I'm not so sure that's how it was stated. It makes it sound like there's a free-for-all.

I don't think I'd have anything on this play. BR should have been out as a result of the IFF, and runners were too close to their bases for the defense to have an opportunity to make an out.[/QUOTE]