Offense opens the gate

[NCASAUmp]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

Fair enough. I can understand the desire not to reward stupidity... but I don't think it matters who opened the gate, even if it was the Team Mom or an asst coach. Without intent, I can see no rules justifying treating this any differently than a simple ball out of play.

Would you award extra bases if it was the DEFENSE unintentionally opening the gate, deflecting the ball in such a way that it stopped the runner's progress?

There are plenty of cases in which the rule book advances runners based off the intentional actions of a fielder. Intentional catch and carry and an overthrown ball are two such examples of advancing the runners at the last possible moment, the first award being given from the time the fielder entered DBT and the second award being given from the time the fielder provided the impetus that propelled the ball out of play.