Fan Interference

[umpire08]

how often in the leagues where you call do you get the task of calling fan interference I have seen it happen in the pro ball levels of umpiring but what about HS and college and other levels of play thanks umpire08 Deer Park TX

[Kyle_Stevens]

I haven't called fan interference where I am. I don't think there are enough fans that come to games and sit where they would be able to 'participate' in interfering.

[Bigdog]

Hey all,

On the fields that I have/do umpire at, the fans seem to run from baseballs coming their way, EXCEPT the little kids who want to take an out of play foul ball to the snack bar for a treat of some sort!

Bigdog:cool:

[SanDiegoSteve]

I had to call it once in a youth ball game with an open field. People were cutting across the outfield that had no fence and this dumb guy picked up the live ball. That's the only time in 21 years that I had to call fan interference.

[strike3scott]

I have never called fan interference but I have called interference on bench personnel.

Edited June 23, 2008 by strike3scott

[Stan W.]

I had to call it once in a youth ball game with an open field. People were cutting across the outfield that had no fence and this dumb guy picked up the live ball. That's the only time in 21 years that I had to call fan interference.

This was similar to my one and only experience.........early on in my career, I umpired on quite a few converted cow pastures...(really not kidding)......

The Field this occured on had fences that ended just past the dugouts..............a screamer down 3rd just inside the bag runs down the line towards a line of lawn chair moms.........one of which gets up enters live ball area and makes a great snag of the live ball and throws it to the left fielder..........

my one and only fan interference call.......

[HoosierBlue]

I had to call it once in a youth ball game with an open field. People were cutting across the outfield that had no fence and this dumb guy picked up the live ball. That's the only time in 21 years that I had to call fan interference.

What was the baseball movie where the train regularly ran right through the outfield?

[BrianC14]

What was the baseball movie where the train regularly ran right through the outfield?

Brewster's Millions

[Umpire in Chief]

There is a HS field which I don't regularly work (that district starts too early for me to leave work) that seems to be a fan interference waiting to happen. There's a fence down the LF side, but the right field side is a fuster cluck. The dugout ends somewhere around first base, then the home coach wants a 45 degree angle to the fence which runs well behind the dugout and the home stands, this is a lot of area and is good for hustling right fielders who can get an out on a ball which would normally be out of play, but frequently there are parents which put their camping chairs out there to watch the game. You ask them to move and they just move back. The coach says they'll get out of the way and wont be an issue if you ask him.

I've never had or heard of an interference call there but I could see it happening very easily.

There is another Rec ball field (attached picture) which this spring was their last year before widening the road, but there is a huge problem in the fall that they are playing rec football on the smaller field. The fat lazy parents cant walk from the parking lot to the sidewalk to the football field they just cut across from Left field. The problem is so bad the league dir told us not to call time to let those people get across. I would actually be hoping that a kid could hit one of those lazy ba$tards in the earhole as they lollygag across the field. The last time I worked there in the fall I got so frustrated I thought about going and walking across the football field between innings. The only thing that kept me from doing it was the reflection on my association it would cause. That day people decided they weren't even going to try and stay near the fence and I did have to call time.

[POLOGREEN]

My wife brings my son and daughter to a game (Varsity). I'm sitting close to dead ball territory signaling pitches to my catcher, well my daughter who is around 5 years old runs over to kiss daddy. The catcher blocks a ball in the dirt and it starts rolling toward where I was sitting and comes to a rest. My daughter runs into live ball territory and picks the ball up and throws it back to the pitcher (She later played softball in college). You know the call!!!!! :)

[Old Nr 24]

Okay, not truly fan interference, but certainly a "fan" holding up the game! One league I umpired in held some games at a field that was on the grounds of a state mental hospital. I know, that sounds kind of spooky, but it was actually not that bad a field. This was an excellent league featuring a lot of very talented players, so the play was generally pretty good.

One day I'm on the dish and working a 2-man crew. We are in the middle of an inning, couple of runners on base, maybe one out, close game...when I suddenly see this guy strolling onto the field from right field. He's dressed in the hospital issue "pajamas" and to me appears to obviously be a patient (should I say "inmate?"), and he is merely strolling, head down, across the outfield. I call time immediately as he passes in front of the right fielder headed for center. I yell out in his direction, "Hey, guy! We're playing a ballgame here!" He completely ignores me. The fielders begin to yell at him, and he ignores them as well, still walking, head down, eyes on the ground...and he's walking SLOWLY!

Into centerfield, in front of the center fielder, who is now screaming at the guy to get the hell off the field. My partner is on the outfield grass now trying to get the guy to at least acknowledge him, but nothing. I begin walking across the infield, still yelling at the guy, and as I reach about the shortstop position I yell, "Come on, fella, get off the damn field!"

The guy slowly lifts his head, slowly turns his face in my direction, still ambling along slowly. He looks directly at me as he approaches the left fielder, calmly and slowly lifts his left hand from his side, raises it with palm facing inward, curls his thumb and fingers, all but the middle one....and shots me the bird! He then lowers his arm, again lowers his eyes, and continues quietly in the direction of the left field line. That was it for me. Both teams and my partner were laughing their heads off, so I just spread my hands and said, "Okay! He'll be gone in a minute, guys, then we'll play." Best response I have ever seen to a whole group of people who are angry at you!

[Celerion]

I haven't had to call fan interference so far. May happen more in High School.