What if...?

[JHSump]

Varsity HS game. FED rules.

 

Batter hits a pop up which is about to come down about 3-5 feet in front of 1B, on the foul line.  F1 is drifting to the ball, and F1, ball, and BR are about to arrive at the same spot, at the same time.

 

Now, in my game, F1 trips over 1B and stumbles headlong into BR, ball touches one of them, in fair territory, and rolls on the ground foul.  My partner and I get together and decide it's nothing.  BR is safe at 1B.

 

Here's the "what if?"  What if F1 had not tripped over 1B and the BR ran into him, causing him to miss the pop up?  That collision would have occurred within the last few feet before 1B.  (BTW, the BR was in the running lane, if that matters to you.)

 

So, would it be interference, obstruction, or nothing?

 

And, feel free to comment on the actual game situation that occurred.

[scrounge]

The hypothetical one without the trip is clear interference, the base is irrelevant. The only exception is being allowed to stay on base for an infield fly, which this is not. With the trip? I guess you have to judge if the fielder lost his initial play and the protection that went with it.

[mrumpiresir]

The runner must not interfere with the fielder attempting a play on a batted ball.  I have interference on the BR

[Replacematt]

Varsity HS game. FED rules.

 

Batter hits a pop up which is about to come down about 3-5 feet in front of 1B, on the foul line.  F1 is drifting to the ball, and F1, ball, and BR are about to arrive at the same spot, at the same time.

 

Now, in my game, F1 trips over 1B and stumbles headlong into BR, ball touches one of them, in fair territory, and rolls on the ground foul.  My partner and I get together and decide it's nothing.  BR is safe at 1B.

 

Here's the "what if?"  What if F1 had not tripped over 1B and the BR ran into him, causing him to miss the pop up?  That collision would have occurred within the last few feet before 1B.  (BTW, the BR was in the running lane, if that matters to you.)

 

So, would it be interference, obstruction, or nothing?

 

And, feel free to comment on the actual game situation that occurred.

 

I have INT on both. Just because he tripped doesn't mean he loses his protection. Running lane is irrelevant when it comes to BR's responsibility to avoid a protected fielder. Now, I think you either left something out or missed something in your conversation with your partner. Who did you decide the ball touched?

[maven]

If F1 does not trip and the BR collides with him, that's an easy INT call. The running lane is irrelevant, and the RLI rule explicitly says that the runner may leave the lane to avoid a fielder who is fielding a batted ball.

 

If F1 does trip, then I'm looking carefully to see the impact of any collision with the BR. If F1 had no play because he tripped, then the collision with BR did not hinder his fielding, and I don't have INT. As usual, no hindrance = no INT. You can't field a pop up that's 15 feet away from you when you're falling on your backside. F1 still gets the benefit of the doubt, however, as he is still protected even when off balance. If he's trying to get to the ball when contact occurs, I've probably got INT, even if he's off balance and not very close.

 

An interesting question: if we're not calling BR for INT because F1 was not hindered, is F1 then liable for OBS? If he's not hindered, he's probably sitting on his butt or rolling around on the ground into the BR or some such, in which case I'd consider OBS. His protection is for fielding, not for just getting in the way.

 

Another common play is the one where F1 and F3 are both fielding a popup on the line, and BR bumps one of them. You have to rule on which one gets protected (only 1 may be), and usually it's F3 (who should be calling off F1). The unprotected fielder may be liable for OBS on this play, if that's who gets bumped.

[JHSump]

Good answers.

 

Here are a few missing pieces, I forgot to say, or didn't say well.  My partner (BU) said one of them contacted the ball in fair territory.  Which one wasn't clear to him, but he heard the tip, and the contact with the ball occurred just after the collision, and neither I nor he could see calling the BR out if he was bumped into the ball in flight.

 

The original situation is not easy to describe.  It's almost a HTBT.  But, I do agree that F3 could have still been protected, even if he tripped over 1B.  If, on the other hand, he had no chance to make the catch after tripping, he would not be protected, and as @maven said, he could be guilty of obstruction.  We judged F3 to have lost the chance to make the play, after he tripped.  I was definitely inclined, initially, to call interference, but I was blocked by the BR on the trip and its effect.  My partner had a much better view of that.

 

Meanwhile, I had a local umpire tell me later that it was nothing because the BR was protected in the last step of the running lane.  I didn't think that was right. I agree with all of you that said the RL is irrelevant.

 

Thanks all.

[Replacematt]

An interesting question: if we're not calling BR for INT because F1 was not hindered, is F1 then liable for OBS?

Yes. I hate generalizations, but have yet to see the counterexample--on hindrances during a batted ball, it is always INT or OBS, never nothing.