Batter interference

[Guest Coach Dan]

There is an over throw to the catcher, the ball bounces down the first base side.  A defensive player picks up the ball and attempts to tag a runner going home.  There is a batter who is left handed standing in the batters box.  He make zero attempt to get out of the way and impedes the player from tagging out the runner.  I was confident that a batter had to make an attempt to get out of the way but the opposing team said that the batter interference call only applied to right handed hitters which sounds ridiculous to me.  They also stated that the batter can stand in the box and not move at all.  I know this is correct on a catcher throwing but through experience understood that the batter MUST" get out of the way of a play at the plate.  This should be batters interference correct?

[Guest Coach o]

I’ve seen two different explanations here.  One, that the batter has to move out of the way if he has a reasonable amount of time to see the play unfold and react to it.

The other was that the cannot move, key word being move, or risk being called for interférence if the movement affects the play..

others will clarify.

[noumpere]

24 minutes ago, Guest Coach o said:

I’ve seen two different explanations here.  One, that the batter has to move out of the way if he has a reasonable amount of time to see the play unfold and react to it.

The other was that the cannot move, key word being move, or risk being called for interférence if the movement affects the play..

others will clarify.

Both are (generally) correct.  I'm a little confused on the OP (an overthrow?  with B still in the box?), but most likely the former applies in this play.

[beerguy55]

12 hours ago, Guest Coach Dan said:

There is an over throw to the catcher, the ball bounces down the first base side.  A defensive player picks up the ball and attempts to tag a runner going home.  There is a batter who is left handed standing in the batters box.  He make zero attempt to get out of the way and impedes the player from tagging out the runner.  I was confident that a batter had to make an attempt to get out of the way but the opposing team said that the batter interference call only applied to right handed hitters which sounds ridiculous to me.  They also stated that the batter can stand in the box and not move at all.  I know this is correct on a catcher throwing but through experience understood that the batter MUST" get out of the way of a play at the plate.  This should be batters interference correct?

There might need to be some context here.

How is there an overthrow to the catcher with a batter still standing in the batter's box?   What happened that led to this?   Was there a double steal attempt?   Did that batter get out somehow and never ran?   Is this the batter that received the pitch...or did the on deck batter for some reason, while the play was still going, go and stand in the batter's box after the previous batter put the ball in play?

It might not matter as in this case the batter probably had enough time to get out of the way, so should have.  But it might be a different discussion if the batter was already out, or it wasn't the proper batter in the batter's box.

And yes, there is no differentiation between left and right-handed batters for interference.

The only way I can understand this is if with R2/R3, wild pitch, F2 overthrows F1 covering the plate, and then F3 gets the ball and goes after R2 who has also tried to score - all with the batter not moving from the box.

[aaluck]

“Interfere with the catcher’s fielding or throwing by:

a. leaning over home plate,

b. stepping out of the batter’s box,

c. making any other movement, including follow-through interference, which hinders actions at home plate or the catcher’s attempt to play on a runner, or

d. failing to make a reasonable effort to vacate a congested area when there is a throw to home plate and there is time for the batter to move away.”

Excerpt From: NFHS. “2018 NFHS Baseball Rules Book.” iBooks. https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/2018-nfhs-baseball-rules-book/id1314997555?mt=11

 

Im not sure what rules your playing under but the FED requires him to avoid being in the way.  Under the OP I would have called him out if he had time to get out of the way. Not sure what idiot told you only applies to a right hander batter, but welcome to our world.

[maven]

FED and OBR have different criteria.

For FED, the batter must move away if he has time to do so.

For OBR (per Wendelstedt), the batter cannot be called out for INT if he remains motionless in the box.

[noumpere]

9 hours ago, maven said:

FED and OBR have different criteria.

For FED, the batter must move away if he has time to do so.

For OBR (per Wendelstedt), the batter cannot be called out for INT if he remains motionless in the box.

I've read that and I'm wondering if it's a change, or if it's valid, or if I'd apply it in my amateur OBR game ...

[maven]

1 hour ago, noumpere said:

I've read that and I'm wondering if it's a change, or if it's valid, or if I'd apply it in my amateur OBR game ...

I agree. In general I agree with his "narrow" interps of OBR, but this one seems zany to me, and not in the spirit of the INT rules. The batter, as such, has a job to do, but we're talking about a situation without a pitch. He can move his butt out of the way.

[MooseLoop]

OBR 6.01(b):  "Fielder Right of Way   . . .   If a member of the team at bat (other than a runner) hinders a fielder’s attempt to field a thrown ball, the ball is dead, the runner on whom the play is being made shall be declared out and all runners return to the last legally occupied base at the time of the interference."

OBR 6.03(a): "A batter is out for illegal action when:  (3) He interferes with the catcher’s fielding or throwing by stepping out of the batter’s box or making any other movement that hinders the catcher’s play at home base."

If the catcher is throwing to F1 covering home, I can understand that by not moving, the batter does not violate 6.03(a)(3), but how does Mr. Wendelstedt avoid 6.01(b)?