INT or OBS - Hammering the Catcher Contact Home

[Lindsay]

Every so often, one type of controversial play seems to endemically occur throughout MLB in a short span of time. This summer, it's catcher/batter/runner contact on a batted ball near home plate—is it obstruction, interference, legal tangle/untangle, or none of the above? Primer: First, if you...

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[Stk004]

You guys got malicious contact on this one too? 

[lawump]

The one thing I know about this play is that it cannot be "nothing".  It either has to be interference or obstruction.  (If its obstruction, there is likely no penalty to enforce since the runner scored anyways...but this play still cannot be "nothing").  IMHO, this is interference.  In my pro experience, the ball stopped a foot onto the infield grass directly in front of home plate (it wasn't hit up the third base line where F5 may have fielded it; and F1 would have had to run 55-feet straight forward to field it), and such a ball is fielded 99.5% of the time by F2 on the professional level.  F2 has to be the protected fielder on this play.  I have "interference".  R3 is out, place the B/R at first, and warm up the ejection wagon.

[maven]

Mods: merge the other thread with this one?

14 minutes ago, lawump said:

The one thing I know about this play is that it cannot be "nothing".  It either has to be interference or obstruction.

I have agreed.

The only exception during a batted ball is tangle/untangle, and the rationale for that exception is that typically the fielder and BR hinder each other to approximately the same degree.