Ability to make a play....

[Kevin_K]

R1 and R2 with F3 playing in front of R1. BR hits a fly ball hugging the 1B line beyond the grass/dirt line of the outfield. It is a blustery day with the wind blowing from left to right. As F3 turns to pursue the fly ball, he runs into R1 who was about four feet off the bag.

F4 and F9 are also converging on the line. The ball lands just foul with F4 and F9 about 5 feet from the ball. As F3 cleared R1, he came within about 10 feet of where the ball landed. 

As the play developed, I judged that F3 would have the best chance to field the batted ball and called R1 out for interference. It was the third out of the inning and the teams switched sides.

As I ran the play over in my mind, I began to question whether or not any of the players had any legitimate chance at fielding what ended up as a foul ball. Then I began to think that perhaps I may have made the wrong call. How much does the real ability of the protected player making the play on this fly ball affect the interference call that we might make a such a play?

 

[834k3r]

2 hours ago, Kevin_K said:

R1 and R2 with F3 playing in front of R1. BR hits a fly ball hugging the 1B line beyond the grass/dirt line of the outfield. It is a blustery day with the wind blowing from left to right. As F3 turns to pursue the fly ball, he runs into R1 who was about four feet off the bag.

F4 and F9 are also converging on the line. The ball lands just foul with F4 and F9 about 5 feet from the ball and F3 about 10 feet from the ball. As F3 cleared R1, he came within about 10 feet of where the ball landed. 

As the play developed, I judged that F3 would have the best chance to field the batted ball and called R1 out for interference. It was the third out of the inning and the teams switched sides.

As I ran the play over in my mind, I began to question whether or not any of the players had any legitimate chance at fielding what ended up as a foul ball. Then I began to think that perhaps I may have made the wrong call. How much does the real ability of the protected player making the play on this fly ball affect the interference call that we might make a such a play?

Your gut told you to go with INT with the live action view you had. You saw everything you needed to see, you were positioned where you needed to be, and you made the call. If you didn't have (much) protesting or complaining, I'd say you made the right call.

I'm my own worst enemy in situations like yours. I'll replay a scenario over and over in my head, wondering if I made the right call. But I've come to realize that my memory of a certain play isn't as good as the live action. If it helps, based on your description, I would've call INT as well.

[MadMax]

2 hours ago, Kevin_K said:

The ball lands just foul with F4 and F9 about 5 feet from the ball and F3 about 10 feet from the ball.

Sure, but you could have easily justified that F3 would have been closer, and likely would have had the best shot had he not been hindered / impeded / AKA-and-constituting-INTerfered with. 

Hey, at least you didn’t call (and stick to) INT on a pop-fly that, with your gusting winds, ended up in DBT. 😬🫨🙄 

… 

… no, I didn’t do that myself, TYVM. 

… 

Hey! You got yourself an Umpire Bingo Card square punched! ✅ 

[Velho]

22 minutes ago, MadMax said:

… no, I didn’t do that myself, TYVM. 

Thank you for letting us know you are fallible champ.

[MadMax]

30 minutes ago, Velho said:

Thank you for letting us know you are fallible champ.

I may be a champ, but (still) not a winner. 

[kylehutson]

On 4/12/2024 at 11:29 AM, MadMax said:

Hey, at least you didn’t call (and stick to) INT on a pop-fly that, with your gusting winds, ended up in DBT.

No, I did the opposite. I had a pop fly that I thought "that's clearly going to be over the foul fence" as R3 got in the way of F6. And then F6 came within a few feet of it as it dropped inside the fence.