Batter interference?

[john4850]

Situation. , Runner at 2B & Ball 4 in the dirt off the catchers chest protector that bounces towards the 1B dugout, approx 10’ foot off the plate in foul territory.
 

Batter tosses bat towards his 3B dugout &  starts walking towards 1B.  The catcher obviously leaves the catcher’s box & picks the ball up in the grass and tries to throw the runner out at third attempting to steal.  The runner stealing third is almost standing on the base as the catcher releases the ball. There’s no play there. 

Home plate umpire  calls “batter interfere” because batter is close to the catchers throwing line, 10’ out of the batter’s box in the 1B line headed towards 1st  

Was this a correct call?

i’m thinking that since the catcher has left the catchers box to retrieve the ball, he is no longer a catcher, and no longer entitled to any kind of catchers privileges, he is a fielder. The batter is no longer a batter since it is ball four and he left the batters box before the catcher was able to get to the ball that bounced off his chest protector and he is now a “runner.”

The catcher took a step to his left to avoid hitting the batter in the helmet with his throw and now that I reviewed the video, the batter did duck his head because he was worried about getting drilled in the ear hole andthat’s when the umpire called batter interference. 
 

And, is the “batter” that is now out of the batters box going towards 1B even considered a “batter” any longer. 
 

If not, then I guess the umpire can’t call “batter interference.”

[jimurrayalterego]

54 minutes ago, john4850 said:

Situation. , Runner at 2B & Ball 4 in the dirt off the catchers chest protector that bounces towards the 1B dugout, approx 10’ foot off the plate in foul territory.
 

Batter tosses bat towards his 3B dugout &  starts walking towards 1B.  The catcher obviously leaves the catcher’s box & picks the ball up in the grass and tries to throw the runner out at third attempting to steal.  The runner stealing third is almost standing on the base as the catcher releases the ball. There’s no play there. 

Home plate umpire  calls “batter interfere” because batter is close to the catchers throwing line, 10’ out of the batter’s box in the 1B line headed towards 1st  

Was this a correct call?

i’m thinking that since the catcher has left the catchers box to retrieve the ball, he is no longer a catcher, and no longer entitled to any kind of catchers privileges, he is a fielder. The batter is no longer a batter since it is ball four and he left the batters box before the catcher was able to get to the ball that bounced off his chest protector and he is now a “runner.”

The catcher took a step to his left to avoid hitting the batter in the helmet with his throw and now that I reviewed the video, the batter did duck his head because he was worried about getting drilled in the ear hole andthat’s when the umpire called batter interference. 
 

And, is the “batter” that is now out of the batters box going towards 1B even considered a “batter” any longer. 
 

If not, then I guess the umpire can’t call “batter interference.”

Batter became a runner on ball four. Runners, performing as normal, cannot be called out for interference with a throw unless you judge intent which doesn't seem the case in your OP.

[john4850]

Thanks for the reply.  I agree  

After I posted, I called a friend of mine that used to umpire high school and Junior college and some D1 college games  

He said that once the catcher left the catchers box to chase the ball, all bets were off and it become a normal play with the catcher, having no special rights since he is no longer throwing from the catchers box through an occupied batters box  

He has seen the events I described before, but he’d never seen any umpire make that call because the runner is entitled to the baseline as long as he is just running to first  

I spoke to the home plate empire after the game & he first told me that the catcher has the right to throw unimpeded to a base.

So I asked him what if the ball rolled far enough that the first basement picked it up and tried to throw to third, would he make the same call?  He said “no, because he’s not the catcher.”

So I asked him how far the catcher can run out of the catchers box before his throw becomes a normal throw, and he paused and said “you may be right, I’m gonna have to do some thinking on that play. I’ve never seen it.  

He also said that the catcher, being that he is a catcher has the right to have a clear throw to any base, regardless of whether he is in the catchers box or not.

I told them that he may want to think on that one also, because I have coached for well over 20 years and even done some umpiring and I’ve never heard it said where the catcher has special throwing privileges even if a ball is bunted in front of home plate. 

We told each other to have a good day and we left it at that  😁

Another thought, a friend of mine umpired for many years and he told me one time that if you see something on a baseball field that you’ve never seen before, don’t make a call because you’re probably gonna make the wrong call  😁

 

 

 

[jimurrayalterego]

1 hour ago, john4850 said:

Thanks for the reply.  I agree  

After I posted, I called a friend of mine that used to umpire high school and Junior college and some D1 college games  

He said that once the catcher left the catchers box to chase the ball, all bets were off and it become a normal play with the catcher, having no special rights since he is no longer throwing from the catchers box through an occupied batters box  

This does not make sense. It does n't matter where the catcher was. The batter had become a runner. The catcher had no special rights no matter wher he was.

He has seen the events I described before, but he’d never seen any umpire make that call because the runner is entitled to the baseline as long as he is just running to first  

I spoke to the home plate empire after the game & he first told me that the catcher has the right to throw unimpeded to a base.

He is wrong

So I asked him what if the ball rolled far enough that the first basement picked it up and tried to throw to third, would he make the same call?  He said “no, because he’s not the catcher.”

So I asked him how far the catcher can run out of the catchers box before his throw becomes a normal throw, and he paused and said “you may be right, I’m gonna have to do some thinking on that play. I’ve never seen it. 

He also said that the catcher, being that he is a catcher has the right to have a clear throw to any base, regardless of whether he is in the catchers box or not.

He should not do some thinking, he should do some reading, and maybe attending some clinics.

I told them that he may want to think on that one also, because I have coached for well over 20 years and even done some umpiring and I’ve never heard it said where the catcher has special throwing privileges even if a ball is bunted in front of home plate.

What is more important is that you never read it, not heard it said. "heard it said" is how many amateur guys who get paid to call  balls, strikes safes, outs and put a blue shirt on think that that they know the rules. I don't call them umpires. 

We told each other to have a good day and we left it at that  😁

Another thought, a friend of mine umpired for many years and he told me one time that if you see something on a baseball field that you’ve never seen before, don’t make a call because you’re probably gonna make the wrong call  😁

That would be true because your friend probably is in the percentage of amatuer umpires who have not read a rulebook or attended an umpire clinic. That being said we still need them to umpire and you need to know how to deal with that which I think you did pretty well assuming protests aren't a thing in your league.

 

 

 

 

[Richvee]

Why are you so hung up on the  catcher’s box? There’s no reference to the catcher’s box in any rule set  regarding batter or runner interference. As @jimurrayalterego has pointed out, this is simply a runner interfering with a throw, which must be intentional or it’s nothing. 

[john4850]

Rich,

I’m really not hung up on the catcher’s box at all.  The umpire brought up the catcher being in the catcher’s box has a right to an unimpeded throw to 3B, which I would disagree with. He has a right to make the throw & not be intentionally impeded by a batter.  
 

The batter remaining in the batters box for an instant after ball four is not interference. I’ve seen umpires call batters out because they didn’t try and get out of the box to let the catcher throw to 3rd  

I was just pointing out to the umpire that the catcher,when throwing down to 3B, can’t run around chasing wild pitches & have the umpire give him leeway because he is a catcher  

Also, this is 16year old baseball at 105°, & this is what you get. Some tournaments  have trouble getting empires, so it’s best to do like I did and ask after the game,
 

If I really wanted to jack with him, I would’ve asked him what the call would be if the catcher had stepped up onto the top of the plate to receive the pitch. 
 

I had that happen years ago in a National 14 year-old tournament when my runner stealing home was tagged out by a catcher that received the pitch as he stepped up onto the plate and prevented my batter from protecting my runner with a swing   When I called time and went out to question the call, the infield  umpire got involved  and he agreed the catcher can’t come out from behind the plate and keep a batter from swinging. So, my runner was awarded home  

 

[grayhawk]

James and Rich have it right and made it simple because it is. The status of the offensive player changed from batter to runner, and the elements for calling interference changed with it. Batter's interference does not require intent, whereas runner interference with a thrown ball does require intent. Where the catcher was is 100% irrelevant.

[Kevin_K]

11 hours ago, john4850 said:

He has a right to make the throw & not be intentionally impeded by a batter.  

Batter interference with F2 does not need to be intentional