Runner Interference?

[AndrewGeorge]

Had a runner called out this weekend for interference and I am looking for another umpires clarification. The umpire that called it was very nice and took the time to explain to me what he saw and why he called it but I would still like to see what others think.

Situation:

Runner on 1st, zero outs.

Ground ball hit toward fielder. Runner takes off for second base and passes in front of the defender. Defender did not move forward at all, was positioned about 2 - 3 feet behind the basepath. The runner passed in front the the fielder before the ball (no contact between the fielder and runner, like I said 2 - 3 feet between them, and no contact between the ball and runner).

The fielder did flinch back just before fielding the ball, but did field the ball clean. It was a slower roller so they likely did not have a play at first (the throw never happened because the interference was called and killed the play).

The umpire was behind the fielder and explained to me that the reason it was interference is because by running in front of the defender and causing that defender to flinch he had to make the call. He said he has no way of seeing how close the runner was to the defender from his position. By the way, I was the first base coach so I had the angle to see the space between the players.

As stated earlier, the umpire was very calm and professional and took the time to explain exactly what and why he called and saw. I thanked him and we played on, but I would still like to know others thoughts are here. All of the umpires at the Troy NSA tourney this weekend were easy to work with and very social. Job well done there this weekend if anyone from there happens to see this and can pass it along.

 

[Louuuuu]

If everything happened the way you described it, it should have been a non-call. How does anyone know if the fielder wouldn't have "flinched" if there wasn't a base runner involved. There usually has to have real contact, or a deliberate attempt to interfere for that call to be made. Otherwise it's just an unfortunate near-miss.

 

[Canfieldcrush100]

I had a similar call in 14U on a pop up runner going from 2nd to 3rd, no contact 2 outs short stop muffed the catch behind base path ump called runner out for interference ending the inning. When I asked for explanation he said runner interfered with fielders line of vision. Similar plays all season long only called once, it's very subjective should be more clear cut rule with contact or perceived intent to interfere not an excuse for poor fielding.

 

[BretMan2]

Interfence sounds like a stretch here. Just running in front of a fielder isn't a rule violation. If the runner passed in front of the fielder before the ball even got there, and the fielder flinched just before fielding the ball, I take that the flinch came after the runner was already past her. So I'm not sure how the runner's position or presence caused the fielder to flinch.

Keep in mind that most interference calls are judgment calls, you really need to see it for yourself to know how you'd judge it, and not everyone's judgment will be identical.

 

[AndrewGeorge]

Thanks Bret (and others). I think we are all seeing it the same way. I understand completely on judgement calls and as I said earlier, this umpire was very friendly and took the time to talk to me (after the inning of course, I did not even bring it up til then). He said almost exactly what you said Bret, it has to call it from his POV at that time and in his opinion it was the runner passing in front of the fielder that caused her to flinch.