INTERFERENCE
The
runner must avoid a fielder who is attempting to field a batted ball. The
fielder's protection begins the moment the ball is hit. That protection
continues as he completes his initial play, up through the act of throwing.=
His
protection ends if he misplays the batted ball and has to move more than a =
step
and a reach to recover it. Umpire school manual.
Contact
with the fielder is not necessary for interference to be called. If the run=
ner does
not avoid the fielder, the ball is dead and he is out. No other runners may
advance beyond the base they last held at the time of the interference. Rule
7.09(L). If the batter-runner has not reached first base, runners remain at
their bases held at the time-of-pitch. 7.08(b)
If
a fielder is in the base path and attempting to field a batted ball, the ru=
nner
must avoid him. The fielder is protected even if he is not in the path and =
then
moves into the path. The runner has the responsibility to avoid the fielder
wherever he may move to try to field the ball. If the runner does not avoid=
the
fielder, it is interference whether the act was intentional or not. 7.08(b). =
If
a fielder is not in the base p=
ath,
the runner is considered to have avoided the fielder, if the runner stays in
the path. Running in the base path in front of a fielder, who is not in the
path, is NOT interference. The
runner has a right to the path when the fielder is not in the path. However,
the runner must simply run in the path. If he does something while in the p=
ath
that, in the umpire’s judgment, was intent to hinder or interfere with
the fielder, he may be called out even while in the path or after having
avoided the fielder.