Let me say first of all that I have been a student, player and coach of the game of baseball my entire life. I decided this year to try my hand at Cal Ripken umpiring. I thought it would be easy but came away with a new respect for umpires. Anyway, here's the play: Runner on first and second no count on the batter and one out. Batter hits pop fly one foot in front of the first base bag. Firstbaseman has an easy play on the ball but the runner runs over him before he touches the ball. The ball rolls foul.Runner on second goes to third. Make the call. I blew it during the speed of the game but I think I got it now.

. Anyway, here's the play: Runner on first and second no count on the batter and one out. Batter hits pop fly one foot in front of the first base bag. Firstbaseman has an easy play on the ball but the runner runs over him before he touches the ball. The ball rolls foul.Runner on second goes to third. Make the call. I blew it during the speed of the game but I think I got it now.

 

How many outs? If less than 2 I assumed your first call was infield fly batter out. The collision would be an interference call. Runners return.

How many outs? If less than 2 I assumed your first call was infield fly batter out. The collision would be an interference call. Runners return.

 

You made the same call I made. I feel it's the wrong call. Think about it.

You made the same call I made. I feel it's the wrong call. Think about it.

 

Its not a foul ball /batter still batting. The interference made the play an out.

 

Dead ball. Batter out. Runners stay at their bases.

Its not a foul ball /batter still batting. The interference made the play an out.

 

Dead ball. Batter out. Runners stay at their bases.

Exact call I made. Here's what I think, You can not assume the out on the batter. The rule is infield fly if fair. Should be one strike on the batter, runner on first is out.

Exact call I made. Here's what I think, You can not assume the out on the batter. The rule is infield fly if fair. Should be one strike on the batter, runner on first is out.

 

Disagree. Otherwise you make the first baseman fair game for a runner. Batter is out as soon as the umpire determines BR interfered. Since the BR never acquired first base all runners go back to the base they were on at time of pitch.

The base runner that made contact was the runner on first not the batter. On contact he froze when the first baseman broke for the ball he broke for second and knocked him down.

Exact call I made. Here's what I think, You can not assume the out on the batter. The rule is infield fly if fair. Should be one strike on the batter, runner on first is out.

 

The batter is out not because of the infield fly, as your explanation makes it clear the ball was foul, but the 1B runner would be out for interference. The ball doesn't have to be hit fairly for runner interference to occur, though it probably wouldn't occur all that frequently, nor does the interference by the runner have to be intentional (which it doesn't appear to have been in this case).