The Ole Ball Game

interference

Ty Cobb Doing What Was Legal, Back In The Day!

Ty Cobb Doing What Was Legal, Back In The Day!

Anonymous asked: Runners on first and second, batter hits the ball, third baseman goes to field the ball and tag the runner.

The runner throws his shoulder up and plows into third baseman.

Is that not interference?

The runner should have been out right?


Rick answered: Thank you for your question.

Section 4 Runner is Out(NFHS Rulebook)

Art 2...any runner is out when he:

c. does not legally attempt to avoid a fielder in the immediate act of making a play on him.

Penalty: The runner is out, the ball remains live unless interference is called.


You are correct, the runner should have been out and interference should have been called.

Based on your description of the play in real time, the runner should also have been ejected. At the high school level, that ejection carries with it a suspension for the next game as well.

Runners have a right to, and are required to, legally avoid a fielder in the process of fielding a ball.

Your situation must have become a pretty heated discussion. I would be interested in knowing what the umpire's justification was for a "no call".

Baseball has gone through many revisions over time, most designed for the safety of the players.

The image above of Ty Cobb putting a feet first, crunching slide into a catcher was the standard for the time. Players had basic equipment, and few rules to protect their health and well being.

Early baseball was not always for the meek and timid.

Yours in baseball,

Rick

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