noumpere posted:roothog66 posted:IN my mind, though, I'm trying to picture how he "interfered. "Getting in the way of" and "interfered with" are not the same thing.
Maybe this helps (or maybe not).
The play meets the DEFINITION of Interference -- that is, the offense altered the play.
But, not every "alteration of play" has a penalty -- only those listed in rule 8. The definition allows the rules writers to just use the word "Interference" in the penalty section instead of constantly repeating "hinders, confuses, alters the play ..."
If they meant ALL interference to be an out, then the rule / penalty would only be one sentence, instead of containing such qualifiers as "intentionally" or "thrown ball" or "batted ball before it passes a fielder" etc.
My response was to the OP's description as "got in the way" of the first baseman fielding the throw back to first. I'm just not picturing how the runner, sliding back into first, could be doing anything that would meet the standard.