This almost happened in last night's game and I was curious to see what the ruling would have been.
HYPOTHETICAL: Batter hits a squibber down the first base line. Batter runs down the line near the ball. Pitcher also goes to the ball but does not attempt to field the ball as he is watching waiting for it to go foul. Batter and pitcher make unintentional contact, i.e. pitcher in watching ball, inadverdently moves into basepath and batter cannot avoid in time.
Interference? I don't have the rulebook atm but I recall the fielder needs to be making a play on the ball for interference to be called. Or does that not matter as he is the closest and therefore a protected player no matter what he is doing.
Thanks for the responses!
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