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Runner on 1B, Ground ball hit to F4, R1 just beats the ball on his way to second base, F4 loses sight of the ball for an instant when R1 goes by. Second baseman is two steps from the base path behind R1,  No contact was made byR1 with the ball or the fielder. Ball gets by F4 as he lost sight of it as R1 went by,  Do you have a case for interference?  R1 made no obvious attempt to time his run so as to intentionally hinder the fielder,  But my understanding is that interference need not be intentional.

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My 2017 son recently informed me that he has deliberately slowed down A BIT between 1b and 2B or 2B and 3B to obscure a fielder's ability to see and react to the ball if they are playing deep. If it is obvious, he won't do it, but if a little hesitation and jumping out of the way of the ball can help, he's done it, but maybe 1-2 times per season (tops). As far as I know, he's never gotten called call on interference for doing it.

If R1 was running normally, and if R1's path didn't cause F4 to "pull up", then it's legal.

 

(And sometimes it's hard to tell if R1 caused F4 to pull up, or if F4 just chose to stop charging the ball.  the higher you go, the more you're going to expect F4 to "play normally" and force the interference call -- if it's there)

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