Had a scrimmage game tonight and two plays got me thinking.
1. Runner on first and a weak pop up just behind firstbase. Firstbaseman was holding runner and he bounced off the bag when the ball was thrown so the firstbaseman and runner are pretty close to each other. When the ball went up and the first baseman turned to run back he and the runner bumped into each other. Nothing violent or intentional (IMO - and I was a defensive coach - the kid pretty much froze on a ball in the air like he is supposed to). Anyway the firstbaseman just misses the catch and both runners end up safe. We asked for interference but they didn't give it to us.
After the inning is over I asked the plate ump why no interference call. He said it has to be intentional and it's written in the rulebook that way. Is that correct? I always thought the runner had to make every allowance to the fielder to make the play.
2. Hit and run with runner going to second and the batter swings and misses. His momentum carries him across the plate but the catcher gets a good throw off. I personally did not see any kind of interference on the throw because there was a fair amount of space between the two. The ump said the runner at second was out because the batter crossed over the plate.
I reread the thread titled this from several months ago but it never said the batter coming across the plate was an automatic call. Is the batter coming across the plate automatic or a rule of thumb or still judgement?
Thanks guys
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