Umpire Interference or Not?
A close friend who used to take care of me during my Triple A series in Toledo saw the following play and emailed me looking for an answer. It seems like a good one to share with our readers. Click comment below and share your ruling and reason(s) for coming to that conclusion. Thanks for being involved.
Jim LaBuhn writes: While watching the Tigers a few night ago this play happened and I thought it was a dead ball. So here it is RULES man………Tigers have men on 1st and second, no outs, Sheffield is at bat. The umpire working second base was on the infield grass behind pitcher’s mound. Sheffield hits a screamer that hits the second base umpire in the back of the calf and the ball bounces away. The fielder still tried to make a play at first but Sheffield was safe. I thought that if the umpire is in front of the fielder(s), the ball is dead and the batter is awarded a single. If you have your rule book it looks like it is 5.09 section!
I realize that we were not there (and we are not trying to second guess the umpires), but let’s share our thinking.
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No, we can’t second guess, but we can ask a question. Is there any possibility that the ball grazed the pitcher on its way up the middle before it struck the unfortunate blue? If so, we have a ball in play and if Sheffield was fast enough down the line to beat the throw, ding, ding, ding, we have a runner.
is not the blue part of the field? doesnt matter where he is on the field. no interference
Actually, umpires hit by batted balls when there is a chance for an infielder to play the ball cause the ball to become dead and the batter runner put on first base, runners advance only if forced. This is similar to batted balls hitting runners except no one is called out when it hits an umpire. Umpires can also interfere when they obstruct a catcher making a play on a stealing runner resulting in a dead ball, runners return.
It is immportant to share that if the infielders are in a position that they will not be able to make a play on the batted ball that hit the umpire, then there is no interference and, yes, “blue” is part of the field in this situation. Also, if the umpire is behind the first or third baseman and no other player has the opportunity to make a play on the ball, the ball remains alive if it hits the umpire. This is the same rule for players.
Have you ever seen a player on first hit by a batted ball just a few steps off first base when the first baseman was holding the runner (or a situation with the infielders in close to the grass to make a play at home) and a batted ball hits any runner)? This should not be interference. I bet some of you have missed this call. Surely most spectators and fans do not understand this rule or most of the interference and obstruction rulings.
There are two different possibilities of an umpire getting hit with a baseball. 1)A thrown ball by a defensived player; i.e. catcher. 2)A batted ball hits an umpire. I the first case if an umpire is hit by a thrown ball, the ball remains a live ball and in play. In the second case if in the umpire’s judgement, if a defensive player (pitcher) had the opportunity to make a play on the batted ball or actually made and attempt to catch the batted ball, its a live ball and in play. If in the umpire’s judgement no defensive player had an opportunity to make a play on the ball prior to the ball hitting the umpire, its a dead ball. Runners may advance one base if not already done so.
Happend to us this weekend, so I was out looking for how that play should be scored. I did the right thing scoring it as a Hit.
Everything happens in Swedish baseball…
This play just happened in the Colorado Rockies vs LA Dodgers game tonight. With runners on 1st and 3rd, a Rockies batter hit a ball up the middle that hit the umpire and bounded into center field. One would think that the ball was live, but once it hit the umpire it was ruled a dead ball because the LA second baseman was deemed in position to make a play on the ball. Only runners that were “forced” to advance were allowed to advance a base. The runner at 3rd was not allowed to advance and the bases became loaded.
Thanks for bing involved in the blog. Yes, it is a judgement play whether an infielder behind you might have a play on the ball. Remember the “might have a play” as we cannot simply look at it as being interference if the player can make the play which we use as criteria when calling interference on a player/coach.
My understanding of rule 5.09f is that the Pitcher is NOT considered a fielder when deciding if a infielder has had a chance to make a play on a ball.
5.09(f) A fair ball touches a runner or an umpire on fair territory before it touches an
infielder including the pitcher, or touches an umpire before it has passed an infielder
other than the pitcher.
Rule 5.09(f) Comment: If a fair ball touches an umpire working in the infield after it has bounded
past, or over, the pitcher, it is a dead ball. If a batted ball is deflected by a fielder in fair territory and hits
a runner or an umpire while still in flight and then caught by an infielder it shall not be a catch, but the
ball shall remain in play.
Avery,
Thanks for contributing to the blog. Your understanding of 5.09f is correct; is someone trying to tell you differently? If the pitcher should touch the ball on the way by, then all bets are off and we have a live ball, whether the ball touches an umpire or a runner. Good luck in the coming season
I am confused by the blogs read–I tried to interpret the comments in light of this exact situation that happened to my son’s team tonight. A shot up the middle of the field, no chance to field the ball by anyone in the infield, including the pitcher, umpire standing in the middle could not get out of the way and it hit him. He immediately called it a dead ball and the batter got first base, and our 2nd base runner had to return to 2nd. Seems like the umpire should have first determined if any infielders could have fielded the ball. They could not, so it should have been a live ball, correct?
Great question! First of all, we must understand that this game situation requires that the umpire err on the side of the defense. This means that as an umpire you must be very sure that no infielder could make a play on the ball. Now, since that is the interpretation, rule discussions amongst umpires are apt to convince umpires that they should not kill the ball unless it has passed an infielder and another also does NOT have a play on the ball. Simplifying all of this, umpires may walk away from these discussions thinking to just kill the ball and rule umpire interference with runners only advancing if forced.
A related difficult call occurs when the first baseman is playing in on the grass or even holding the runner and releasing onto the infield side of the baseline and a ball is directly hit which strikes the runner close to first base. Theoretically and by rule, this is not interference by the runner and the ball should be kept alive. I always was frustrated by the runner between first and second being struck by a batted ball and the runner always being called out for interference.
Unless I am misinterpreting this rule or there is a new casebook rule covering this situation, you have a valid point. Maybe we can communicate these situations with the rules committee at the National Federation so they can add a casebook play or make a note in the rulebook to better clarify these situations. Hopefully some people coming here to the blog can enlighten us as well. We all should also know that an umpire simply has to state, ‘In my opinion, I believe that one of the infielders might have had a play on the batted ball’, in order to prevent a protest and cause the call to stand whether right or wrong. Protests cannot be made on judgement calls by the umpires.
Thanks for making the effort to find answers before stringing up the umpire. Educating ourselves must be the priority. After all, mistakes are made by all including the umpires and we must understand that mistakes are part of the game.
We had a case of the umpire being hit by a ball while positioned in front of second base. He immediately called the play dead and awarded the hitter first base, this forced the runners on first and second forward one base (bases loaded). The home umpire then conferred with the base ump telling him that the ball actually went off the pitchers glove and that the ball should have remained live. The ball caromed off the umpire into left field (there was no play after the ball struck the umpire). It was the decision of the home ump to bring the batter back to the plate and return the runners to their original base, basically a redo. Is this correct?
Once the base umpire threw his hands in the air and killed the play by rule the batter is awarded first base and all forced runners would advance one base. The plate umpire has no right under the rules to call a do over. The rules state that no umpire can seek to overrule another umpire, so all the plate umpire could do by rule is give the base umpire information, the rule also give a ruling of what to do with the ball is dead prior to the batter runner reaching first. In reading the post you said that the ball went into left field, why would you bring the batter back at bat? It sounds like by killing the ball it put the offensive team at a disadvantage from being able to advance beyond the one base awarded.
regarding the DO-OVER lol, its not do-able but to lighten things up it was done ONCE in minors by the most controversial ump that officiated games for american league briefly b4 he was giving the hammer. RON LUCIANO in minors once could not make a call at plate following a close call on runner from 3rd on tag up to left field. after a long argument by both managers and fellow ump they agreed to a DO-OVER and gv ball to left fielder in approx area and had runner again ready to leave as luciano said GO lmao runner beat throw.
Tonight in the Phillies game Joe West (home plate umpire) called Victorino back after he went first to third following an errant throw to first by the Washington catcher because the catcher’s hand hit Joe West in the chest on the take-back before the throw causing the ball to sail over the first baseman’s head.
Wilson in the above comment was disgruntled by an umpire enforcing the rules. I deleted her negative comments about the situation. I challenge you to look in your pro rulebook and share the rule so Wilson can see that the correct ruling was made. I wondered myself about this rule, but over time I learned that it is only fair. One cannot expect the catcher to see what is going on behind him.
The pertinent rule relating to Wilson’s comment on August 19, 2008 is Rule 5.09(b)
5.09 The ball becomes dead and runners advance one base, or return to their bases, without liability to be put out, when—
(a) A pitched ball touches a batter, or his clothing, while in his legal batting position; runners, if forced, advance;
(b) The plate umpire interferes with the catcher’s throw; runners may not advance.
While that may seem harsh, to allow the play to go on, ignoring the umpire interference, would be even more of a travesty. The plate umpire has to be close enough to the catcher to watch the pitch all the way into the glove so that he/she can accurately call the pitch what it is, ball or strike. The down side of that close position is that, on occasion, the umpire gets in the way of the catcher trying to make a throw. When that happens, we must level the playing field again by bringing everyone back and removing the advantage given the offense when the umpire’s body caused the the defense not to be able to make the play it had intended to make. In the Phillies – Nationals game, not only did the Nationals not get the opportunity to make the play it had intended, it made a play it certainly had not intended to make, The ball whizzed over the first baseman’s head on account of umpire interference. Abner Doubleday, in his wisdom, never intended for the home plate umpires, by dint their geographical propinquity to the catcher, to affect the outcome of a play. If they interfere with a play, we have to call it back. Joe West got it right.
Dear Steve, dear Shawn,
I am the publisher of a German umpire magazine, which in its newest edition discusses 5.09(f).
The magazine, called “e-MAG”, refers to “passes by a fielder” as ‘the fielder having had a chance to play the ball’ – just like in the comments posted in this blog.
One of our readers, who has been a participant of Jim Evans’ Acadamy of Professional Umpiring wrote: “This situation cannot be compared with the runner. If, senn from home plate, the umpire is further away than a fielder and he (the umpire) is then hit, the game continuous, regardless of whether or nor the fielder could have played the ball.
OBR is phrased in a way that does support what so far has been written in this blog. But obviously, there seeem to be other interpretations. Are you familiar with what the Professional Schools teach, and is there more than one interpretation in professional baseball.
Thanks for your time and your effort.
Greetings from Germany.
From all that I have ever known, if a fielder might have a play on the batted ball and the ball hits an umpire, even if it has passed one fielder, umpire interference should be called. When in doubt, err on the side of calling it umpire interference. The one that worries me is the ball hit down first baseline with the fielder holding the runner and the umpire behind the base is hit by a batted ball. The ball is live if fair. Don’t kill this! Also remember if the ball deflects off the pitcher (or any fielder) and then hits the umpire, the ball remains live with no umpire interference.
I did attend umpire school and this is what I was taught. I think your friend at the Evan’s Academy might have misunderstood. Passing a fielder means the fielder had a chance to play the ball and no fielder behind would have the same chance to play the ball.
In my experience, the worst situation arises when an obvious single headed to the outfield strikes an umpire and umpire interference is called. In my opinion, simply awarding the batter-runner first base and moving runners one base, if forced, punishes the defense unfairly.
John,
Shawn is right on, the fielder must have a chance to play the ball.
Infield in, base umpire positions himself behind the infielders, batter hits the ball back up the middle, no fielder has a play on the ball, the ball then strikes the base umpire. This would still be considered umpire interference.
P.S. where you in Bangor for the SLWS?
What happens here. I was umpiring a game last night and this is the first time this ever happened to me. The plate umpire went out to see if the ball was going to be fair or foul. It landed between first base and home. While he was watching the ball, the runner on third was going home. The pitcher grabbed the ball while it was fair and threw it to the catcher. It would have been a close play, but the runner who was going home ran into the umpire who was in the 3rd base line and the runner never touched home. Is he safe, out? What happens here?