by David Nemec
An extreme example of the way a quick-thinking fielder could take advantage of the absence of an infield fly rule was displayed in an American Association game at Cincinnati on June 22, 1882, between Cincinnati and the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. In the bottom of the 14th, with Cincinnati ahead, 5–2, Pittsburgh had Mike Mansell on second base and Ed Swartwood on first with none out when John Peters lifted an easy pop toward Cincinnati shortstop Chick Fulmer. After pretending to set himself for a catch, Fulmer let the ball drop and then scooped it up and fired to second baseman Bid McPhee. In swift order, McPhee tagged Mansell, who had remained on second base, and then touched the bag to force Swartwood. After McPhee returned the ball to pitcher Will White, White heeded a shout from his first baseman Henry Luff, directing his attention to Peters, who in disgust had not bothered to run out the popup, and fired to first to end the longest major-league game ever that culminated with a walk-off triple play (as Cincinnati, the home team, had batted first).
5.09 (a) (8)
After hitting or bunting a fair ball, his bat hits the ball a second time in fair territory. The ball is dead and no runners may advance. If the batter-runner drops his bat and the ball rolls against the bat in fair territory and, in the umpire’s judgment, there was no intention to interfere with the course of the ball, the ball is alive and in play. If the batter is in a legal position in the batter’s box, see Rule 5.04 (b) (5), and, in the umpire’s judgment, there was no intention to interfere with the course of the ball, a batted ball that strikes the batter or his bat shall be ruled a foul ball;
Since the foul lines intersect the batter’s box in such a way that the vast majority of it is in foul territory, the home plate umpire will almost always give the batter the benefit of the doubt if a ball hits his bat twice while he is still in the box. The same is generally true of balls that strike part of a batter’s body after hitting his bat.
So rarely does an umpire rule a batter out in such a case that a protest is almost de rigueur when it happens. In a 1976 game on August 10 at Shea Stadium between the Mets and San Diego Padres, plate umpire John McSherry voided a sacrifice bunt attempt by Mets rookie Leon Brown in the bottom of the sixth inning and deemed it interference, claiming Brown’s bat made contact with the ball twice. Mets manager Joe Frazier lodged the expected protest, but it was withdrawn when the Mets won the game, 5–4.
An example of a more commonly seen batter’s interference call occurred in the bottom of the fourth at Arizona on August 2, 2019, between the Diamondbacks and Nationals. Leading off the frame against Washington’s Joe Ross, Arizona outfielder Adam Jones hit a chopper near the plate that bounced up and hit him in the shoulder as he was heading toward first. Because, in plate umpire Bill Miller’s judgment, he had completely left the batters’ box and the ball hit him in fair territory, Jones was called out for interference. The play was scored as an unassisted putout by Washington catcher Yan Gomes. Far more memorable for most spectators than Jones’s atypical out was that the Nationals used five pitchers in winning a combined 3–0 shutout.
Rule 5.09 (a) (8) Comment: If a bat breaks and part of it is in fair territory and is hit by a batted ball or part of it hits a runner or fielder, play shall continue and no interference called. If a batted ball hits part of a broken bat in foul territory, it is a foul ball.
Rule 5.09 (a) (8) is complex, and even then it does not cover every contingency. For instance, when a bat breaks and strikes a pitched ball not just once, not just twice, but three times, all seemingly in fair territory. Yes, it has actually happened. On October 22, 2012, at San Francisco’s AT&T Park in Game Seven of the NLCS between the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals, Giants outfielder Hunter Pence, who had been struggling at the plate during the entire postseason, grounded a bases-loaded double to center field in the third inning off the Cardinals’ Kyle Lohse that brought home all three runners (one on an error) and broke the game wide open, with the Giants later winning, 9–0. Slow motion cameras and instant replay revealed that Pence’s bat had broken on initial contact and it looked at first as if Pence would hit into a double play. But Cards shortstop Pete Kozma, after taking a step to his right, where the ball seemed headed, could not change course quickly enough when subsequent contact with Pence’s shattered and crooked but still somehow intact bat propelled it to Kozma’s left side, where it trickled into center field, leading to three runs.
Giants outfielder Hunter Pence’s bases-loaded “broken” broken-bat double in Game Seven of the 2012 NLCS off the Cards’ Kyle Lohse swiftly turned the affair into a 9-0 rout.
After the game, Cards outfielder Lance Berkman complained, “It hit the bat three times. It was actually an illegal hit, but there’s no way you can expect an umpire to see that.” But Berkman was wrong. Rule 5.09 (a) (8) demonstrates that even though he couldn’t possibly have seen Pence’s inadvertent bat machinations, plate umpire Gary Darling made the right call.
5.09 (a) (10)
After a third strike or after he hits a fair ball, he or first base is tagged before he touches first base;
Every fan has seen a batter try to pull away from or hold up on a pitch only to have it hit his bat and dribble into fair territory, rendering him an easy out. At one time balls that were hit unintentionally in this manner were not necessarily considered in play even if they went fair. Until 1892, whether a batter meant to hit a pitch that trickled off his bat was a matter for an umpire to judge. If it seemed the ball had been struck unintentionally, it was ruled dead and not counted as a pitch. Increasingly, however, during the late 1880s, umpires would rule the ball in play regardless of what they perceived the hitter’s intent was, their logic being that no batter was about to let himself be deprived when a checked swing resulted in an accidental base hit.
But umpires in that era were particularly vulnerable to being talked out of their calls or influenced by the desire to appease such contentious players as Cap Anson or King Kelly, so a rule was inserted prior to the 1892 season clarifying that any fairly delivered ball that struck a batter’s bat was in play if it went fair regardless of whether or not the batter intentionally meant to hit the ball.
5.09 (a) (11)
In running the last half of the distance from home base to first base, while the ball is being fielded to first base, he runs outside (to the right of) the three-foot line, or inside (to the left of) the foul line, and in the umpire’s judgment in so doing interferes with the fielder taking the throw at first base, in which case the ball is dead; except that he may run outside (to the right of) the three-foot line or inside (to the left of) the foul line to avoid a fielder attempting to field a batted ball;
Rule 5.09 (a) (11) Comment: The lines marking the three-foot lane are a part of that lane and a batter-runner is required to have both feet within the three-foot lane or on the lines marking the lane. The batter-runner is permitted to exit the three-foot lane by means of a step, stride, reach or slide in the immediate vicinity of first base for the sole purpose of touching first
The three-foot boundary outside the first base foul line was first contained in the playing rules for 1858. In 1882, the National League mandated that the three-foot line had to be marked on the field in all its parks, but the American Association did not require it to be marked until three years later.
Normally, a batter is allowed to run either within the three-foot boundary or inside the first-base line, but there are notable exceptions. One is on a bunt fielded by the catcher or pitcher when a runner can impede the throw to first if he runs inside the line. In Game Four of the 1969 World Series on October 15 at Shea Stadium, with the score tied, 1–1, in the bottom of the 10th, New York Mets catcher J. C. Martin, who was pinch-hitting for pitcher Tom Seaver, dropped down a sacrifice bunt with runners on first and second. Baltimore pitcher Pete Richert fielded the ball and fired it to first baseman Boog Powell. But Richert’s toss struck Martin on the wrist and bounded off into foul territory as pinch-runner Rod Gaspar raced home with the winning run. The Orioles screamed that Martin had run
the last half of the distance to first illegally inside the foul line, but the umpires disagreed and the run stood. A videotape of the play made it appear that Baltimore had a valid case and that the run should have been nullified, with Martin ruled out. The 2–1 victory gave the Mets a formidable 3–1 Series lead and they won it the following day.
A less publicized but equally consequential violation that was disregarded occurred in Game Two of the American League Division Series between Cleveland and Baltimore at Camden Yards on October 2, 1996. In the bottom of the eighth inning of a 4–4 game, with the bases loaded and no outs, Orioles left fielder B. J. Surhoff hit a grounder up the middle that Indians reliever Paul Assenmacher speared and threw home to nail the lead runner. Tribe catcher Sandy Alomar then prepared to throw Surhoff out at first base for an easy double play, but had to take a side step to avoid hitting Surhoff, who was running inside the first-base line. Alomar then threw wildly to first baseman Jeff Kent, allowing Cal Ripken Jr. to score and the Orioles to install runners on second and third with only one out. Tribe manager Mike Hargrove protested the path Surhoff took to first base in vain, and Baltimore eventually won the game, 7–4, to take an insurmountable 2–0 lead. Afterward, analysts agreed that plate umpire Greg Kosc would almost surely have called Surhoff out and the ball dead if Alomar had not tried to throw around Surhoff but simply drilled him in the back with the ball. If that were not irony enough, Cleveland’s Kenny Lofton had been called out earlier in the game for runner interference on a play at second base.
The 2019 World Series featured a controversial runner interference call against Washington made by plate umpire Sam Holbrook in Game Six at Houston that fortunately proved inconsequential, as the Nats won the game, 7–2. In the top of the seventh inning, with none out and Yan Gomes on first base, Washington shortstop Trea Turner hit a chopper toward third base that was fielded by Astros reliever Brad Peacock. Even though replays showed that Turner ran a straight line to first and appeared to beat Peacock’s throw to Yuli Gurriel, he was called out for interference when the throw hit him as he lunged for the bag and Gurriel’s glove came off in the contact between the two. Holbrook’s vehemently protested decision forced Gomes to return to first base with one out. Happily, Nats third baseman Anthony Rendon hit a two-run homer later in the inning to put the game out of reach and spare Holbrook the undying wrath of the Washington club. When Washington won again the following night, it marked the first World Series in which the road team won every game.
B. J. Surhoff. His controversial sprint from home to first base inside the foul line aided the Baltimore Orioles in taking a commanding 2–0 lead in games in their best-of-five ALDS against the Cleveland Indians in 1996.
5.09 (a) (13)
A preceding runner shall, in the umpire’s judgment, intentionally interfere with a fielder who is attempting to catch a thrown ball or to throw a ball in an attempt to complete any play;
Rule 5.09 (a) (13) Comment: The objective of this rule is to penalize the offensive team for deliberate, unwarranted, unsportsmanlike action by the runner in leaving the baseline for the obvious purpose of crashing the pivot man on a double play, rather than trying to reach the base. Obviously this is an umpire’s judgment play.
The most famous beneficiary of this rule was probably Orel Hershiser of the Los Angeles Dodgers. In 1988, Hershiser closed out the regular season with 59 straight scoreless innings to break the old record of 58, set in 1968 by another Dodgers pitching star, Don Drysdale. Like Drysdale, Hershiser needed a controversial umpire’s decision to keep his streak alive and, also like Drysdale, the decision came in a game against the rival San Francisco Giants.
On September 23, 1988, at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park, Hershiser allowed Jose Uribe to reach third base and Brett Butler first with one out in the third inning. Ernest Riles then hit a potential double-play grounder but beat the relay to first from Dodgers shortstop Alfredo Griffin as Uribe scored. Hershiser himself was certain the steak had ended after 42 scoreless innings. But when he glanced toward second base, he saw umpire Paul Runge signaling interference on Butler for sliding out of the baseline to hamper Griffin’s throw to first. The ruling meant that Riles and Butler were both out on an inning-ending twin killing that canceled Uribe’s run.
Hershiser went on to shut out the Giants, 3–0, running his skein to 49 consecutive scoreless innings. He then extended it to 59 against the San Diego Padres in his last start of the season on September 28, before being lifted for a reliever after the 10th of a 0–0 game that the Padres eventually won, 2–1, in 16 frames.
5.09 (b) Retiring a Runner
(3) He intentionally interferes with a thrown ball; or hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball (see Rule 6.01 (j));
Violations of Rule 5.09 (b) (3) are common and usually arouse little controversy when they are called by an umpire. When they are not called, however, the controversy has the potential to loom enormous. In the National League Wild Card Game at Wrigley Field on October 2, 2018—eventually won by Colorado, 2–1, in 13 innings—no one can even begin to hazard what would have broken loose if the Cubs had won the game in the bottom of the 11th frame after Cubs shortstop Javier Baez, running from second to third, gathered up Colorado third baseman Nolan Arenado in a bear hug as Arenado put the tag on him several feet from the third-base bag on a potential double-play ball.
The interference seemingly went unaddressed because Arenado put up no struggle to try for an inning-ending double play at either second or first. In baseball terms, he failed to “sell the play.” But Arenado’s arms were bound to such a degree by Baez that he would have had to forcibly wriggle his right arm free just to create the impression he was trying to make a throw, by which time a double play would have been an impossibility. Meanwhile, Baez had sold the bear hug as a good-natured collision in which he made no effort to avoid the tag. Had the Cubs gone on to secure the winning run in the 11th inning, however, Colorado manager Bud Black might have had a difficult time explaining to critics why he didn’t at least take issue with what would have instantly gone down in postseason history as “Baez’s Bear Hug.”
5.09 (b) (4)
He is tagged, when the ball is alive, while off his base.
APPROVED RULING: (A) If the impact of a runner breaks a base loose from its position, no play can be made on that runner at that base if he had reached the base safely.
APPROVED RULING: (B) If a base is dislodged from its position during a play, any following runner on the same play shall be considered as touching or occupying the base if, in the umpire’s judgment, he touches or occupies the point marked by the dislodged bag.
The rule in the National Association, the first professional league, was quite the opposite with regard to a base bag that broke loose from its moorings; a runner had to hold on to the wayward cushion or else he was subject to being tagged out.
Beginning in 1868, the bag (and not the part to which it was fastened) was considered to be the base. When a base thief slid so hard he tore the bag out of its socket, he had to chase it down before a fielder got to him with the ball. Likewise, if a runner kicked the bag loose as he rounded it, any runners coming along behind him were obliged to touch the bag, not the spot where it had been. This rule prevailed during the five-year existence of the National Association, but was dropped in 1876 as the National League prepared to open play in favor of the pre-1868 edict, which was an ancestor of the current rule that establishes a base at the spot where it is located rather than the bag itself.
5.09 (b) (5)
He fails to retouch his base after a fair or foul ball is legally caught before he, or his base, is tagged by a fielder. He shall not be called out for failure to retouch his base after the first following pitch, or any play or attempted play. This is an appeal play;
In the 1880 season, for the first time a baserunner was out if he failed to return to his original base after a caught foul fly before he was either tagged out or the ball reached his original base ahead of hi
m. Ever since 1876, runners had been allowed to return at their leisure on a foul ball without being subject to being put out but at the same time had been unable to tag up and advance if the foul was caught.
5.09 (b) (11)
He fails to return at once to first base after overrunning or oversliding that base. If he attempts to run to second he is out when tagged. If, after overrunning or oversliding first base he starts toward the dugout, or toward his position, and fails to return to first base at once, he is out, on appeal, when he or the base is tagged;
In 1871, a rule was first introduced stipulating a batter could overrun first base after touching it without being put out as long as he returned at once to the bag and made no attempt to try for second. This rule underwent many refinements over the years before it took on its present form. At the amateur and high school level, runners are taught to be careful to turn to their right whenever they overrun first so as not to leave their movements to an umpire’s judgment. In professional and college games, where the officiating is of higher quality, the first-base umpire will generally overlook a runner turning to his left toward second base unless he makes a distinctive move in that direction. Note that if a runner elects to slide, though, in an effort to beat a throw to first, before 1940 he was out if he slid past the bag and was tagged before he could return it.
5.09 (b) (12)
In running or sliding for home base, he fails to touch home base and makes no attempt to return to the base, when a fielder holds the ball in his hand, while touching home base, and appeals to the umpire for the decision;
Rule 5.09 (b) (12) Comment: This rule applies only where runner is on his way to the bench and the catcher would be required to chase him. It does not apply to the ordinary play where the runner misses the plate and then immediately makes an effort to touch the plate before being tagged. In that case, runner must be tagged.