Daniel Wroblewski

Certainly with a batted ball, a catcher who is trying to get to the ball and a runner who is runner to first collide — this is nothing, unless:

• There is intentional contact by either catcher or runner.
• The umpire decides that another fielder is protected to field the ball.
• The time a fielder is called for interference is when he is looking at the ball and not running.

Is a dropped 3rd strike different? The rule talks about a catcher fielding the ball, and does not explicitly say it is only a batted ball. It seems to me to be nothing.

• No, the entire batters box is not in foul territory.
• The little small triangle is in fair territory (if I understand correctly). More precisely, fair/foul territory is defined by fair/foul line and not affected by batter’s box.
• If the ball settles in this area, it is fair.
• If while starting to run to first he hits the ball, I believe he would be safe and the ball foul, as long as the umpire did not think it intentional. The rule is if “his fair ball touches him before touching a fielder” and I would think that if the ball settles on the ground, and he runs into it, this is a foul ball. But I could see others interpreting as interference.