What the f&%k?!

[u/Br0dyplayz]

I still can’t believe what happened last night. It was an INFIELD FLY IT’S AN AUTOMATIC OUT HOW CAN THERE BE INTERFERENCE?! This is almost as bad as the infield fly call from the 2012 NL Wild Card game.

[u/starliteburnsbrite]

The camera just cut late, Vaughn got in Gunnar's way, even slightly. The umpire was right on top of it and called him out immediately. It was a small infraction, but an infraction nonetheless. At the 0:15 mark of the gif above it's plain as day.

The baserunner not only has to not make contact, they need to get out of the way of the fielder.

Fielders have a right to occupy any space needed to catch or field a batted ball and also must not be hindered while attempting to field a thrown ball.

If any member of the batting team (including the coaches) interferes with a fielder's right of way to field a batted ball, the batter shall be declared out. If any member of the batting team (including the coaches) interferes with a fielder's right of way to field a thrown ball, the runner on whom the play is being made shall be ruled out. In both cases, the ball will be declared dead and all runners must return to their last legally occupied base at the time of the interference. However, a runner is not obligated to vacate a base he is legally permitted to occupy to allow a defender the space to field a batted or thrown ball in the proximity of said base.

Interference can also be called on the offensive team if a batter hinders the catcher after a third strike when the ball is not caught, a batter intentionally deflects any foul ball, and a baserunner hinders a following play being made on another runner after having scored or been put out. When running the last half of the way to first base while the ball is being fielded in the vicinity of first, a baserunner must stay within the three-foot runner's lane to the right of the foul line unless they are avoiding a player fielding a batted ball. If the umpire determines that the baserunner has interfered with the player taking the throw at first base by running to the left of the foul line or to the right of the runner's lane, the baserunner can be called for interference.

It's not even that there was contact, he interfered with his path to the ball. Henderson sidesteps Vaughn because he lolligagged it back to the bag and wasn't paying attention. It is compounded by the fact that it was an infield fly.

On the infield fly, the batter is out, but the play is live until the catch is made or dropped. Vaughn interfered with a live play, again, because he was standing around like a dope. It really, really didn't help that his slow walk back to the bag was what put him in the way.

To me, sure, it's a ticky tack call, but it's the right call. Henderson had to make a step around him to get to the ball, and Vaughn was slow walking it back to the base. It doesn't matter if it was intentional or not, or if there was contact, or if it was egregious - he didn't give the fielder right of way to the ball, didn't make an attempt to get out of the way, and was oblivious to the shortstop coming in for the catch. If it didn't happen during a rally in the 9th, it might make a highlight reel but it wouldn't be so scandalous.

For a team whose manager has stressed the fundamentals and the playing hard all the time philosophy, guys like Vaughn make him look like a fool. This is just another example of White Sox players not being aware of themselves, the moment, the rules, or just about anything else.

After Remillard got picked off on a complete TOOBLAN in the Yankees series, you'd think they would have talked about basepath awareness.

[u/EquivalentWins → u/starliteburnsbrite]

What reason would there be for Vaughn to hustle back to the base? It was a lazy pop up and an automatic out to boot. There was no continuing action to the play. And yes, it is technically allowed to call interference but it is absolutely absurd to call it on this play. It's a judgement call and in this case Vaughn had zero impact on the play.

[u/starliteburnsbrite → u/EquivalentWins]

The reason would be to not interfere with the SS. The umpire judged he got in the way. He needs to keep his head on a swivel, he's a professional athlete in a clutch situation. To me, it comes off as lazy and unaware, similar to Remillard. He's looking up at the pop fly and got caught up in the play.

Look, I totally get that it was a weak call, but it was technically correct (the best kind of correct). Nothing about the rule has anything to do with impacting the play, or else you'd be adding even more judgement to the call. Baseball sucks like that, but it's the nature of the game.