OBR 2.00 · OBR 6.01(e)
Fan interference
When a spectator reaches onto the field of play and touches a live ball or a player, the ball is dead and the umpires place everyone where they judge the play was headed. Reaching over the field is interference; catching a ball that has crossed into the stands is not.
Key points
- The plane of the wall is the line: reach across it and you are interfering, even in your own seat.
- Umpires impose the outcome they judge would have happened — out, double, or placing runners.
- The judgment runs both ways: the batter can be called out if the catch was prevented, or awarded bases — including a home run — if the fan changed the ball's flight.
- Replay review is used heavily here to reconstruct what would have happened.
In a game
Fly ball to the right-field corner; a fan leans over the wall and gloves it just as the outfielder leaps.
Ruling · If the umpire judges the fielder would have caught it, the batter is out. If it was leaving the yard anyway, home run. The fan's night is over either way.
Why it moves the scoreboard
Umpires effectively rewrite the play's outcome by judgment — runs appear or vanish based on where they think the ball was headed.
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