Blown Call by Me

I remember early in my career when I really blew a call. I was in my fourth or fifth year at the time, and still was trying to get a grasp on all of the rules.

It was in the middle of the game, one out, with a runner on 3rd base. The batter hit a soft grounder just in front of home plate and started off to first base. The catcher quickly grabbed the ball and threw towards first. The runner from 3rd ran towards home, assuming he would be able to score before the throw came back to home. The batter/runner knew the catcher was going to try and throw him out, and decided to jump in the air. Very blatantly, he threw both of his hands in the air trying to block to throw. 

I called the batter out and then I also called out the runner from third out for the interference. My logic at the time was that the batter prevented a possible double play from occurring. The coach immediately came out wanting an explanation how I could call both the batter and the runner out. Obviously my explanation was pretty pitiful, and at the time, I was still pretty intimidated by the coaches, especially when I was only 16 at the time. The conversation lasted for several minutes and I stood by my call.

Once I got home, I looked in the rule book and talked to other umpires and found I had blown the call. I should have only called out the batter/runner and returned the runner to 3rd. I have never seen a play like that since then, but though I blew that call, I learned (the hard way) a rule which I should have known from the beginning.