pickoff attempt by catcher

Question
If a catcher attempts a pickoff throw to third base, and batter is still in batters box and catcher hits the batter, is there an interference call involved, and if not, is it a live ball no matter where it goes in field of play?  What if batter had stepped out of batters box, but did nothing to intentially interfere with the catcher, but catcher still hit him with the thrown ball?  Is ball dead or alive in that case?  Thank you for your help.

Answer
Bob,
According to MLB rule 6.06(c): "A batter is out for illegal action when- he interferes with the catcher's fielding or throwing by stepping out of the batter's box or making any other movement that hinders the catcher's play at home base.  Exception: the batter is not out if any runner attempting to advance is put out, or if the runner trying to score is called out for batter's interference"  I believe this is a judgement call by the umpire as to wether the batter was interfering.  If the batters stays in the batters box and does not move then there should be no interference.  If the batter moves and does nothing intentionally than it may be interpreted as interference because the batter moved.  If the play is called interference by the batter it is a dead ball and the runner and batter is out.  If it is not a interference call the ball should remain live.

Hope this helps,
John Priest