The 3-foot line prevents a batter from interfering with a fielder who is trying to catch a ball, as a batter must stay within that line while running to first. If a batter runs outside the line and bumps a fielder to prevent them from making a catch then it's interference, so the batter must stay inside the line. However, batters usually run outside the 3-foot line if they intend to continue past first base on their hit, but it's only called interference if they truly interfere with a fielder... for example: if the ball was hit to left-field and he runs outside the line, the umpire does nothing, as the player fielding the ball is over a hundred feet away from the line.
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