In the previous discussion, several things were stated about the mechanics for the umpire on the obstruction and judgement about how far to go. I maintained that you had to give the signal for obstruction and hold it up until a few steps before the runner gets to the base you would award them.
I appeared to be the only who thought that way. I can't find the discussion now, but I'm pretty sure you stated that you could never determine how far to send a runner until the play was over, so how are you gonna know when to drop the arm? There were even comments (not by you)about not running through the infield with the arm extended during a play. I mentioned that you had to signal the coaches/runner about the obstruction. The reply was that the runners had to do their thing, and let the blue do their thing, which would be to award the proper base.
Anyway, I'm glad to see someone else is now agreeing with me on the mechanics on this issue.
Rick
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