Ah yes! January is just around the corner and the baseball season is about to begin in Northern California. And of course, so are the trouble calls and controversy. I did a "warm up" game for a couple of American Legion teams that are just being put together, 18U. In the heat of the summer, I get stuck behind the dish. In winter, I'm watching the bases and freezing my tail off.
I have R1 who is trying to get a good lead. F3 keeps moving out from the base in front of R1, intentionally trying to block his view of the pitcher. F1 never tried to pick first base, but R1 is noticably annoyed. The first base coach calls for time, and begins to complain that F3 is obstructing his runner. He wants me to call obstruction. I couldn't agree, but I did call UIC and the two managers together (it's a warm up game for me too), and I explained that it did not seem like an obstruction. I would not give R1 second base. It didn't look to me like F3 was "impeding the progress of the runner." I offered to look at a specific rule if any of the four men had one.
They didn't so I said, "let's play ball."
What is the correct call and the OBR rule for it.
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Marty
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