Dave, New Obstruction has many unanswered question and is causing umpires to add their own interpretations to the rule, I have found that we have to SELL like SELL every time we make the OBS call because that Other Umpire called it different and here are some questions that require interpretations.
1. If fielder has legs spread and is standing 2 3 feet in front of the base is she blocking the base?
2. If the fielder leaves 4 to 6 inches of the base open is this OBS?
3. Catcher sets up in the base line blocking the plate as Runner is coming from 3B at what point do you SIGNAL OBS, 3 ft, 6 ft, 15 ft or when the Catcher actually blocks the Plate?
4. Can you have Block, Catch, Block and Tag without OBS being called?
5. What is the call when you have Catch, Block, Tag, Dropped Ball, fielder blocks base and picks up ball tags runner out or what if another fielder tags the runner out while the original fielder is blocking the base.
I have umpired games or watched games where every situation described occurred and their has been conversation in the umpires room regarding every call and we could not come to a unanimous agreement on the correct call.
Good luck on sorting it out
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"Just My Humble Opinion"
The Bagman
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