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Atl Blue,
Emmel's call was Type A Obstruction (not Type B) and he did use the proper mechanic for Type A Obstruction. As I explained, this is one of those rare times that you DON'T kill the play immediately for Type A Obstruction because the ball was in flight BEFORE the obstruction occurred (see OBR 7.06(a) italics paragraph). We worked on this Type A obstruction drill in umpire school (although it was with rundowns rather than this specific scenario) and the instructors would watch to see if we killed the play at the appropiate time.
Emmel did the right thing by NOT killing the play immediately because if he did and that fly ball was then dropped or turns into a double, then you essentially penalized the offensive (keep them from getting more bases) for an illegal act by the defense. As soon as the batted ball was caught, Emmel stopped play and enforced the appropiate penalty for Type A Obstruction - automatic one base award.
We all agree that what the SS did was Obstruction - so you have two choices to penalize his actions. You can't use the Type B penalty for this situation because the runner could/would not have scored after the all play ceased (which in essence, gives the defense an unfair advantage because they would NOT be penalized for purposely trying to obstruct the runner's view). The result of Type B penalty for this play would have been a mere "slap on the wrist" which obviously is not right considering what the SS tried to do.
So that leaves the Type A obstruction penalty (automatic one base award) as the only logical choice to use for this particular situation. This penalty not only "fits the crime better" but also discourages players from attempting to do the same thing again. Although the mechanic used for this play was different than what we would nomally do for Type A Obstruction, the penalty is still the same.
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