Then, Rattlehead, you are completely misunderstanding the enforcement portion of the OBS rule, which has been beaten like a dead horse recently. I won't regurgitate the entire thing... but:
At the moment of OBS, the umpire is required to decide (right then and there) what base the runner is protected to (i.e. awarded). As specifically stated in ASA rule and casebook (and ISF, debeau!
), subsequent action should NOT alter the initial protection as judged by the umpire at the time of OBS.
Now, to answer your comments in specific:
"WhatÂ’s to stop a defensive coach from telling his girls on a hard shot to stand on the bag and Obstruct to see if the BR will miss the base and then just appeal the call after the ball is returned to the circle?"
-----What stops them is that they lose the ability to get this runner out at 2nd base, which may be possible on a hard shot. MOST runners will still hit first base on the way through and end up taking a very wide turn because of the fielder standing on the bag - so in MOST cases, this perceived bonus of a shot at an appeal never materializes. The other problem for defense is the possibility that BU may award 3rd (or they may find an umpire who misunderstands enforcement, and after a stand-up play at 2nd, awards 3rd improperly).
Though this may be incorrect to some but in my opinion the girl missed first base due to the Obstruction and due the nature of the hit, I would award her 2nd.
----- You SHOULD award 2nd, due to the nature of the hit.
If she had gone back to first after missing the base and then proceeded to second and was played upon I would have killed the play and if the play was not close I would awarded her 1st.
----- This goes to what I said above. Now YOU are penalizing the runner because of the OBS. If YOU felt she would have made 2nd without the OBS, give her 2nd. Period. No further debate necessary... her returning to first does NOT alter your initial assessment.
If the play was close I would have killed it and awarded her 2nd.
----- Again - the closeness (or existence!) of the play at 2nd should have absolutely nothing to do with where you protect this runner to, and what base you award.