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Bandit - a fielder in the basepath without the ball.. BY ITSELF is not obstruction.
A fielder in the basepath without the ball THAT HINDERS OR ALTERS THE PATH OF THE RUNNER is obstruction.
The POE ignores this VERY important piece of the puzzle, and leads people who read it (especially assistant coaches who don't actually look at the rule) to believe that the runner's actions are irrelevant to the case (or, in one case I had to deal with - the EXISTENCE of a runner is irrelevant - the guy insisted that this POE meant that fielders could not be in the basepaths AT ALL).
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"Many baseball fans look upon an umpire as a sort of necessary evil to the luxury of baseball, like the odor that follows an automobile." - Hall of Fame Pitcher Christy Mathewson
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