[rwest]

Originally posted by tzme415
I guess my reasoning in not calling obstruction was that I didn't see any way for the fielder to avoid the contact. He couldn't just disappear after he threw the ball and had no opportunity to even change his direction.

I've asked a similar question in regards to interference by a retired runner. R1 on 1B. BR hits a ground ball to F4 who fields the ball and relays it to F6 covering on the play. F6 steps on the base when R1 is a few feet away. I've been told on this forum that R1 just can't disappear so we should not call interference on R1 if he does not make an attempt to get down or veer out of the way. What's the difference? Why do we require the fielder to "disappear", but not the runner?

Thanks!