[greymule]

Thanks for your thoughtful and intelligent answers, guys. I can see that there's some disagreement, but you were still a big help, because I get several incidents of obstruction a season. Interference, too, and not just at low levels of play.

When I played in school, American Legion, college, and semi-pro, I don't think I ever saw obstruction called, except a couple of times when the batter swung and hit the catcher's mitt. I also can't remember a single instance of interference. (Or a balk, either, for that matter.)

Maybe the players are not as well coached today. I get runners who insist they have some sort of "right to the baseline" that allows them to bowl over fielders in the act of fielding a batted ball. I get infielders who claim the right to be "around the bag" at any time, even if the ball is on the warning track and the runner trips over them. In a high school (Fed) baseball game last year, I had a play at home where the catcher caught the throw, then blocked the plate with his body and tagged out the sliding runner while preventing him from reaching the plate. The runner immediately jumped up and shouted indignantly, "He can't do that! He blocked me!"