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Originally Posted by Don Mueller
What if F5 starts jumping up and down and yelling nonsense? F1 and F6 only need a split second distraction to make the play.
Should we be killing, or calling obstruction on any action that might distract the runner?
What if F2 stands up when F1 is set and yells something funny to F5, distracts R2 and the play is made.
Are we only wanting to penalize F5 for the nature of his distraction or merely for distracting?
Curious to hear what you think.
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Verbal obstruction is a HTBT and judgment. An act might be obstruction to one umpire and not another. The same act might be obstruction in one instance and not obstruction in another. If the act does not distract the runner, I would be
extremely reluctant to call obstruction.
In your F2 yelling something funny to F5 situation, if R2 ignores F2 and is not distracted, I would definitely have nothing. An if it did distract him, I probably still would have nothing. Kids say funny things all the time on the field and the runner needs to have better focus.
For me, verbal obstruction would be pretty much automatic if the defense says something baseball related, like "back" as the pitcher begins his delivery to the plate, or "get down" as the runner nears the base, or "foul ball" on a clean hit. I am likely to ignore other comments.
The original situation and your F5 spouting nonsense situation, however, go beyond simply saying something. A feigned medical emergency is clearly obstruction to me. At a minimum, a base will be awarded, and depending on the conduct of the defensive team, other penalties will be invoked as necessary.
I see it similar to a fake tag (absent the safety issue). If a player fakes a tag, it is obstruction whether the runner takes the bait or not. If there is verbal obstruction, it should be penalized regardless of whether the attempt was or was not successful.