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Originally Posted by BigUmp56
Obstruction doesn't require intent. A runner shouldn't have to divert his basepath because a fielder has misplayed a batted ball and is now laying prone in the runners basepath. Here's what Rick Roder says regarding obstruction on a batted ball.
Concerning obstruction and a batted ball:
(i) A fielder's "try to field" a batted ball, ends immediately upon missing or deflecting the ball, and such fielder must, in effect, disappear or risk obstruction.
Tim.
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During some training session last year, we watched some video and it had this play in it from an MLB game. F5 (or F6) dives for a batted ball, misses it, and R2 (nearly) immediately is diverted to go around. When the tape was stopped at this point, most of the senior umps in the room ruled obstruction. When the tape was started again, so did the ML umpires. They could have been wrong, but that is what they ruled.