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It's been my experience that this (and similar plays) is the most often mis-called obstruction out there. Umpires should, in cases like this, signal obstruction 100% of the time, even if the runner was safe. Most don't if the runner turns out to be safe before they have time to signal.
Remember - you have the potential for OBS ANY time the fielder is in the runner's path without the ball - you should be thinking that you have potential OBS already at that point. If runner reacts to this fielder at all (slows, contacts, reverses, slides, whatever) before that fielder obtains possession of the ball, then you have OBS, and should signal it immediately.
It may turn out that you have no award (as in this case), but it could be important as play develops further that you signal what you saw.
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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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