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WMB posted a thread awhile back asking about the "deviation" thing.
Many times, we try to make this too analytical. As a stop-action photo, with no other information, this certanly looks like OBS, or in the next frame it WILL BE obstruction. Even if the runner did not slow, did not change paths, and was going to hook-slide all the way just to present a more difficult target for the catcher, you still have that foot between the runner's hand and the plate.
We need to be careful we do not become complete believers in our own BS (or, putting it better, in our own rules of thumb, or our own checklists, whatever).
Whether or not the runner changed her path is only one of the "checklist" items. If the runner did not change her path, that does not mean obstruction did not occur. Only that it did not cause a change in path that you could see.
While it is true that blocking the base without the ball is not in and of itself obstruction, when it is occuring while the runner is within 1 meter of the plate, that certainly seems to indicate obstruction is highly likely.
Bottom line: HTBT, but from the photo, I'm leaning toward OBS.
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Tom
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