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Originally Posted by canadaump6
I was reading Jaksa and Roder's manual and was surprised by a couple of the interpretations on obstruction:
Obstruction on a batted ball: 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.
Obstruction on a thrown: A fielder's "try to field" a thrown ball is a similar concept to a "try to field" a batted ball excepting that a "try to field" a thrown ball includes the actual possession of the thrown ball, and the fielder's actions immediately after a miss or deflection of the ball. Therefore, a protected fielder on a thrown ball need not "disappear" after deflecting or missing a thrown ball, and if fielder-runner contact is instantaneous, there is not obstruction.
Why must a fielder disappear immediately after missing a batted ball, but not after missing a thrown ball? What is the intent and spirit of this rule? And why is this interpretation not covered in the OBR rulebook? And what happens if a fielder misses a thrown ball, lands on a sliding runner, and lies on top of him for 2 or 3 seconds? This would be obstruction correct?
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Here's my take:
On a batted ball, the fielder has absolute protection. Therefore, he must absolutely disappear once he mis-plays the ball (by more than a step and a reach).
On a thrown ball, the fielder does not have absolute protection, so he need not absolutely disappear (iow, the runner might be so close that it's impossible for him to disappear).