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Originally Posted by David B
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Obstruction should be about intent, and accidental obstruction should be left to the umpire IMO.
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I disagree with the aformentioned.
There is no such animal as "accidental" OBS. We either have OBS or we do not and I agree that's umpire judgement.
Also, you do not need INTENT to call OBS. Intent is not part of the defintion.
Simple example:
B1 hits one in the gap. F3 is "sleeping" and not where he is supposed to be. B1 rounds first base and trys for second but because F3 is sleeping he obstucts B1.
Even though F3 did not mean to obstruct he in fact obstructed the runner and we call the infraction.
In Summary, OBS is not about intent it is DEFINED and penalized accordingly.
I agree in this thread it is not Obstruction but not because of INTENT. It's not OBS because F2 did not block the path to the runner on the ORIGINAL slide attempt. The ball was dislodged (legally), runner trying to touch the plate, F2 trying to retrieve ball and tag runner etc. is called baseball.
Pete Booth