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Originally Posted by youngump
A fielder who reaches for the ball or just doesn't get out of the way fast enough is not obstructing in my mind. They already impeded with the ball and this is still that impedance with the ball playing out.
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No, it isn't. You have a fielder who does not have possession of the ball stopping a runner who is attempting to touch the plate from touching the plate, and this is not obstruction because the fielder
used to have possession of the ball?
How much time has to elapse before it is, as you say, no longer "impedance with the ball playing out"?
Don't forget, the defender has a way to avoid this situation entirely - hold on to the ball! Alternative 2: swipe tag instead of blocking the base.
Would I call your "split second" scenario as obstruction? Probably not... depends on how "split" the second was and what I judged to be happening. As you describe it, if the runner is impeded a "split second" before the fielder has the ball, that is obstruction, but only in the overly precise world of web board situation descriptions. In the real world, it is what you judge it to be.