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Originally Posted by jdmara
1. When is the fielder no longer protected from (unintentional) contact by a baserunner?
Does this rule mean that he is entitled to his "original location" for a reasonable amount of time? He obviously can't be expected to disappear in an instant, right?
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The fielder's protection ends when the ball gets past him. Your fielder was, as you've described it, clearly guilty of OBS. And yes, as "unreasonable" as it might be, a fielder IS expected to "disappear" if he should miss the ball. See Rule 2.00 "Obstruction (Comment)":
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Originally Posted by Rule 2.00
"After a fielder has made an attempt to field a ball and
missed, he can no longer be in the “act of fielding” the ball. For example: an infielder dives at a ground
ball and the ball passes him and he continues to lie on the ground and delays the progress of the runner,
he very likely has obstructed the runner. "
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J/R comments: "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."
Here's a play very like yours from J/R ("Obstruction without a play," p. 123 in my edition):
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Originally Posted by Jaksa/Roder
R2 and R1, two outs. The batter grounds a ball toward the hole between the third baseman and the shortstop. The third baseman lunges for the ball but cannot reach it and it gets by him, and R2 has to sidestep him to avoid contact — obstruction has occurred. *snip*
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The play goes on, but the relevant part is the OBS ruling. None of this, BTW, is any different for NFHS.
One more thing: you were wrong to kill the play because of an injury. I know everyone thinks a bump on the leg is the end of the world, but waiting 15 seconds for the play to end will not make any difference to the injured player. (If the player is unconscious, stops breathing, or is bleeding from the ears, then 15 seconds might make a difference and you should stop play and address the situation.)