Quote:
Originally posted by PeteBooth
Understanding the game - and you talk about me being in left field! Let's see now, we have a ball all the way to the Fence. Don't know the dimensions but the ball is probably some 300 ft. away at this point. In 99 out of 100 instances R2 is going to score EASILY and B1 will at the least be on second base.
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(Much snipped from above)
Pete --
The *general* philosophy on obstruction is to put everyone where they would have been had there been no obstruction.
So, let's reconstruct the play, absent the obstruction.
B1 hits the ball to the wall, R2 rounds third, decides to return and B1 passes R2, then returns toward second. (I hope that's substantially correct.)
Ruling: B1 is out for passing R2, the return toward second is not interference (I think that's the FED stance on this).
How does obstruction change any of that? There's no specific penalty (e.g., one base minimum award) that need be applied, so the obstruction can be "ignored" (not the best word, I know).