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The ball becomes dead when an umpire declares it dead, not when a player "raises his hands". If an outfielder raises his hands, all it tells an umpire is, "Maybe you need to come out here and take a closer look". If the player fishes around and comes up with the ball before an umpire has a chance to confirm that the ball has indeed left the field, he runs the risk of the ball remaining live.
I can't imagine calling obstruction on an outfielder just because a runner didn't understand this concept and stopped running. That's on him. I would leave him at third base.
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