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Obstruction Query
As some have referenced, the umpire should do whatever in his mind would nullify the act of obstruction. In the scenario put forth, though it is up to the judgment of the umpire, we would expect that the umpire would call out the BR for being the following runner when both are tagged with two runners on base. You award all runners where they would have reached. It seems apparent that had the obstruction not occurred, the BR would have been standing on second base, along with R2, the same as the situation played out. This is only when no play is being made on the obstructed runner.
This is not to say, however, that runners cannot be forced beyond their award. For instance, if the BR ended up getting in a rundown between first and second when he was obstructed, the ball would be dead immediately. The rulebook says that you can put runners wherever they would have gone had the obstruction not occurred, but the obstructed runner gets at least one base beyond their position in this situation. This would put the BR at second base. That award would force R2 to third, even though he would not have gotten there had the obstruction not occurred. This, though, is only when a play is being made on the obstructed runner. I hope that this offers another perspective on the play that was presented.
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