Quote:
Originally Posted by GROUPthink
I get your points -- as a baseball umpire, I also set an initial award. However, post-obstruction evidence can change that award. And to me, that makes sense. At least in baseball, the idea is to figure out the result absent the obstruction. And a great defensive play or a terrible throw after the obstruction happens certainly can affect the predicted result.
I can live with the fact the sports are different. Tomato, tomahto.
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Thing is, how do you know that whatever the subsequent play may be was not a result of the obstruction or the runner or coach reacting differently because of the call?
I've seen players stop playing because an umpire verbalizes obstruction, runners and fielders alike. Remember, or at least in softball, OBS is not a punitive infraction, but one which attempts to undo the impedement.
I have no problem determining a base to which the runner is protected at the time of the OBS. AFA the ball getting by the OF, that is not a subsequent play, but part of the play upon which you are ruling. We discussed this a few years ago and that was pretty much the consensus. When we are talking subsequent play, it is a reference to a throw getting away or being missed by a defender which would give the runner additional opportunity to advance that was not part of nor affected by the OBS.