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With the batted ball appearing to likely end with a triple, it seems obvious that R1 was not being played upon at time of his obstruction. It would also seem for that reason that the coach telling the runner to return to touch 2B would be due to his missing the base, and not due to coach judging that R1 could not safely acquire 3B.
The official should have called the obstruction and allowed play to continue.
At the end of play, he should award R1 any advance base he may have judged him to be deprived of due to the impact of the obstruction. There is, however, no mandatory award to R1 as a result of the obstruction. The official could also award BR additional bases if he felt BR was resultantly held from acquiring bases he could have safely obtained absent of the obstruction. IOW, BR could not advance to a base occupied by R1, but R1 would have been beyond that base had the obstruction not occurred.
If R1 continued advance beyond 2B, the official should not uphold an appeal on R1's miss of 2B since it was a direct result of the obstructive action.
The official blew the call in several ways..........
First, he should have allowed play to continue.
Second, the runner should not have been declared out for missing 2B.
And finally, even if the official felt the runner should have touched the base, the miss should have required an appeal, not a declaration by the official absent of defensive appeal.
Freix
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