[Jim Porter]

JEL, there are two types of obstruction under the Official Baseball Rules. One occurs when a play is being made on the runner at the time he is obstructed, and the award is a minimum of one base. That was not the case here since the ball was still in the outfield at the time of the obstruction, so a play was not being made on the runner.

So, instead, we use the second type of obstruction which occurs when a play is not being made on the runner at the time of the obstruction. There is no mandatory or minimum award. It is entirely up to the umpire's judgment in deciding what to award the runner, if anything, or where to protect him, if anywhere.

So, your statement that, "If obstruction occured at 2nd, R1 would be awarded 2nd because 1st was the last legally touched base," is simply wrong-headed. R1 should be awarded or protected, or not, to wherever the umpire sees fit.