Obstructed Runner on an Out
 

I know this has got to be in the book somewhere but I can't seem to find it.

BR hits a long fly ball to the outfield. He hustles all the way around first and is making an attempt for second. He is obviously obstructed by the firstbaseman. The ball however is caught in the outfield for the out.

What is the proper mechanic here? Delayed dead ball with the left arm, then an out signal, or simply nothing after the catch? Does the delayed dead ball need to be explained (or waived off if need be) with any other signal?

i would just not call it since it's pretty irrelevant to the play and would probably put you in less hot water than if you did call it and waived it off or whatever.

Because what you are looking for is not there!

No harm, no foul here!

Bossman72 nailed it! The out superceeds the obstruction. SIgnal the out (if needed) and move on!

The obstruction is ignored, it has no bearing on the caught fly ball, and end result of the play. J/R covers this one pretty good.

IF the obstruction happened before the ball is caught you have to call the obstruction. Then once the out is recorded and the play ends the obstruction is ignored.

Just because it looks like a routine fly ball you can't assume the outfielder is going to catch the ball and not call the obstruction. What happens if the outfielder drops the ball and then nails the BR at second on a bang-bang play? I guarantee you the offensive manager is coming out to ask about the non-obstruction call rounding first.

The OBS is ignored AFTER the ball is caught, not before---signal the OBS, see the ball caught, signal the out, then ignore the OBS.....

I think you're referring to the FED mechanic here...

My understanding of the NCAA and Pro mechanic is to point at the obstruction while saying "that's obstruction" then watching the rest of the play...

Here's my question...

Let's say that the ball does drop, and the runner retreats to first, and we still have obstruction, and in my judgement, he wouldn't have reached 2nd without the obstruction...do we award him 2B based upon the "award an additional base" provision in the obstruction rule???

Thanks guys.

Under FED, yes. Under OBR, no.

Thanks Bob,

Under OBR, when would an extra base be awarded with regard to OBS? Ever? Based on the OBS, the runner now gets thrown out at 1B...I think it's obvious, but I'm now confusing myself here...what is the interp here...the runner gets the base in which he's heading?? Example: Runner dives back into 1B on a pick off attempt. F3 obstructs R1... OBR ruling? safe at R1...obstruction. in OBR if the OBS is type 1 where the play is being made on the runner being obstructed...that immediately kills the play right??

Read the obstruction rule. Note the two sub-parts (a) and (b). Note the difference in when they are used and what the penalty is.

Yep...I've read both rules in the blue book...just looking for a human interpretation versus the book...but yes, I've read the 2 parts to obstruction several times...thanks anyway!