FED OBS Query

[Armadillo_Blue]

I posed a similar question to our esteemed state rules interpreter, JJ, at the local rules meeting this weekend. I asked if possession was determined the same way as it would be for a tag.

He confirmed what you have been told, that if the fielder has possession at the time he blocks access, then it is not obstruction, despite the loss of possession upon the collision.

Although, JJ raises an interesting point. When a fielder leaps for a thrown ball and misses and then lands in the path of a runner, he is expected to disappear immediately or is guilty of obstruction, or so I understand. Would this be the same. After he has lost possession of the ball does he need to immediately provide access or can he scramble for the ball in a way that continues to block the runner?