Obstruction?
 

Batter hits a bullet to the first baseman. Ball deflects off the 1st baseman's shoulder, who is playing behind the bag, going into right field. 1st baseman goes down grabbing his shoulder. Batter-runner rounds 1st and makes contact with the 1st baseman who is still down. Batter-runner returns to 1st.

In my judgement, the batter-runner would have been out by a mile at 2nd.

Coach wanted obstruction.

I didn't call obstruction as my reasoning was the injuried player didn't impede the runners progress (in my thinking, the runner impeded his own progress). Which was my explanation.

The only way I would have called obstruction is if the 1st baseman popped up.

Your thoughts - how far off base am I?

It was obstruction.

You needed to call obstruction.

You also needed to explain you were protecting only back to first, and not second, since he had no shot at second.

This wasn't a FED game, was it?

Yes, FED - sorry.

So if I called obstruction, wouldn't the award had to of been 2nd?

That is correct for FED. But, in FED, if he made no attempt to go to second, or even thought about going to second IMO, then I'm not going to call obstruction since iMO he did not obstruct the runner.

If the coach wants to argue, I will just use judgement as my reason because if I say he was obstructed, then I will have to give him second since he gets at least one base.

This is different in OBR where you have types A and B.

Thanks
David

Did he make contact while he was attempting to advance (including still reading the play) , or was the contact after he had slowed down and was preparing to return to first?

Or, to ask it another way, was he still running hard, or was he hardly running?

The former is obstruction, the latter isn't.

Bob

Hardly running.

It appears I had it right but for the wrong reason.

Thanks everyone.

Is that like "workin' hard or hardly workin?" :D

Batter hits a bullet that brings down F3, behind the bag, and he stays down. The batter has to be 80 feet from F3, who doesn't move. I guess it's HTBT, but it doesn't sound like OBS to me.

Not far at all.

BR hits a bullet off F3, F3 goes down, BR runs into F3 who is still down. BR is not a very good base runner in my view.

So all I have to do is lie down in the base path and the runner has to avoid me?

Sorry guys, but you can't put the onus on the runner to avoid the fielder.

And don't put "rat think" on the table. It could be my fielder or my runner.

Gee, that's not a stretch at all.

I don't think, I know!:D

In OBR/NCAA i'm calling obstruction since we don't have to give him the base. In a FED game, I'm not calling it here.

It is hard for me to envision an F3 "who is playing behind the bag", being in the base path when he goes down injured by a line shot.

I guess I would have to see it to rule on it.