Obstruction, missed base

[GA Umpire]

Originally Posted by Ump Rube

Let me play devil's advocate here for a moment...

Is it not the runner's responsibility to touch the bases, especially after the umpire has verbalized the obstruction? He and the umpire both know he is "protected" to the next base he would have achieved. So what harm is there is still requiring the runner to touch the base?

There would be no harm IMO. But, how do you know the runner knows he missed it? It may occur right at the base and he thinks he touched it in all of that action. So, I would not hold him accountable for that if it is not completely obvious he missed it b/c he was stopped about an 2 inches short of the base.

If he is 2 feet from the base and laying on the ground, then the OBS didn't cause him to miss. It caused him to not reach it. But, if he is rounding the base and F4 is in his way and he does a stutter step to try and reach the base, I will not make him touch it since the OBS caused him to miss it.