Is this obstruction?

[Larry1953]

Originally Posted by mbcrowder

No. Of course not. I think you would benefit greatly from a clinic, whether you want to umpire or not. You seem to have read many of the rules - but no one has taught you how to put them together correctly. This comes from clinics, and then from experience.

Mike, I will certainly go to a clinic as soon as I can. But the rule in question ONLY says a fielder in the act of fielding "A BALL". From my primitive understanding of the game a fielder can field two types of balls in the field of play: a THROWN ball and a BATTED ball. It would have been very simple for the rulemakers to have added BATTED ball or batted ball and thrown ball if they wanted to make a distinction between the kind of ball that got past the fielder and his impeding the runner VERY LIKELY causing obstruction.