Obstruction then appeal
 

Fed rule set.
Scenario # 1 : Batter hits a gapper to outfield. After rounding but missing 2nd, BR is obstructed by F6 and subsequently tagged out at 3rd. Do you award BR 3rd on obstruction , then allow defense to appeal missed base previous to obstruction?

Scenario # 2 : Batter hits a gapper to outfield. Before rounding but missing 2nd, BR is obstructed by F3 and then subsequently tagged out at 3rd. How do you sort this out?

rbmartin,

If the obstruction was the proximate cause of the obstructed runner missing the base, an appeal of the miss should not be upheld. This is most likely to occur when the runner is just shy of a base when obstructed or he is obstructed at the base.

Otherwise, the runner, even though obstructed, is still responsible for touching the bases in order on his advance or retreat.

In both your sitches, you would award the runner the base you feel he would have obtained absent the obstruction (since it's FED, a minimum of one base beyond his position at the time he was obstructed), then call him out if the defense properly appeals.

JM

agreed. The obstruction can't have caused the missed base in the first play; it's unlikely in the second (it's difficult for OBS by F3 to be the proximate cause of missing second; had the OBS been by F4 or F6 it would be more likely).