Obstruction?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by MD Longhorn

That's the guideline that is taught ... and discussed here.

If there was no ATR (and honestly, i don't think there should be!), then if the runner slowed or deviated before the instant that the ball was caught, it would be OBS. The idea of ATR is to allow the fielder to be in the runner's path once the ball is closer than the runner, instead of having to wait until after it's caught to move into the runner's path. (And I'd be fine if that part was done away with and they DID have to wait until they had possession before moving into the path!)

And, quite frankly, I think they should go back to the old rule.

The pro (minor league) interpretation of about to receive is the distance from the skin of the cutout at home to the plate - about 13 feet. Sounds reasonable enough to me.