Obstruction or nothing

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by Rich

A runner rounding first is frequently slowing down. He brushes a fielder while slowing, that's nothing, regardless of the rules set.

That's not how I read DG's post. He mentioned nothing about a runner slowing down. I envisioned a routine (re: aggressive) rounding of the bag that is hindered by the fielder's presence.

Hell, in softball, I often see the first baseman on a clean single set up such that the BR has to widen her rounding of the bag. In other words, the BR cannot touch the inside (front-left) corner of the bag; rather, she has to step on the top or even the outside (back-right) corner of the bag. That's Obstruction, even if it's a clean single and the BR probably had no intention of advancing further. I can't imagine that the same is not true for baseball.