Getting Technical on Obstruction

[CecilOne]

Originally posted by Dakota
As I understood MWB's original question, he was asking how precise are we in determining which bases for the "between the bases" exception.

The obstruction occurred as the runner was rounding second.

The position of the fielder causing the obstruction is interesting, but ultimately not deciding. The decision is a judgment call of where the obstruction happened (i.e. where was the path of the runner impeded), not where the fielder was.

In a close call like this, as I said, I am inclined to give the benefit of the technicality to the runner. After all, if the fielder had been standing smack dab in the middle of the bag, you now have the obstructing fielder ON 2nd base, and not between any bases. What then? Technically - no protection on the "between bases" exception? I don't think so.

Anyhow, JMO.

Agree, where the runner is impeded governs. I interpreted these two phrases in the question as OBS on the way to 2nd.
- "F6 moves to 1B side of bag "
- "R1 has to go around F6 to hit the back corner of the base"
If F6 is on the 1st base side, I don't see how that obstructs between 2nd and 3rd. If the runner had only attempted 2nd, it was still OB and if a tag was made as the runner went around F6, I would award 2nd and not 3rd.

Where the runner is impeded also governs when the fielder is ON the base. If she slows down approaching, the OBS is before the base. If she manages to go full speed to the base and the slows down, the OBS is after the base.