obstruction case play

[Tru_in_Blu]

From March, 2016 Rules & Clarifications (virtually identical scenario).

Play: R1 is on 1B with two outs. B4 hits the ball to the outfield and it rolls past the outfielders to the fence. R1 rounds 2B and is obstructed by F6 and goes down to the ground unable to resume running the bases. Obstruction was called. B4 passes R1 and is thrown out at the plate for the third out. No ruling was made until the out was made at the plate.

Ruling: When R1 was obstructed the umpire would signal delayed dead ball. There are two possible rulings.

One: If R1 is passed before the umpire can signal dead ball due to an injured player, then once B4 passed R1 time should have been called since this was now the third out. Rule 8, Section 7D Effect 2. We should then enforce the obstruction and award the bases the runner and batter-runner would have reached had there been no obstruction.
Two: If the umpire determined R1 was injured and, in the umpire’s judgement, requires immediate attention prior to B4 passing the runner, the umpire should have called Dead Ball and awarded the injured player and all other runners the base they would have reached in their judgement. Rule 4, Section 10.


I've only called an immediate dead ball on a play a few times. A couple were the result of the pitcher being hit with a batted ball. The other couple involved plays at the plate. One was a broken leg and the other was a leg ripped open on the corner of the plate. I've seen many collisions on the fields, some pretty spectacular, but never stopped play for those.

So for me, the timing of the obstruction would play into my decision as would if we had turtles or rabbits running the bases, or some of each.

Also, a base umpire coming inside could potentially miss an OBS around second base if his focus was 120 degrees away from that location while watching the BR touch first base.

With a runner down as a result of OBS, as called by either PU or BU, once the runner was passed, I'd have a time out as the third out of the inning has now occurred. Then it would be time to make the base awards. If I were the one to have seen the OBS, I'd tend to think about the awards at that point. If these were teams and players I was familiar with, that would likely factor into an award (see rabbits and turtles above). If not, I'd likely award R1 home and R2 third based on how the scenario was laid out.