Obstruction

[CecilOne]

Originally posted by sprivitor
Cecilone,
I'm a bit confused by your message. After the game, we discussed this rule. The umpire was unsure that the player was protected going home because the obstruction did occur between 2nd and 3rd. However, he felt the player would have made it home had there been no obstruction between 2nd and 3rd.
So, how would you handle this situation?

To add to what I said, there are two aspects of the effect of obstruction.

One is that the runner can not be putout in between the bases where the OBS occurred. That is, if runner was obstructed between 2nd and 3rd, the runner can not be put out between 2nd and 3rd. The runner could be put out between 3rd and home.

The other is that the obstructed runner will be awarded the base the umpire JUDGED the runner would have reached if there was no obstruction. This can get complicated, but in the simple case where the runner is apparently put out in a close play at a base, the runner should be awarded that base because the umpire JUDGED the runner would have reached that base if there was no obstruction.

That is , if a runner is obstructed between 2nd and 3rd, then "tagged out" in a close play at home; the runner shold be awarded home.

The above runner is also guaranteed not being put out between 2nd and 3rd, so if the runner falls down before 3rd and is tagged the runner is not out. The ball is then dead and the umpire awards the runner 3rd base if the umpire JUDGED the runner would have reached that base if there was no obstruction or 2nd if the umpired JUDGED otherwise.

In the above, "a close play" is determined by the runner being out by a margin equal to or less than the delay caused by the obstruction.