Plate Obstruction Mechanics

[mcrowder]

I'm not sure I'm doing it "technically" right either, but here's my mechanic. Since the ball is dead when an obstructed runner is played on, and this all happened about at the same time, my first move is - hands up, very loud, "DEAD BALL", then slightly less loud while pointing at the catcher, "That's obstruction, runner is awarded home" (and then watch to make sure she touches if she has not already).

I've seen others in the area call the out, and then announce the obstruction. To me it looks odd, and invariably you have to explain it to both coaches and likely the scorekeeper. With my mechanic, I almost never get questioned or have to explain anything - the call is clear to everyone who needs to know it.

(Edited to add: ) by the way, the arm out mechanic is to tell others you have a Delayed Dead Ball. In this case, you have no delayed dead ball, just a dead ball (or if you do, it's delayed for milliseconds). So the arm out mechanic is not necessary.