Call at First

[FullCount]

I find it interesting Badamk that you attacked Steve. I don't know him at all but I've found him to be one of the most knowledgeable contributors on this board and I've learned a lot from him. I'm not a rookie but I am pretty new to umpiring so I pay a lot of attention to what is said and who says it. Steve has always been creditable nad he doesn't seem to spend time in chatter. He weighs in on occasion with a reasoned argument and he does a great job presenting the logic of his thoughts backed with rule references. In fact he does exacty what you say you want someone to do. But when he does it, you attack him because he didn't agree with you.

Back to your OP. If you are truly an umpire go read the ASA definition of obstruction. Pay close attention to the word impede. You described F3 impeding the BR. Furthermore it's not normal for a BR to stumble around on 1B. So it's not much of a stretch of the imagination for a BU to see obstruction right at 1B and conclude an unusual stumbling act immediately following to be a direct result of that obstruction. Of course this is really a case of HTBT.