Obstruction

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by BretMan

No, look again. He bolded the part that says "had there not been obstruction".

Which is even more confusing...

TwoBits, are you saying the dead ball part of the rule doesn't apply because this runner would have been out, even without the obstruction, thus there is no "base that would have been reached had there not been obstruction"?

Are you implying this is like when a batter-runner is obstructed on the way to first base, but the batted ball is caught on the fly for an out?

Using that argument, you wouldn't kill play after a runner is caught in a rundown, is obstructed during that rundown, and then is subsequently tagged out in the rundown. More than likely, she wouldn't have achieved either base safely had there been no obstruction, but we still kill play when the tag is made and award the runner her base.

I think what prevails here is the sentence in the Penalty section of FED 8-4-3b, "An obstructed runner may not be called out between the two bases where she was obstructed." And the list of Exceptions to this premise does not include, "When a runner is a dead duck anyway and the obstruction had no bearing on her status."

So in the OP, R1 is not going to be out on the play at second base, even though she was a dead duck. And if she's not going to be out by rule, it makes no sense to allow play to continue under a delayed dead ball because the defense did tag the base she was supposed to reach.

BTW, on the batter-runner being obstructed on her way to first base on a caught fly ball, that is one of the listed Exceptions (#6) under the Penalty section of 8-4-3b.