Greenmonsters
Wannabe Duck Boat Owner
As has been said, contact is not necessary to have an obstruction call. If the baserunner is hindered in any way by a defensive player without the ball or in the process of fielding a batted ball, obstruction is the correct call. Both scenarios in the OP are textbook examples of obstruction.
I will make some comments on scenario #2. The obstruction happened between second and third base. The runner elected to try for home on the overthrow to third. As I am envisioning this play, the protection from the obstruction is to third base. The overthrow is a subsequent play that is not relevant to the obstruction. The runner elected to try for home on that play. Since she has voluntarily run past the base she was protected to becasue of the obstruction, she is on her own in trying for home. As I see this play, the out made on her trying for home would stand.
Now I'm confused. If it's the SS moving to cover 3B and both the SS and the runner she obstructed are "late" getting to 3B, the overthrow has nothing to do w/ the obstruction. So I would think that 3B is a gimme and that its home that should be protected too?
And how is that different than the following scenario: Assume there's only a baserunner on 2B and the batter hits a clean line drive basehit to RF/CF and the runner is being madly waved around 3B by the base coach (who, for the record, self-proclaimedly excels at this) immediately after the ball is hit. The SS clearly obstructs the baserunner between 2nd and 3rd. Runner is only protected to 3rd, not home in this case? Runner still will reach third base easily, even walking, so the protection to 3rd is unnecessary, its the extra base that was put into question by the obstruction. So shouldn't the protection extend to home, the next base? Otherwise its a decidedly favorable outcome for the defense, no?
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