Baseball Instruction/1st base obstruction

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Expert: - 6/30/2008


Question
During a PONY tournament today, a  batter was awarded first due to obstruction. The runner was about three feet from the base and the first baseman was standing on the bag when he caught the ball. The ump called obstruction even though it was an obvious out. Was it the right call?

Answer
Jason,

A fielder can not impede the progress of a runner.  Also, a runner is entitled to the base line (unless the fielder is in the act of fielding a batted ball).

This call is an umpire's judgement.  Without seeing the play, I can't say if the call was right or not, but if the umpire ruled the first baseman was in a position where they are impeding the runner, then he made the right call.

Hope this helps!

Brian

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Brian Flaspohler

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Questions about baseball rules, general information about the game, statistical analysis, questions about players, questions about Baseball records. I am a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) and a lifelong baseball fanatic. Don't ask me questions about training - this is not my area of expertise.

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