Obstruction- Yes or No. Let's learn

...should probably ignore him and continue to play as if he hadn't done anything or, maybe better, play as if the obstruction hadn't happened.

The umpire is supposed to protect the obstructed player from being put out between the bases where the obstruction occurred and award the runner the base she would have reached had no obstruction occurred.

If the runner is tagged out, then the umpire stops play. If play stops without the runner being tagged, and the runner reaches where the umpire though she would have gotten, he may not say anything more; but obstruction still happened.

 

DING, DING, DING We have a winner. The key to an obstruction call is if the runner fails to reach the bag she was headed for. IE called out. It is NOT a dead ball other action can occur after obstruction is signaled.
In this specific picture, once again, the runner looks like she "safely" made it to home plate. She is the only runner protected by obstruction, and only to the base she was trying to reach.
Lets take that play one step further. Assume there were 2 outs and a runner had also had reached third. The catcher successfully blocked the runner from reaching home and tagged her out. The catcher then rolled the ball to the pitchers mound and defense started leaving the field. Runner at third casually walks toward her dugout on the first baseline and touches home as she goes. Did she score?

 

This whole conversation depends on the organization being considered.
NCAA Says:
1.80 Obstruction
The act of a defensive team member that hinders or impedes a batter’s
attempt to make contact with a pitched ball or that impedes the progress
of a runner or batter-runner who is legally running bases, unless the fielder
is in possession of the ball, is fielding a batted ball or is about to receive a
thrown ball. The act may be intentional or unintentional.

 

I believe I said that earlier. NCAA is the lone holdout. I guess the NCAA coaches like crashes at the plate.

 

Same tournament, different game:

Batter/runner hits a ball in the RC gap. She easily reaches 2nd base, rounds 2nd base, full speed, runs into the SS who is unintentionally lolligagging near the bag. The batter/runner falls down, gets back up, hesitates, then returns to 2nd base. Her coaches and just about every parent on their side of the field yell to her to run to 3rd base. She takes off and runs to 3rd base where she is tagged out. The field umpire immediately calls "Interference, runner is safe". Of course, I'm thinking this guy doesn't know the difference between Interference and Obstruction.

If I was the opposing coach, I would argue (I don't know how successfully) that the runner gave up her right to 3rd base when she returned to 2nd base.

Any thoughts?

 

Once she returned to second her free pass to third expired.

 

I disagree. The umpire should award the base that he feels the runner would have reached had there been no obstruction. If he believes that, absent the collision, the runner would have made third, then that's where she should go. Even if he said "inteference" instead of "obstruction," I think he otherwise got the call right. I'd prefer that over the other.