Obstruction With A Play
A Baseball Fan from The Baseball Field asks:
In the WS game 3, Middlebrooks was called for obstruction against Craig as Craig tried to go home. Given that scenario, what if Craig decided that he might not make it home safely after he fell down and returned back safely to 3rd base? The umpire had already ruled obstruction, so would they have awarded Craig home automatically or is that a judgment call?
This is "obstruction with a play." which means, dead ball and award at least one base beyond last occupied base. Therefore had the runner simply gone back to third, (in this situation) he would have been awarded home . If this had happened, without a play on this particular runner, obstruction would still be called, but the continuing action would dictate where to protect that runner. If he just gave up and returned to third, he probably would not be awarded home. The umpire’s judgement (whether he would have made it to home or not) is taken away, by the runner giving up and returning to third.
Answered by: Jonathan Bravo
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