The Obstruction Explained

By Scott:

Three things to keep in mind on the game-ending obstruction call

There’s a lot that’s been written about the obstruction play that ended Game 3 of the World Series, most of which explains why the call was right. If you haven’t read one of those pieces, do that to get the background on the play then come back here.

After reading the opinions of fans, there’s three big details that seem to trip up people who can’t wrap their head around the accuracy of the call:

1) A runner’s baseline and the physical, drawn line between third base and home plate are different things.

The chalk line between third and home is the foul line, which exists solely to determine whether a ball is fair or foul. A runner’s baseline is a straight line between a runner and the next base he’s running toward, and exists only when a play is being made on that runner.

This is an important distinction because I’ve seen a lot of people arguing that Allen Craig was “out of the baseline” when he made contact with Will Middlebrooks. That’s totally wrong. Craig’s baseline is the line from wherever he is to home plate. He’s allowed to run three feet to either side of that direct path. The location of the foul line has absolutely zero to do with this rule.

This rule applies almost solely to a player who’s attempting to avoid being tagged out between two bases. As soon as the defensive team gets in position to make a play on a runner, that’s the moment a runner’s baseline is established. It exists from wherever the runner happens to be at that moment to the next base, and is not necessarily a straight line from one base to another.

Ultimately, this rule was never even a factor in the play at the end of Game 3, because the obstruction occurred just beyond third base and before the Red Sox were able to make any sort of defensive play on Craig.

2) Obstruction is the act of being in the way, not necessarily the act of trying to be in the way

The idea behind the obstruction rule is to award a base to a runner who would have made it to that base if they weren’t impeded in some way. This does not require the obstructing fielder to be actively trying to do something to obstruct the runner.

I have read arguments that it shouldn’t be obstruction because Middlebrooks had nowhere to go after the ball sailed past him. There’s no doubt that he had no chance to get out of the way. That also doesn’t matter at all. Craig only fell down because there was somebody between him and home plate. It’s irrelevant whether or not that guy was trying to be in the way, and he doesn’t get excused even if he’s in the process of attempting to get out of the way. He’s either in the way or he isn’t.

The relevant question is this: If Middlebrooks hadn’t been lying there, would Craig have scored? The answer is yes, so it’s obstruction and the runner is entitled to that base.

The fielder is only allowed to be in the way of a runner if he’s actively trying to field a batted ball or catch a throw. The second the ball goes past him, he’s just in the way.

This actually is a pretty easy call to make for an umpire, and it happens a lot at lower levels of baseball.

3) Obstruction does not make the ball immediately dead

I’ve seen some people ask why the play wasn’t immediately called dead as soon as the collision happened, but that’s not actually the way to call this play.

When obstruction is called, an umpire points to where it takes place and shouts the word “obstruction” (Jim Joyce did this). The play, however, is allowed to proceed to its conclusion to allow other runners to advance as far as they can. The call is only enforced if a play is made on the obstructed runner.

Many times, the obstructed runner makes it to the next base anyway and the obstruction is called off. Since the initial ruling is often not enforced, it’s viewed as a rarer call than it actually is.

This was an unusual play, of course, because it was in the bottom of the ninth inning in a tie game, and there was nothing else that could happen once Craig was allowed to score.  Still, the procedure is to let the play go until a play is made on the obstructed runner. In this specific case, the game was over as soon as Jim Joyce pointed to the collision. Craig was either going to score or he was going to be awarded the base if he was thrown out.

Unfortunately for Middlebrooks, because of the way the play ended up, he was charged with an error for obstruction and Saltalamacchia was let off the hook. Had Craig scored safely after tripping on Middlebrooks, the error would’ve been charged to Saltalamacchia for his bad throw.