Nice hit too!Nice throw
Nice hit too!Nice throw
I'm surprised it wasn't called obstruction on the field though.
The catcher is camped in the runner's direct path to the plate. The ball is definitely not there early. The runner slides into the catcher (and can't even do a real slide the catcher is so far up the line) approximately when the ball arrives (I think even if the ball arrives just before contact, it could be obstruction). It has all the elements of an easy obstruction call. You really have to parse the video to try to find a no call I think.
The catcher being camped in the runner's path without possession is not obstruction.
No, but it's Step 1 in a potential obstruction call. The play obviously happens very quickly, but as soon as the catcher went to that spot, the umpire should've been on alert for obstruction.
Valid. Maybe he was. His view of the play is better than ours.