A strange baseball play

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Sean Mota

SatelliteGuys Master
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Sep 8, 2003
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Yesterday in the game between the Orioles and LA Angels something very strange happen. Miguel Tejada is on First base and no one out. Javie Lopez is at the plate batting. Javie hits a long flyball that the LA Angels center field is tracking. He gets to the fence, jumps and comes up empty. Actually a fan grabbed the ball before the center fielder and the ball went to the other side of the fence for a home run in my mind. Now here is where it gets weird. The umpire never says anything about the play and the center fielder hit the wall so hard that he felt on the ground and was knocked the air out of him. He is still on the ground and the umpires have not called time out or call the home run. In the meantime on the bases, the runner, Miguel Tejada, thinks that the center fielder has caught the ball and heads back to first. Javie lopez is still running like it was a home run so Tejada passes Javie on the bases. The center fielder finally gets up and shows that he does not have the ball on the glove. The umpires immediately call for time out and calls Javie out and awards Tejada three bases and he scores.

The rule: on the bases if two runners pass each other one of them (the trailer runner) is automatically out.

I completly understand the rule and I agree with it. But I found it very strange that the umpire with the center fielder on the ground, after hitting the wall, did not call for a time out to clarify the situation. They missed the call of the homerun and let the play continue.

On ESPN Baseball Tonight, I was completely stunned that when they analyzed the play, they never mentioned the stupidity of the umpires for not calling time and clarify the play to everyone specially after the center fielder was on the ground and nobody knew where the ball was. If you watched this play on Baseball Tonight yesterday, you wouldn't have known what really happened as they did not do a good job describing the play.
 
You never call a time out in the middle of the play! The amount of time that passed was insufficient to call for an injury and even so, the ball would have still been in play. It was the job of the other two fielders to get to the ball and thow it back had there not been fan inteferance.

The fault in this case was with Lopez for running passed his teammate! This is part of baseball 101. You never ever ever ever run passed your teammate on the bases! I have seen instances where one team member physically picks up the lead runner to get him moving, but never passes him.

It was a base-runner's error (Lopez's), pure and simple. The umpires were not at fault in any way shape or form.

See ya
Tony
 
Actually Tony it was Tejada who ran back to first and passed Javie Lopez... It was never an injury play because the center field got up and show no ball. But I'd bet that the umps did not know what had happened because they remained mute after the play. In fact, after they show the replay, the replay showed that it was fan interference and the ball might have been caught by the center fieder if the fan had not interfered with the play. To me the umps frozed and did not know what had happened to the ball. If you do not know where the ball is, you need to call time and find out. You can't froze and luckly for them the bone head play of Tejada bailed them out.
 
I'd say the umps blew it by not making a home run call. But they certainly can't just call time out in the middle of a play to try to figure out what happened. And while Tejada screwed up by heading back to second, he didn't "pass" Lopez, Lopez passed him. Lopez has probably been playing baseball his whole life and should've known better. If necessary he needs to stop, turn around and head the other direction. You don't pass another runner on the bases (or let him go by you in the other direction).

So I say everyone involved messed up at least a little, but Lopez was the worst. I mean, I think the umps and Tejada just weren't sure what happened. Lopez either wasn't paying attention, or didn't know the rule.
 
TheTimm said:
But they certainly can't just call time out in the middle of a play to try to figure out what happened.
Click to expand...

Amen brother. Whoever suggests the umps should have called time out has been watching too many Little League games. This is the big leagues!
 
and they look like fish out of water by muting themselves during the play... It is idiotic that they did not make a call. Out the three possible calls

1 - Fan Interferance (hitter is out)
2 - Home Run
3 - Calling time out

they showed to do nothing which is not an option... It is pure idiotic and even in little league baseball they call it right away because you cannot stand in the middle of a play like an idiot and just expect everyone in the park to guess what the play is. So it is more idiotic to stay quiet and say nothing... Not even in little league they will do something like this.
 
Sean, you seem to be the only one bent out of shape about this. I have seen the play several times. The umps did not do anything wrong. Fan interferance is does not necessarily mean that the hitter is out. And there was a base running error that DOES automatically mean there is an out.

See ya
Tony
 
So you are in agreement that the umps silence is fine... Then may be they should not call any calls at all and just let the fans, players and managers figure it out. They were bailed out because the plays that happened after the blew the call by not calling it. Sorry but that's my opinion. If you are going to call a play, call it but do not way until someone bails you out which it was the case in this case.

Just playing the if game, what would had happened if the centerfield never got up...

what would have happened if the runners have passed by each other, do you still remain that they should say nothing?
 
Sean, it is your opinion. ...your very own opinion which belongs to you and no one can take away or change. However, it is only your opinion and not that of MLB, the teams, the players, the umps, reporters, other media or many spectators. The "no call" was a good no call. The base-runners blew the play.

See ya
Tony
 
Sean, he is right, ummm errr no time outs. Base runners blew the play. Period end of story. Ya can't pass another up even if a "Home Run" call is made. If the outfielder was playing like he didn't have it he could throw it in and catch someone. The Umps can't make either call untill they know for sure so the ball is in play till otherwise stated by the umps
 
This is related to the subject of the thread, so I thought you guys might like to know this one.

May 26, 1959, Pirates vs Braves, County Stadium, Milwaukee, WI. Harvey Haddix has just pitched 12 perfect innings, that's 36 up, 36 down. In the bottom of the 13th with the score 0-0, the Braves Felix Mantilla hits a grounder to 3rd, Don Hoak fields the ball and throws low to first committing an error ending Haddix's perfection, Mantilla is sacrificed to 2nd, Henry Aaron is given an intentional walk. Joe Adcock hits a long drive to right center, Bill Virdon makes a frantic attempt to catch the ball as it goes over the wall, Aaron thinks that the ball bounced over the wall and is a ground rule double, touches 2nd and heads to the dugout assuming the tie breaking/winning run has scored. Adcock not knowing where the ball is runs full steam with his head down into second base, passing Aaron who is heading for the dugout. Ruling: the runner on 3rd scores the winning run, game is declared over and Adcock gets credit for a single.

If anyone is interested, I will tell about the time when 2 balls were in play at the same time during a Cub-Cardinal at Wrigley Field.
 
Oddly enough, this incident took place in 1959 also.

June 30, 1959 the Cardinals and Cubs are playing a day game at the "Friendly Confines," Bob Anderson is pitching for the Cubs and Stan Musial takes a high and inside pitch for ball 4. The ball gets past catcher Sammy Taylor and rolls to the backstop. Taylor starts to argue with umpire Vic Delmore that the ball hit Musial's bat. Anderson joins the argument, Musial realizes that time has not been called and heads to second, Anderson standing next to Delmore grabs a ball that Delmore is holding in his hand and fires it toward 2nd and it goes in to centerfield, Musial seeing this development takes off for 3rd only to meet shortstop Ernie Banks. During the argument at the plate, third baseman Don Zimmer goes to the backstop and gets the original ball and throws it to Banks who is covering 3rd and Banks promptly tags "The Man."

It is ruled that the ball at the backstop is the "live" ball and it's still in play since time was never called. Musial is called out. The Cardinals disagree, but the ruling stands.

In another game, I don't remember who was playing, but there was a play at the plate, the runner missed the plate, got up and went to the dugout, the umpire makes NO call. The catcher realizes what's going on, goes into the other teams dugout and tags the runner, who is then called out by the umpire.
 
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