An interesting play occurred in tonight's game between the Silver Marlins and Pirates. The bases were loaded with one out. The batter lined a ball that struck the base umpire behind the pitcher between 2nd and 3rd base. What is the call? MLB rules state that
6.08 The batter becomes a runner and is entitled to first base without liability to be put out (provided he advances to and touches first base) when d) A fair ball touches an umpire or a runner on fair territory before touching a fielder. If a fair ball touches an umpire after having passed a fielder other than the pitcher, or having touched a fielder, including the pitcher, the ball is in play. AND 5.09 The ball becomes dead and runners advance one base, or return to their bases, without liability to be put out, when_ (f) A fair ball touches a runner or an umpire on fair territory before it touches an infielder including the pitcher, or touches an umpire before it has passed an infielder other than the pitcher; If a fair ball touches an umpire working in the infield after it has bounded past, or over, the pitcher, it is a dead ball.
The result is the batter is awarded first base and the runners advance one base. The runner previously on 3rd base is awarded home plate.
This happened to me in a 6/23 Thurs. Hobbs game for only the 2nd time in 10 years. Working the "B" position (on the 1st-2nd side of the diamond) a ball with funny spin found me, after passing the pitcher and before the fielder could make a play. HP Umpire in Chief correctly ruled dead ball with batter-runner awarded 1st base ( a base hit if you're scoring at home) and returned the advancing runner from 3rd to home, back to 3rd base......only happens once in a great while, but is does....great call Todd and John!
Thnaks for looking that up and for handling the situation so deftly.
Now with the facts in hand, I can see that maybe I was wrong to claim that my dead grandmother had better eyesight than you. And, well, that whole bit about hoping to one day stand by and laugh while a pack of feral dogs feasted on your entrails -- okay, maybe that was extreme. And perhaps, in retrospect, I was a little over the top when I slammed that brick through your car windshield. Heat of the moment stuff. Part of the game. I'm sure you understand.
For those of you listening in at home, the play came at a critical juncture in the game. The Pirates had jumped to a 3-0 lead, only to quickly fall behind 6-3 after a series of booming shots to the gap and a home run. We closed it to 6-4; the Marlins built that back to 7-4. In the bottom of the 6th we got it to 7-6 and felt like the game was within our grasp.
Top of the 7th, the Marlins loaded the bases on a three hopper between 3rd and short, a flare over second, and a mishandled ball in left. Nobody out. Todd Calhoun struck out the next batter. Then came the play. Doug Zimewski (sorry, I spelled that wrong, don't have the book w/ me) hit a hard grounder up the middle that clanged off the field umpire's ankle.
(Again, Todd the umpire, I apologize: It was probably in poor taste of me to scream that I wished it had taken off your entire leg, forcing you to crawl like a reptile through the rest of your sorry days, fending for food scraps in the dumpsters behind the darkened back alleys of Chinese restaurants, wrestling stale eggrolls from the jaws of wild cats. Perhaps I protested a tad too enthusiastically.)
Back to the game: The ball bounced to Jim Jordan at short who alertly picked it up and fired home for the shocking force out at the plate. It was a huge play, an amazing turn of events, elating the Pirates, giving us hope: I had been right all along; God really did hate the Marlins; this was going to be our night after all. Then came the discussion, and the ruling: Run scores, all hands safe. Score 8-6 with only one out, fish on every bag. We deflated like a week-old birthday balloon. Ralph Caputo followed that with yet another screaming liner to the left-center gap. And the sh*t, as they say, was shot. I believe the final score was 13-6. Even so, a good baseball game. Baserunning mistakes on both sides, but a lot of really good hitting and determined effort. Glad to be a part of it, even in defeat.
