By
Steve Kallas (posted by Rick Morris)
After
a complete review of MLB Rule 7 and the Obstruction definition under Rule 2,
some interesting things have come to light.
Also, further review of the play also adds an interesting dimension.
THE
CALL
You
know the play: Game 3, Bottom 9, tie game, one out, second and third, infield
in. Hard grounder to Pedroia, who throws
Molina out at home. Saltalamacchia
(hereafter “the catcher”) tries to get Craig at third, Middlebrooks can’t
handle the throw, which deflects to the wall behind third towards left-field.
Craig
gets up, trips over Middlebrooks and starts home. Third-base ump Joyce points
at Middlebrooks (apparently calling obstruction) and Nava, with an unbelievable
back-up, throws Craig out at home. Home
plate umpire DeMuth signals safe and points towards Joyce (who had raised his
hand, presumably to point out obstruction).
Game
over. Unbeknownst to this writer until
further review of the play on Sunday, the catcher, with his hands outstretched
(you know, seeming to indicate, “How could he be safe?”), has the ball in hand
and STEPS ON HOME PLATE (more on this later).
Craig,
who never touched home, is lying injured near home and is helped off the field
by the trainer while the Cardinals celebrate and manager John Farrell and other
Red Sox complain vehemently.
To
no avail. Cardinals 5, Red Sox 4.
LOOK AT SOME RULES AND WHAT HAPPENED
The
two main MLB Rules regarding Obstruction are the definition of Obstruction at
Rule 2.00 and MLB Rule 7.06 (a).
Obstruction is defined at 2.00 as:
“Obstruction is the act of a
fielder who, while not in possession
of the ball and not in the
act of fielding the ball, impedes the
progress of any runner.”
The
example under the Comment to 2.00 Obstruction is right on point and is exactly
what happened on the field:
“For example, an infielder
dives at a ground ball and the ball
passes him and he continues
to lie on the ground and delays
the progress of the runner,
he very likely has obstructed the
runner.”
MLB
Rule 7.06 (a) states, in part:
“If a play is being made on the obstructed
runner …, the ball is dead
and all runners shall
advance, without liability to be put out, to the
bases they would have
reached, in the umpires judgment, if there
had been no obstruction.”
There
was a press conference after the game with Joe Torre, who now works for MLB,
and a number of umps. They made it very
clear that they got the call right, they were sure about it and that intent
didn’t matter.
Based
on these rules, and especially the Comment to MLB Rule 2.00 Obstruction, it
appears that the call was correct.
Middlebrooks did obstruct Craig.
Here’s
another Note to a Rule that may apply, if, in fact, time was never called by
either umpire (Joyce at third and DeMuth at home) and the ball remained
live. The Note to Rule 7.04 (d) states,
in part:
“When a runner is entitled to a
base without liability to be put out,
while the ball is in play, and
the runner fails to touch the base to
to which he is entitled [in
this case, home], the runner shall forfeit
his exemption from liability
to be put out, and he may be put out by
by tagging the base or by
tagging the runner before he returns to the
base.”
DID
ALLEN CRAIG HAVE TO TOUCH HOME?
Allen
Craig clearly has a responsibility to touch home. Here’s the Comment to MLB Rule 7.05 (i):
“The fact a runner is awarded a
base or bases without liability to
be put out does not relieve
him of the responsibility to touch the
base he is awarded.”
Clearly,
Craig was awarded home and didn’t touch it.
SO,
THE REAL QUESTION BECOMES, GIVEN
THE FOLLOWING RULES, DID THE RED SOX APPEAL WHETHER CRAIG TOUCHED HOME OR NOT?
Rule
7.08 (k) states that any runner is out when:
“In running or sliding for home
base, he fails to touch home
base and makes no attempt to
return to the base, when a
fielder holds the ball in his
hand, while touching home base
and APPEALS TO THE UMPIRE FOR
THE DECISION.”
(emphasis
added)
Now,
if you watch the replay, the catcher had his arms out (certainly more of a “How
could you make that call” as opposed to “I appeal”), the ball in his hand and,
it seems to this writer, accidentally stepped on home. Could this be an appeal?
The
answer is clearly “No.”
Why? The Comment to MLB Rule 7.10 (d) states, in
part:
“A player inadvertently stepping on a
base with a ball in his
hand would not constitute an
appeal.”
SO,
WHERE DOES THAT FINALLY LEAVE US?
Well,
if somebody on the Red Sox had appealed the play by notifying the umpire and stepping
on home before the defense left the field, it is submitted that Craig could
have been called out and the game resumed as a tie game. While unlikely, if the ball remained live the
entire time (while obstruction was called, no umpire ever called Time), maybe
Craig could have arguably been called out without an appeal (see Note to 7.04
(d) above).
Of
course, apparently, no appeal was made.
However, looking at the replay, it did not seem that the home plate
umpire ever even looked to see if Craig touched home. And that’s a COLOSSAL mistake. Since DeMuth had no interest in calling the
play at the plate (he appeared to look at it and then stand up and give a safe
sign (Craig was clearly tagged by the catcher) and point towards Joyce at
third), his SOLE responsibility at that point in time is to see if Craig
touched home, much like, when somebody hits a game-ending home run, the home
plate ump always waits for the player to touch home and then leaves the field.
DeMuth
simply never looked.
SO,
WAS IT REALLY THE CORRECT CALL?
The
call of obstruction was correct. But,
after Craig failed to touch home, the Red Sox failed to appeal and the home
plate umpire never looked to see if the game-winning run in the third game of
the 2013 World Series actually touched home.
Had the Red Sox appealed, the home plate umpire would have either called
Craig safe or asked for help (and remember, the main reason Craig missed home
was because he was trying to avoid the catcher’s tag). And, unlike the call last week when DeMuth
was looking down at players’ feet at that force at second when Pete Kozma did
not catch the force throw and five umpires overruled him, on this play at home,
no umpire (other than DeMuth) could have seen that Craig missed home.
Lots
of blame to go around. And fascinating
stuff.
@
COPYRIGHT 2013 BY STEVE KALLAS ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
