Strange Plays I Have Seen

Sunday's Game One ended on one of the more bizarre plays I have seen in my SFLOI career. With one out in the top of the 7th, and runners on first and second, Bob Holzwasser-- the tying run-- hit a bloop to shallow center that fell in front of OF Derek Martinez. Martinez came up throwing to third, where runner Solomon Sarway was narrowly forced out. Trail runner Alex Rivera forgot how many outs there were, and wandered off of second base thinking the game was over. He was retired in a brief rundown.

Now, two obscure rules governed the putout at third base. Martinez's throw was low and into the runner, forcing the third baseman (me) to stretch towards home plate and inadvertently block the entire bag with my body. Solomon, rather than sliding into me and knocking me into next week, gave himself up. There was still a pretty strong collision. This is an interesting test of the no-collision rule. The runner would have been within his rights to slide into me. With Holzwasser, the batter, representing the tying run, it would have made good softball sense to slide, but perhaps bad common sense, because, as was mentioned a few weeks ago, there is nothing of vital importance at stake here, and we need to be able to go to work on Monday.

The other rule is the interference rule, which is widely debated and sometimes misinterpreted whenever it's called into play. As the fielder, I am allowed to go into the basepath to make a play, whether on a ground ball, popup, or attempting to field a throw. So the play was legit, the umpire made the correct call (assuming the ball actually beat the runner), the runner did the right thing by giving himself up, and the only unfortunate circumstance of the whole play is that it came in a situation of game-changing importance, and snuffed out a last-inning rally.

Before I recap this week's games, here are a few other strange plays from the last few years:

In the bottom of the 7th inning of the last game of the 2007 season, Phil Ciccone was on third base as the tying run with two outs. The next batter, John Pyne, hit a soft ground ball down the third base line. Phil remained on the bag, and made no effort to avoid the ball (and may have even leaned into it a little). It hit him and bounced into foul territory. Phil was called out for interference, and a long argument ensued. As I interpret the rules, the call was correct, even though being on the bag usually provides protection for the runner. I believe the hit-by-pitch rule in baseball is a reasonable parallel. If a batter leans into a pitch, he may not always be awarded first base.

Amusingly, while umpiring, I fucked up a similar call in early 2008. Phil was the batter this time, and smoked a line drive that hit runner Seung Lee on third base. I called Seung out, as he was in fair territory. This was probably the wrong call, IF he was still on the bag. I don't remember. Maybe Seung does.

Now, here's a couple of interference plays. While pursuing a popup in one of the Great Lawn bonus games last year, 1B Freddy Melendez collided with a runner. Both runners were declared safe because of Freddy obstructing the lead runner. This was an incorrect call, because Freddy was the fielder nearest the play, and HAS THE RIGHT TO ENTER THE BASEPATH TO MAKE A PLAY. The runner has the right to leave the basepath to avoid him, but the fielder has the right-of-way if he is pursuing the ball AND is the closest fielder. I believe the correct call would be that the runner should have been out, and the batter awarded first base. If the runner's interference were intentional (it was not), both would be out. In this case, the legendary vociferousness of Joe Gerber influenced the umpire's call, but the game was still won by Freddy's team.

The other case is Marvin's injury from last season. A slightly errant throw carried Marvin's momentum into the baseline, where Jim O'Connor collided hard with him. The umpire ruled Jim safe, and this was also correct, because Jim was in the baseline, and had no time to try to avoid Marvin-- when ball, fielder, and runner arrive at a base simultaneously, there is no interference.