That was a very bizarre 7th inning. The Rangers were given a gift run. And they return the favour with 3 errors on easy plays giving Bautista the opportunity to crank one out of the park to score three. As a Jays fan I’m happy.
Alas, poor Astros. Oh well, they were a couple of years ahead of schedule anyway. The 8th inning of game 4 is going to give them nightmares all off-season, though.
Go Blue Jays!
The Rangers were thrown off by the call too, in a “we want to win but not like this” sense. Bautista and the Jays were just pissed. That was an odd play and I wonder the implications… can batters now try to interfere with a return throw?
No because the rules specifically state that the umpire can determine the batter interfered and hence rule against it. Since Choo was still in the batter’s box (and not crowding into the plate), it was obvious he didn’t interfere.
I don’t think the Rangers were thrown off at all. If they were, Odor never would have run home. They wanted that damn run. As for Toronto being angry, that wouldn’t have mattered one damn bit if Andrus had made any of his plays before Bautista came to bat.
— Alan
Here’s the relevant rule:
If the batter interferes with the catcher’s throw to retire a runner by stepping out of the batter’s box, interference shall be called on the batter under Official Baseball Rule 6.03(a)(3) (former OBR 6.06©).
However, if the batter is standing in the batter’s box and he or his bat is struck by the catcher’s throw back to the pitcher (or throw in attempting to retire a runner) and, in the umpire’s judgment, there is no intent on the part of the batter to interfere with the throw, the ball is alive and in play.
It seems like it was called correctly.
rowe33
1666
Video of throw back to pitcher
Meh, it was a really weird play but Choo in no way tried to interfere with the throw. He held his bat up and wasn’t looking at the catcher. If he had tried to interfere then it would have been a dead ball. His bat isn’t close to the plate - he’s just holding it up while trying to adjust his sleeve. Terrible throw by Martin really, though he didn’t really notice the bat if you look at the overhead shot.
Johnny Cueto did a thing (for once)!
Now onto the Toronto buzzsaw, which I expect will be quick and painful. Much like being eaten by a crocodile.
The only place where the Jays may have had a beef is with the ump ruling it dead at first and then awarding Odor the base post facto. That seemed a little squirrelly and something I’d like the umpiring crew to figure out soon, since it impacted on the Utley play as well.
To correct myself above, they only credited Andrus with two errors, but really he should have made all three plays, even if the middle one bounced from Moreland.
ARGH.
Dyson apparently was on Twitter still unhappy with Bautista’s bat-flip and admiration… damn dude, just shut up already. You messed up. And tried to make things worse by instigating another bench-clearer with Tulo at the end of the inning. Shave your horrible beard and go to the offseason already.
— Alan
Scuzz
1670
Andrus only deserved two errors, the throw was clearly the error of the first baseman as it is possible from the angle that Andrus may not have ever seen the ball. Martin was very close to being “out” of the baseline on that play.
As for the Choo-Martin play, that was a weird one. I have never seen anything like that in the pros. I heard the game live on ESPN and they were outraged, but watching the highlite last night I think the umps made the right call per the rules. Choo was in the batting box and made no effort to interfere, Martin just really never looked when he went to throw the ball back.
RickH
1671
The TV crew on TBS looked up the rule and backed up the umps pretty quickly, and I respect that sort of sports casting a lot more than outrage for the sake of it. Been watching baseball for 20 years and never saw anything that odd, particularly in a game as high stakes as this one.
Andrus has to know his days have become numbered as a starter for the Rangers. That was damn near unforgivable. But so was riding Hamels that far past 100 pitches when he clearly was not bringing his best stuff. The errors clearly got into his head.
I never had an opinion on the Blue Jays before this week, and now I think their fans suck and the team is a bunch of jerks. Hope the Royals eat them up.
Scuzz
1672
I think you can forgive the team and the fans. They haven’t even been in the playoffs since 1993 I think. I know the guys on ESPN radio were aghast at the call and basically saying there was no way the call could stand. I think it was 15 minutes before someone there read the rule word for word and decided the call was probably right, but it was still “unfair”.
Andrus has a big contract so moving him wouldn’t be easy.
Anyone who watched the game and that epic 7th inning needs to read the column written today by Joe Posnanski and Michael Schur (a/k/a Ken Tremendous, a/k/a Mose Schrute, a/k/a “Hey, I’m the guy who made Parks & Rec!”)
It is hilarious and awesome.*
*Descriptive words may not be applicable for Rangers fans, who should avoid that link at all costs.
Yeah, that was great. This amazed me too:
One of those awesome things. And here comes the best part: There’s an actual rule in baseball’s rulebook that covers this. I don’t mean there’s a vague rule that is sort of, kind of, squint-your-eyes applicable. I mean there is a rule that specifically and unequivocally covers what happened. The rule begins by saying that if the batter intentionally interferes with the throw back to the mound, he’s out. If the batter interferes by stepping out of the box, interference is the ruling.
Then comes the pertinent part:
“However, if the batter is standing in the batter’s box and he or his bat is struck by the catcher’s throw back to the pitcher (or throw in attempting to retire a runner) and, in the umpire’s judgment, there is no intent on the part of the batter to interfere with the throw, the ball is alive and in play.”
That is word-for-word what happened. Look at that rule. It’s a miracle. It’s like finding some scroll in the Dead Sea Scroll, opening it up and finding in Aramaic the lyrics of “Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae).”*
Schur’s description of the difference between MLB and NFL rules is pretty hilarious, too.
I kind of seriously do hope Andrus was on self-harm watch last night. That seemed like the kind of game that could fuck someone up.
rowe33
1677
I wish nothing ill towards him as a person but I sure hope Texas manages to dump him somehow. It’d take finding a real sucker to take on his salary and lengthy contract after such a horrific performance but hey, it could happen!
That may be the single greatest bit of baseball writing I’ve ever read. I nearly laughed myself to tears at the Harold Reynolds bits.
rowe33
1679
Bleh, I’m a Rangers fan and that was a great article - what a bizarre game.
“Would it surprise you to learn that Russell Martin once beat Billy Hamilton in a footrace?”
