NEWSLETTER
You no doubt remember that crazy Game 5 of the 2017 NLDS, with the Cubs rallying to beat the Nationals and then holding on at the end. Freaking awesome game.
The Cubs probably shouldn’t have won it, though.
The part you may not remember is that, during that “rallying” part, when the Cubs put up a four spot with two outs on Max Scherzer, there was a play that completely screwed the Nationals and was incorrectly called by the umpires. On a strikeout that would’ve ended the inning before two of the runs scored, the pitch got past the catcher, and Javy Báez ran to first base to keep the inning alive. However, Báez hit Matt Wieters with his backswing on the play, and it SHOULD have been a dead ball immediately. Strikeout stands, inning over.
The play came to mind for me this morning because I just saw part of how the Brewers lost last night, and it was a repeat of that moment – but with a different outcome:
Brewers manager Pat Murphy was evidently trying to argue that the ball was already past the catcher, who was moving forward to try to block the pitch, so the contact from the batter didn’t matter. His argument was unsuccessful, and he was ejected.
Also, he was wrong.
Even if you say the ball was past the catcher when the batter hit him in the helmet, how can you say that’s definitely NOT interference? Imagine a world where the ball gets by the catcher but is retrievable, and the catcher COULD have had a play at the plate, but he was temporarily woozy from literally being hit in the head? Of course that’s interference.
Under the rules, yes, there is an argument available that the batter did not actually interfere with the play – there is some allowance for umpire discretion – but EVEN in that case, if there is contact on the backswing, the play is dead immediately (as the ump explained after the game). So it doesn’t matter whether there was “actual” interference or not: the play is dead on contact, the batter had just whiffed on strike three, and no runners can advance. It’s how the Cubs-Nationals play was supposed to be called.
In other words, the umpires got this one right, and the Brewers are going to need to brush up on the rules.
