# Weird baseball play



## Cmaier

Never saw this before.

Mets vs. Diamondbacks, Mets batting, with runners on 1st and 3rd.  McCann hits a short sacrifice fly to left field, and throw is a little off the line so runner coming home from third is called safe.  Runner stays on 1st.  

Arizona decides they want to appeal the play, because they think the runner left third early.

Pitcher takes ball, steps off mound, and throws to third for the appeal. But as soon as the pitcher steps off the mound, JD Davis (runner on first) breaks for second, walking the last 10 feet because he wants to draw a throw and be thrown out, preventing the appeal.

Instead the third baseman steps on the third. Everybody called safe.


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## Herdfan

Cmaier said:


> Pitcher takes ball, steps off mound, and throws to third for the appeal. But as soon as the pitcher steps off the mound, JD Davis (runner on first) breaks for second, walking the last 10 feet because he wants to draw a throw and be thrown out, preventing the appeal.




Because once the pitcher attempted to make a play on the runner, it was a new play and the appeal is moot.  Very smart base running.

Your description is a bit off.  The pitcher after stepping off the rubber runs towards second and did not throw to third until he had attempted to make a play on the runner.


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## Eric

Herdfan said:


> Because once the pitcher attempted to make a play on the runner, it was a new play and the appeal is moot.  Very smart base running.
> 
> Your description is a bit off.  The pitcher after stepping off the rubber runs towards second and did not throw to third until he had attempted to make a play on the runner.



Same reason a football team who is about to get a penalty tries to snap the ball before it's called.


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## lizkat

Watching Minnesota embarrass Boston in a game that started in the forenoon, which is weird enough,.,  but there have been some weird plays in the game too... and some ugly innings,  including one moment when no one was even sure what the count was on a pitch, and another when a pitch actually hit the dirt before bouncing up to touch the pitcher's bat, leaving guys on base wondering wtf to do,  This is partly down to what happens when spring training is cut short.   And partly due to starting a game at 11am??  Even the announcers are whining about that.  One just said the game feels 50 innings long and it's only the bottom of the 8th, with Minnesota leading 8-2 on a collection of strange plays.


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## DT

Herdfan said:


> Because once the pitcher attempted to make a play on the runner, it was a new play and the appeal is moot.  Very smart base running.
> 
> Your description is a bit off.  The pitcher after stepping off the rubber runs towards second and did not throw to third until he had attempted to make a play on the runner.




Holy hell, yeah, that's pretty clever.


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## Cmaier

DT said:


> Holy hell, yeah, that's pretty clever.



More clever than I realized at the time I saw it.

Turns out, the pitcher stepped first toward second, before throwing to third. As soon as he stepped off the mound toward second, that negated the ability to appeal. So by itself that was enough.  He should have gone ahead and thrown to second at that point because he would have had the runner, and there was no longer any chance to overturn the run that scored.

Also turns out this is something Buck Schowalter (the mets new manager) had prepared the team for during spring training, and they actually called for the attempted steal from the dugout.


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## Herdfan

Turns out this isn't the first time it has happened.  To the Diamondbacks.  

The Astro's did a similar play last September.  I guess they don't learn.  The one thing that was different is that the runner actually did take off early and the appeal would have been successful.  The Astro's runner was standing on 3rd and when the pitcher went to throw the ball to 3rd for the appeal, the runner took off for home.  The pitcher reacted and tried to make a play on the runner, negating the ability to appeal.

Player who know the rules in depth can change a game.  I think back to D'Vonte Adams stepping out of bounds and then touching the kickoff.  Since he was already out of bounds when he touched it, the ball was considered a kick out of bounds and given to the Packer's at the 45.  Another player tried it the next week, but touched the ball and then stepped out of bounds giving his team the ball where he stepped out.  One player not only knew the rule, but also knew how to make sure he wasn't in violation.  The other did not.


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## lizkat

Dunno about strange plays but it was probably unusual for a doubleheader to end up with both games going to extra innings.   Yesterday the Mets beat out Chicago twice on the Cubs' home turf in extra innings...  2-1 in 11 and then 4-3 in the 10th. 

It was the kinda thing where even if ya win ya feel punished by all that time in the field of dreams or nightmares...   the first game alone ran to just 11 minutes short of four hours.

What did make the two games even more unusual was that a particular Mets player featured in both wins, although not credited with a hit in either case:   Pete Alonso hit a sacrifice fly to drive in the winning run in game 1, and Alonso also came to bat in game 2 in the 10th inning with the bases loaded, ended up clipped in the elbow by the pitcher to drive in the win there. 

Cubs must have left the field wondering WTAF on the day overall.


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## SuperMatt

First ever 8-5 triple play in MLB history…

https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1544320197149962240/


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## Cmaier

There was a 6-1 put out at first base yesterday in one of those Mets games. For a bit it was scored a 3-6-1.  Either way that’s weird.


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## Herdfan

SuperMatt said:


> First ever 8-5 triple play in MLB history…
> 
> https://www.twitter.com/i/web/status/1544320197149962240/




So how was #15 out?  It looked like he was ready to tag at second.  Next camera shot has him on 3rd, but he was a step from second when the center fielder was a step or two from the warning track.  I guess he didn't tag up after all.

But no need to throw to 1st as that was the runner the third basemen tagged.


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## lizkat

Herdfan said:


> So how was #15 out?  It looked like he was ready to tag at second.  Next camera shot has him on 3rd, but he was a step from second when the center fielder was a step or two from the warning track.  I guess he didn't tag up after all.
> 
> But no need to throw to 1st as that was the runner the third basemen tagged.




Imagine being the batter hitting a ball maybe 10 feet from a homer and ending up instead as agent of a benchmark triple play.  Oy.


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## JayAgostino

lizkat said:


> Watching Minnesota embarrass Boston in a game that started in the forenoon



Forget that! 








						Red Sox humbled by Jays in historic loss
					

BOSTON -- On a Saturday afternoon in July 1923, the Red Sox were on the road for a doubleheader when Cleveland scored a run in every inning -- with the largest margin coming in a 13-run sixth -- en route to a 27-3 drubbing in Game 1. It was the




					www.mlb.com


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## SuperMatt

JayAgostino said:


> Forget that!
> 
> 
> 
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> 
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> 
> Red Sox humbled by Jays in historic loss
> 
> 
> BOSTON -- On a Saturday afternoon in July 1923, the Red Sox were on the road for a doubleheader when Cleveland scored a run in every inning -- with the largest margin coming in a 13-run sixth -- en route to a 27-3 drubbing in Game 1. It was the
> 
> 
> 
> 
> www.mlb.com



I am watching the Red Sox right now and it is the like keystone cops out there.


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## lizkat

tbh some of the umpires'  calls this season have been pretty much keystone cops material as well.  

They do replays and reviews when challenged, but really some of the calls that stand still seem debatable.


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## Yoused

lizkat said:


> some of the calls that stand still seem debatable.




This is actually one of the reasons I stand in firm opposition to replay calling. Crowd noise, weather and bad calls are all part of the game, and if your team loses on a bad call, chances are they will win next week on an officiating error. Take the call on the field (with discussion if necessary) and move the game along.


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## Herdfan

Yoused said:


> This is actually one of the reasons I stand in firm opposition to replay calling. Crowd noise, weather and bad calls are all part of the game, and if your team loses on a bad call, chances are they will win next week on an officiating error. Take the call on the field (with discussion if necessary) and move the game along.




I'm torn a bit.

As a swim Referee, I have the power to make any call anywhere in the pool.  I will only do it in the case where everyone in the facility can see it and it is not being called by the S&T Official.  

That's kind of how I see replay.  If everyone in the stadium knows it was a bad/missed call, then review it.  But holding or balls & strikes, nope.  Move on like you say.


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## lizkat

Herdfan said:


> ...  If everyone in the stadium knows it was a bad/missed call, then review it.  But holding or balls & strikes, nope.  Move on like you say.



,,, because otherwise one of these days we'll end up with robots making all the calls.  I know that some fans actually think robots should at least be calling balls and strikes right now.  I'm a no on that one,  even if in some games one can feel like starting a gofundme for new eyeglasses for the umpire at the plate.


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## Herdfan

lizkat said:


> ,,, because otherwise one of these days we'll end up with robots making all the calls.  I know that some fans actually think robots should at least be calling balls and strikes right now.  I'm a no on that one,  even if in some games one can feel like starting a gofundme for new eyeglasses for the umpire at the plate.




I played baseball from 7 years old through college and a summer of Rookie Ball.  Both pitchers/catchers and hitters know umpire's tendencies.  So as a long as an umpire has a consistent strike zone, it is not a problem.  It is when you have umpires like Angel Hernandez who's strike zone is a moving target that it becomes a problem.


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## lizkat

I admit that I used to notice off-calls a bit less before tv started supplying outlines of the zone and where the pitch actually landed.   Any more I'm amazed anyone can hit anything when it's coming at 90-100mph.


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