Ask the UEFL: Balls, Strikes and the Walk off Walk

San Francisco's walk-off walk vs. Boston last night inspired today's Ask the UEFL, submitted via the @SportEjections twitter account. @MikeMatthews9 asks, "Did the officials blow a call in last night's Red Sox-Giants game? It resulted in a Giants victory."

Tuesday's Red Sox-Giants game produced two calls of note, a safe call at third base in the 5th and a ball four call at the plate to end the game in the 9th. In the 5th, with none out and one on, Giants batter Joaquin Arias hit a 1-1 slider from Red Sox pitcher Jake Peavy to left field, sliding into third base as the throw from left fielder Daniel Nava arrived. Replays indicate third baseman Will Middlebrooks' tag to Arias' leg was made after Arias' foot already came in contact with third base, 3B Umpire Tim Welke's safe call was correct.

Video: Arias hits an RBI triple in the 5th inning, called safe at third on a close play (SF)

Illustration of the UEFL's
Kulpa Rule (6-2-b-1).

In the 9th, tied at two, the Giants loaded the bases after a Roger Kieschnick single, Andres Torres walk and Hector Sanchez hit-by-pitch. After Boston brought in reliever Brayan Villareal to face Giants batter Marco Scutaro, Scutaro took four consecutive pitches for a walk-off walk. Though all parties stipulated the first three pitches missed the strike zone, Boston starter Peavy, for one, pointed the finger at HP Umpire Mike Everitt: "The last pitch was a strike...There's no other way to say it. It was a strike. The players who were involved in that ninth inning would tell you they've got to do a better job, but at the end of the day, for an umpire not to make the call to cost us a game, that's extremely unfortunate."

Replays indicate the pitch was located thigh high and off the outer edge of home plate (px .823), HP Umpire Mike Everitt's ball call was correct.

Video: Tied 2-2, San Francisco loads the bases, Marco Scutaro walks on four pitches (SF)
Wrap: Boston Red Sox vs. San Francisco Giants, 8/20/13

@mikequinn_ also asked, "how do you join the fantasy league?"

Prior to the beginning of each season, we conduct a draft process, open to all registrants. The registration process generally begins in late January or February with a deadline in March. Following the registration process, the draft and Appeals Board election takes place. Participating in the league is easy—simply post a comment to any thread or discussion to get involved. At the conclusion of the UEFL season, participate in the Rules Summit, a time when UEFL'ers get to choose the rules for next year's League. Some successful proposals to come out of the Rules Summit include the addition of a second Primary Umpire and required charge of appeal (2012 Summit) and the creation of the UEFL Appeals board (2011). That year's Summit also rejected the proposal to eliminate QOC from check swing calls, which as you can see from Phil Cuzzi's recent ejection, remains a hot-button issue.

If you have a question for the UEFL, send us an e-mail (info at closecallsports dot com) or visit our Ejection/Report form, selecting the "Misc. Rules Question" or "Other Discussion Request" submission type.