As Marlins manager Guillen watched Hanley Ramirez rounded first base after singling in the bottom of the ninth inning, something didn't look quite right to the veteran skipper, who immediately exited the third base dugout and waltzed straight toward Davidson and eventually crew chief Jerry Layne, who was making his first appearance since being hit with a broken bat in Cincinnati.
Turns out, Matheny had asked Davidson to double-switch his pitcher into the fifth spot, though the Cardinals internally penciled in the substitution as having occurred in lineup spot No. 7.
In what might as well be a case play straight out of the MLB Rules Book or umpiring manual, a glance at the Marlins Park scoreboard indicated the Cardinals had intended to bat first baseman Craig at No. 5, catcher Yadier Molina at No. 6 and pitcher Victor Marte at the No. 7 spot for third baseman David Freese. With No. 8 hitter Daniel Descalso slated to lead off the eventual 10th inning, colloquial baseball strategy pegged the logical pitcher's slot as seventh, meaning Marte (or his spot) would not have to bat for another nine hitters.
Instead, Matheny incorrectly had placed Marte in Craig's fifth spot, meaning that on appeal from Guillen, Craig had to come out of the ball game (he was replaced defensively by Tony Cruz, who took over Freese's seventh spot in the batting order).
Huh? For the visually inclined, refer to the above table to see what happened in Florida Monday night.
Rules 3.06 and 3.07 govern substitutions, stating that the manager must notify the umpire-in-chief of any substitutions (3.06), who in turn shall notify all personnel of the switch (3.07).
Wily Ozzie Guillen has finally done it, taking the effort he used to expel in getting ejected and turning into real manager know-how. Well done. Nonetheless, Matheny and the Cardinals got the final laugh, winning the ball game in the 10th—with a pitcher producing the game-winning RBI. Too bad Ozzie didn't wait until the 10th before executing a batting-out-of-order appeal (Rule 6.07(a)).
Wrap: Cardinals at Marlins, 6/25/12
Video: Cards forced to remove Allen Craig after Matheny miscommunication with umpire Davidson
