Video: Broadcaster Vin Scully says: "Hold everything, forget the play. Forget the play." (LAD)
Video: One out, one swing—and an atypically long trialogue between umpires and both managers (MIA)
Get out those rule books because this play is a head-scratching dream of a brain-teaser.
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| Tichenor points at the infraction. |
Answer: When B1 Cruz hit his fly ball 45' down the first base line, the umpires declared "Infield Fly, if Fair," after which R1 Ethier interfered with F3 Lee, which U1 Tichenor judged as the one fielder most entitled to attempt a play on the batted ball. R1 is out for interference and the play is dead, Rules 2.00 [Interference], 7.08(b), 7.09(j). What followed—F2 Brantly botched the catch, with PU Randazzo declaring a fair ball, R2 tagged at third base—is irrelevant as the play became dead upon the interference call. Crucial to successfully adjudicating this play in regards to B1 is the distinction between: "Fair Ball," "Foul Ball," "Not a Fair Ball," and "Probable Fair Ball."
B1 is not out on the Infield Fly Rule, because "Infield Fly" was never declared as the ball was not timely deemed "Fair Ball" or "Probable Fair Ball." Instead, the umpires ruled "Infield Fly, if Fair," meaning that the status of the ball (fair/foul) was unclear and the "Infield Fly," therefore was dependent on a future ruling of fair/foul/probable-fair. Rule 2.00 [Infield Fly] instructs officials to declare "Infield Fly" when "it seems apparent that a batted ball will be an infield fly," or when status changes from "Not a Fair Ball" to "Probable Fair Ball." Rule 6.05(e) states that the batter is out when "Infield Fly" is declared, which means B1 is out when status becomes "Probable Fair Ball." Ergo, had the umpires deemed status as "Probable Fair Ball" and declared "Infield Fly" prior to the interference and associated dead ball, B1 would have been out on the Infield Fly rule. Instead, the status of the ball was not yet fair/foul/probable-fair: It was "Not a Fair Ball," which means it was not yet an Infield Fly. The ensuing action on the ground is irrelevant as the play was killed upon the interference call. For this reason, OBR instructs: "Decision [of IFF] should be made immediately."
Finally, the question of whether B1 has completed his time at bat relies on Rule 6.04, which states a batter has legally completed his time at bat when he is put out or becomes a runner. Because B1 has not been put out, and we are not looking at an inning- or game-ending play that would prematurely terminate the batter's at-bat, we consider whether he has become a runner. Rule 6.09 states eight criteria under which a batter may become a runner, though only one is relevant in this scenario: 6.09(a): "He hits a fair ball." As mentioned above, status was "Not a Fair Ball" at the time of interference. Therefore, the batter has not become a runner and has not completed his time at bat.
Ruling: R1 out for interference, B1 resumes the at-bat, R2 returned to second base; Two outs, R2.
Play: Welcome to Major League Baseball, where the unexpected is downright routine. To set the scene, with one out and runners at first and second base during the bottom of the 7th inning of Sunday's Marlins-Dodgers game, B1 Luis Cruz skied a 1-2 slider from Marlins pitcher Chad Gaudin to the infield's Bermuda Triangle between home plate, the pitcher's mound and first base. Immediately signaled as an "Infield fly, if Fair" by HP Umpire Tony Randazzo, 1B Umpire Todd Tichenor, 2B Umpire Brian Gorman and 3B Umpire Bob Davidson, Marlins catcher Rob Brantly and pitcher Gaudin ran toward the descending pop fly, while first baseman Carlos Lee made contact with Dodgers baserunner R1 Andre Ethier, with Tichenor pointing at the contact as if to call runner's interference. As the baseball glanced off Brantly's glove and into foul territory, plate umpire Randazzo signaled the ball fair while Tichenor raised his arm and pointed skyward, indicating the batter Cruz was out on the infield fly rule. Enjoined to run on his own peril and perhaps looking to capitalize on the confusion reigning along the right foul line, Ethier ran toward second base, causing R2 Adrian Gonzalez to sheepishly break for third, only to be tagged out upon arrival.
Or was he?
After a protest from Dodgers manager Don Mattingly, the umpires conferred and overturned their original ruling, Davidson signalling to Guillen that his presence was required on the field, as crew chief Gorman explained the umpires' call, initially returning Andre Ethier to first base, only to be removed after discussion with Guillen. The final verdict? The ball was foul, negating the infield fly rule's invocation, and Ethier was declared out for interference. Cruz returned to home plate with two outs, a 1-2 count and R2 Gonzalez on second base.
Did the umpires get this call right? Was Ethier correctly ruled out as Cruz was returned to the batter's box on a dead ball call? As Scully said, "Whenever you get into a bowl of spaghetti like this, it's best to back off & let the umpires put their heads together."
This is a group case play; participation is worth one point.
*Thanks to all participants: UEFL'ers cyclone14, Hitit2me, JeremyJ, Josh7377, kickersrule, NorthStarUmpire#2, nwsquid, RadioPearl, RichMSN, SJR, Spence 1222, TXWrangler, UmpAtty and distinguished guests Anonymous (x30?), Brett, cardshk, Chris, DMay, joe greco, LMS1953, Mike, Nate, SJR, wwjd, and Zac
Relevant Rules:
2.00 [Fair Ball], 2.00 [Foul Ball], 2.00 [Infield Fly], 2.00 [Interference](a), 6.04, 6.05(e), 6.09(a), 7.08(b), 7.09(j)
Wrap: Marlins at Dodgers, 8/26/12
