Umpire Gary Darling ruled a pitching change balk against the Mariners Thursday night at Fenway after Manager Robby Thompson briefly motioned to the bullpen with his left arm before immediately switching to the right during a pivotal 9th inning pitching change. The Red Sox would score five times in the frame after Thompson's fateful move, completing an improbable walk-off victory.
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| SEA wants the righty, but Darling calls the lefty. |
With none out and the bases loaded, Thompson ventured to the mound for a pitching change, initially signaling to the bullpen with his left arm before switching to his right arm, all while in the grass area between the third base foul line and the pitcher's mound.
As righty Yoervis Medina prepared to enter the game—he had already run onto the outfield grass—3B Umpire and crew chief Gary Darling quickly addressed the first arm movement and ordered lefty Oliver Perez enter the game instead. Forced to face righty Shane Victorino pursuant to Rule 3.05(b), which states that "if the pitcher is replaced, the substitute shall pitch to the batter then at bat, or any substitute batter, until such batter is put our or reaches first base," Perez allowed all three baserunners to score, surrendering two runs of his own during ensuing action before being relieved by Medina.
Rule 3.03 governs substitutions, stating simply that a player may be substituted during a game when the ball is dead while 3.05 governs the specific case of pitcher substitutions and 3.06 specifies the process:
The manager shall immediately notify the umpire-in-chief of any substitution and shall state to the umpire-in-chief the substitute’s place in the batting order.
HP Umpire and umpire-in-chief David Rackley had removed his lineup cards so as to make the change, but had not yet indicated the new pitcher as in Rule 3.07, which states that "the umpire-in-chief shall, after having been notified, immediately announce, or cause to be announced, each substitution."
Meanwhile, PBUC (MiLB) has officially interpreted that a manager or coach's signal to the bullpen "constitutes a substitution for the pitcher" (4.6); however, the MLBUM (MLB) has deemed that a substitution is completed only when the plate umpire is notified. If PU is not notified, a pitcher is considered as having entered the game when "he takes his place on the pitcher's plate prior to delivering a pitch (preparatory or otherwise)." The Major League Baseball Umpire Manual makes it clear it is the plate umpire's responsibility to coordinate all substitutions. MLBUM does not address the signal to the bullpen.
It sure would have been interesting had Darling worked the 1978 World Series when after positing the "take him out vs. leave him in" debate, Dodgers Manager Tommy Lasorda famously opted to "take him in" while gesturing to the bullpen with both hands.