MLB's Last Forfeit - Bob's Baseball Story

On this anniversary of MLB's last forfeit, we travel back to Los Angeles on August 10, 1995 when 1B Umpire Bob Davidson's Crew Chief Jim Quick forfeited the Cardinals-Dodgers game to St. Louis. As Bob tells the story, it all started with an ill-advised pre-game Dodger Stadium promotional giveaway as LA sought to bolster rookie pitcher Hideo Nomo's season.

As fate would have it, Nomo—who did win the 1995 National League Rookie of the Year Award—wound up taking the loss in the forfeit-shortened ballgame.

During our inaugural episode of The Plate Meeting, guest Bob Davidson recalled that summer's night at Chavez Ravine working with umpires Quick, Bill Hohn, and Larry Poncino, which featured a few LAD ejections (Eric Karros, Tommy Lasorda, Raul Mondesi) while a packed stadium fanbase threw souvenir baseballs onto the field throughout the later innings despite warnings—to the fans and the team itself—to stop.
Related Post: Plate Meeting Podcast Episode 1 - Bob Davidson (7/17/18).

Now, in video storyteller form, here's Bob Davidson's account of the last time Rule 7.03 (then-Rule 4.15, "A game may be forfeited to the opposing team when a team—after warning by the umpire, willfully and persistently violates any rules of the game"; also Rule 4.07(b)'s "The home team shall provide police protection sufficient to preserve order") was enforced in Major League Baseball, as well as a postgame phone conversation with NL President Len Coleman and how his crew was received the next day in San Francisco:

Alternate Link: Umpire Bob Davidson discusses the last big league forfeit (CCS)