Hand Waving Intentional Interference on the Grass

When 2B Umpire Marvin Hudson called interference on Brewers baserunner Jackson Chourio on Christian Yelich's infield ground ball, Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy argued the runner's decision to run on the infield grass is actually legal. Hudson let Murphy have his say, leaving broadcasters to piece together why interference was called...and citing some totally unrelated rules along the way.

With R1 Chourio on first base and one out, batter Yelich hit a ground ball to Cardinals 1B Willson Contreras, who threw to second base to try and force out Chourio. The ball hit Chourio and caromed into left field, drawing an interference call ("Time" and dead ball) by 2B Umpire Hudson.

Official Baseball Rule 5.09(b)(3) states, "Any runner is out when they intentionally interfere with a thrown ball; or hinder a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball."

While veering onto the grass on its own generally does not satisfy the intentionality standard of this rule, R1 Chourio's actions in raising his left arm prior to the throw's arrival suggests a proactive attempt to intentionally interfere with the throw.

Thus, R1 Chourio is out not for running on the infield grass or veering, as the broadcaster's incorrectly stated, "out of his baseline" (first, it's a base path not a baseline; and second, the base rule only applies to tag attempts: a thrown ball is not a tag attempt, and therefore the three-foot base path rule does not apply here), but for intentionally interfering with the fielder's throw, as evidenced by his actions in raising his arm prior to the throw's arrival to disrupt the defense's play.

Video as follows:

MiLB Manager Ejected After Odd Double Play

Umpire Chandler Durham ejected Lookouts manager Jose Moreno after an unusual double play when an already-out runner dove back into first base, confusing the batter-runner, who walked off the base even though he was safe. We take a look at the umpire mechanics of this play and discuss whether anything could have been done differently or whether the offensive team simply ran into an extra out.

With none out and one on (R1) in the top of the 7th inning of the Chattanooga Lookouts' game against the Knoxville Smokies, Lookouts batter-runner Héctor Rodríguez hit a ground ball/line drive to first base, fielded by Smokies first baseman BJ Murray, who threw to shortstop Ed Howard to force out Lookouts baserunner R1 Sal Stewart, who retreated and dove back into first base as Howard's return throw arrived late on batter-runner Rodríguez.

Despite 1B Umpire Spencer Kim signaling BR Rodríguez safe at first base, Rodríguez decided, seemingly on his own volition, to jog back to the dugout, leaving the base, whereupon first baseman Murray, now in possession of the ball, tagged him out for a double play.

We first establish that R1 Stewart's actions in returning to first base despite already being forced out at second does not constitute interference pursuant to Official Baseball Rule 6.01(a)(5): "If the batter or a runner continues to advance or returns or attempts to return to their last legally touched base after they have been put out, they shall not by that act alone be considered as confusing, hindering or impeding the fielders."

Second, noticing that during his argument Moreno animatedly motioned an "out" mechanic, alluding that perhaps the batter-runner was confused because the umpire signaled "out" prematurely, we observe that U1 Kim's only gestured mechanics during the initial action and before BR Rodríguez left first base on his way back to the dugout were "fair ball" and "safe"...U1 Kim did eventually signal "out" but only after the initial action concluded, only after the batter-runner started jogging back to his dugout, and only while also pointing to R1 Stewart to clarify that R1 Stewart was the one who was out.

In sum, the mechanics here did not contain an improper "out" signal as argued by the Lookouts. Instead, perhaps the confusion resulted from Chattanooga mistakenly thinking the batted ball was caught on the fly when it was not. Thus the only mechanic that could have been different here would have been the umpire signaling "safe" after the fair ball mechanic, to signify that the batted ball was indeed not caught in the air.

Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 012 - Mark Carlson (1; Oliver Marmol)

HP Umpire Mark Carlson ejected Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol (ball four call to Ozzie Albies; QOCY) in the bottom of the 8th inning of the #Cardinals-#Braves game. With one out and two on, Braves batter Albies took a 3-0 cutter from Cardinals pitcher Phil Maton for a called fourth ball. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer half of home plate and at the midpoint (px -0.32, pz 3.26 [sz_top 3.10 / RAD 3.22 / MOE 3.30]), the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the game was tied, 3-3. The Braves ultimately won the contest, 7-6.

This is Mark Carlson (6)'s 1st ejection of 2025.

*This pitch was located 0.48 vertical inches from being deemed incorrect.

This is the 12th ejection report of the 2025 MLB regular season.

This is the 5th manager ejection of 2025. Ejection Tally: 5 Managers, 2 Coach, 5 Players.

This is St Louis 1st ejection of 2025, 1st in the NL Central (MIL, STL 1; CHC, CIN, PIT 0).

This is Oliver Marmol's 1st ejection since Sept 18, 2024 (DJ Reyburn; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

This is Mark Carlson's 1st ejection since May 13, 2024 (Torey Lovullo; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: St Louis Cardinals vs Atlanta Braves, 4/21/25 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 011 - Adam Beck (1; Aaron Boone)

HP Umpire Adam Beck ejected Yankees manager Aaron Boone (strike three & Replay Review call stands foul ball [not HR] call to Aaron Judge; QOCY) in the top of the 8th inning of the #Yankees-#Rays game. With none out and none on, Yankees batter Aaron Judge hit a 3-2 changeup from Rays pitcher Eric Orze for a fly ball beyond the outfield wall, ruled a foul ball by 3B Umpire Scott Barry. Upon Replay Review as the result of a Crew Chief review, the foul ball call was upheld (call stands due to lack of clear and convincing evidence - foul poles were too short, parallax angle). One pitch later, Judge took a 3-2 slider from Orze for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer edge of home plate and above the hollow of the knee (px 0.65, pz 1.92 [sz_bot 1.72 / RAD 1.60]), the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the Yankees were leading, 3-0. The Yankees ultimately won the contest, 4-0.

This is Adam Beck (38)'s 1st ejection of 2025.

*This pitch was located 4.80 vertical inches from being deemed incorrect.

This is the 11th ejection report of the 2025 MLB regular season.

This is the 4th manager ejection of 2025. Ejection Tally: 4 Managers, 2 Coach, 5 Players.

This is New York's 2nd ejection of 2025, 1st in the AL East (NYY 2; BAL, TB 1; BOS, TOR 0).

This is Aaron Boone's 1st ejection since August 7, 2024 (Tripp Gibson; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

This is Adam Beck's 1st ejection since June 16, 2024 (Manny Machado; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: New York Yankees vs Tampa Bay Rays, 4/20/25 | Video as follows: