Examining the Insane Call in Game 6 of the World Series
It was the top of the 7th. World Series Game 6. Yan Gomes on first, nobody out. Brad Peacock pitching to Trea Turner.
A soft ground ball was hit to the pitcher – “That’s a tough play for Peacock. And… The ball gets away. And the runners will advance to second and third!” (Joe Buck).
That’s it. The play’s over.
Until it wasn’t.
“Now they’re gonna call the runner out for being inside the line” (Buck).
What?
How is that the call?
If you haven’t seen the play, here it is:
The Problem
The rule of interference is meant to dissuade players from running into throws on purpose, intentionally trying to get hit with the baseball in order to be safe.
In this case, Turner is running out of the right-handed batter’s box in a straight line, and ends up in line with the base – where you’re supposed to be.
However, the umpire ruled him out because he apparently interfered with the throw. The goal for the batter is to reach first base before the throw while running within the base paths. Trea Turner met those qualifications.
Then, there was a glimmer of hope. After the commercial break, the umpires decided to review the play. In one of the longest reviews I can remember, they still got the call wrong. They still called him out.
How do you get this call wrong? This is the biggest game of the year so far. You can’t get this call wrong. Yet you did.
A tweet by Jeff Passan sums up the problem with the call the best:
If Peacock throws it where Gurriel can catch the ball comfortably, Turner would have never “interfered” with the throw, as the umpires would put it. Therefore, why would the Nationals be penalized for a mistake by their opponent?
This is a problem that needs to be fixed. This World Series has exposed the awful umpiring to the national audience. If this isn’t proof that the sport needs robotic umpires, I don’t know what is.
The Aftermath
Nationals manager Dave Martinez ended up getting ejected in a fit of rage, the first manager ejection in the World Series since Bobby Cox in 1996. Usually, the umpires hesitate to eject anyone in the World Series, as the public wants to see the best players and managers on the biggest stage of the year.
However, Martinez got so mad, deservedly so because of the severity of the call, that he had to be ejected. The umpires butchered everything about this sequence. If they had just got the call right, none of this would have ever had to happen.
The game was played under protest after this call, a process that unfortunately never leads to anything. But it just further proves the frustration exhibited from the Nationals and the MLB community alike.
Fortunately, Anthony Rendon proved that ball don’t lie, hitting a two run home-run in the next at-bat.
The Nationals ended up winning the game 7-2, forcing a game 7.
Even though they got the call wrong, the MLB lucked out, as if the Astros won this game, an asterisk would be put on the 2019 World Series forever.
The umpires have to get better.
