“The call is overturned”: Austin Hedges and Guardians befuddled by umpire’s review, lose 4-3 to Tigers
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Austin Hedges
Austin Hedges made his Major League Baseball debut in 2015 and plays as a catcher for the Cleveland Guardians. According to Austin the review call decision was one of the least accountable decisions seen in his career. The level of frustration showed in Austin’s interview postgame in the locker.
Austin Hedges vented extravagantly about a ruling by umpires who’d determined that his poor positioning meant the dreaded Detroit Tigers would be gifted a run that otherwise would not have scored. The play went, Tiger’s Javier Baez was on second and down two outs, Zach Plesac forced Harold Castro to serve a soft ground ball in the middle which hit the base plate and trickled toward left field.
Tyler Freeman picked up the ball just as it reached the grass and made an off-balance, one-hop throw to catcher Austin Hedges, who quickly applied the tag on Báez as he slid towards the plate. The call went in favor of the Guardians and Baez was called out by Home-plate umpire Lance Barksdale.
Tigers challenged and it was determined that the runner had not been given a lane to the plate. Instead of a third out, the play was ruled a run-scoring infield single
The Official Ruling and reaction by Austin Hedges over the Overturned call which cost them the match
Rule 6.01 states: “Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. If, in the judgment of the umpire, the catcher without possession of the ball blocks the pathway of the runner, the umpire shall call or signal the runner safe.”
“First of all, it cost the game,” Austin Hedges said. “It’s a play that’s been called a few times now recently that really has never been called before. … There’re plays at home that are beating the runners and for 150 years you’re out. And now, we’re calling some type of rule that is really tricky to define.”
“For a team that goes out there and fights every single night to win every game, for it to cost us a game when we’re trying to win a division, we’re trying to make the playoffs,” Austin Hedges added. “We’re trying to do something special. For that to be taken out of our hands like that is a disgrace, and it’s extremely disappointing.”
“I know MLB’s cracking down on this around the league,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said in response. “I see why their side would be frustrated because that’s not really the play that the rule is designed for. But when he’s in front of the plate, we were going to have them take a look in New York and we got the call.”
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Yagya Bhargava
(611 Articles Published)