Some missed calls in Major League Baseball will live in infamy forever. Other missed calls are nearly forgotten. I recently ran into a video by SB Nation where a nearly forgotten missed call is discussed. Pivetta is the pitcher and Barnes is the batter.
Instead of me retyping the discussion, just watch the video here.
It's hard to judge the accuracy of the statement about the play without seeing the play. So, check out the play here.
After watching the replay, it's clear the Home Plate Umpire did call the runner out as a result of the fielding of the ball, and not due to any action by the runner himself. This means the Umpire stopped play while the ball should've technically remained in play. Does it really matter?
Though the fielding of the ball was incorrectly ruled a catch by the Home Ump, it's the pitcher who fielded the ball. The pitcher's next action would've been to throw the runner out at First, which should've been the real end of the play. Now, there's a slight chance the throw to First would've been screwed up, so that is why the play shouldn't have been stopped. However, most probably the result of letting the play continue vs ending the play with a catch call wouldn't have changed the outcome of the play in this case. The runner would still be out and the inning would still have be ended. Now, if other base runners where present, then this missed call would've been more consequential because this bad call would've stopped base running and ended the inning. At that point, maybe this bad call would've been more memorable. But even in this case, it's the last out of the inning. The batter would've still likely have been thrown out at First. The end of the inning would've still happened right then and there. Austin Barnes wasn't robbed a base hit by the bad call.
There is one chance of Barnes getting on base in this scenario if it weren't for the bad call. Had the Ump not ruled the catch and ended play, the pitcher may have thought he had a proper catch and failed to throw the ball to First, giving Barnes a chance to make it safely to First. However, it can be argued that this would've been an Error by Pivette, still not a base hit for Barnes.
Though the fielding of the ball was incorrectly ruled a catch by the Home Ump, it's the pitcher who fielded the ball. The pitcher's next action would've been to throw the runner out at First, which should've been the real end of the play. Now, there's a slight chance the throw to First would've been screwed up, so that is why the play shouldn't have been stopped. However, most probably the result of letting the play continue vs ending the play with a catch call wouldn't have changed the outcome of the play in this case. The runner would still be out and the inning would still have be ended. Now, if other base runners where present, then this missed call would've been more consequential because this bad call would've stopped base running and ended the inning. At that point, maybe this bad call would've been more memorable. But even in this case, it's the last out of the inning. The batter would've still likely have been thrown out at First. The end of the inning would've still happened right then and there. Austin Barnes wasn't robbed a base hit by the bad call.
There is one chance of Barnes getting on base in this scenario if it weren't for the bad call. Had the Ump not ruled the catch and ended play, the pitcher may have thought he had a proper catch and failed to throw the ball to First, giving Barnes a chance to make it safely to First. However, it can be argued that this would've been an Error by Pivette, still not a base hit for Barnes.
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