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The more I look at the videoclip, the more I realize what a difficult call this was for the umpire.
These type of plays always seem to blow up in one's face.
I noticed that the PU actually signaled SAFE before pointing toward the batter for interference. I'm sure his mind must have been racing.
Like I said before, Carpenter is clearly out of the batter's box as a direct result of attempting to evade an extremely inside pitch that would have no doubt hit him had he not exited the batter's box. That should make him exempt from batter's interference provided he does nothing intentional nor additional.
The problem is that he does do something additional. He moved back toward the batter's box and remained a hindrance to the catcher. Why Carpenter made this last maneuver is difficult to understand, but the more I look at the videoclip the more I'm convinced Carpenter is trying to tell the batter WHERE to slide.
The batter's interference call was difficult enough. The penalty imposed was flat out WRONG - of that there can be no question.
I'm surprised one of the other three umpires didn't recognize the improper ruling. To me, this is one of those times where one umpire SHOULD interject himself into his partner's ruling - not to question his judgment, but to insure that the proper rule is applied.
We spend a lot of time discussing how one umpire should never interfere with another umpire's call. That's true. But that does not apply when your partner is misapplying a rule.
The fact that the umpire misapplied the rule only goes to support what I have said for many years - the higher level of ball you call, the more straight forward and predictable the game becomes. Thus, from a rules perspective ... EASIER to call. The esoteric rules you only read about on umpire exams almost never occur.
David Emerling
Memphis, TN
[Edited by David Emerling on Aug 9th, 2005 at 11:55 AM]
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