|
I watched the game last night, and the Twins TV broadcast brought Steve Palermo into the booth to clarify the ruling on the play.
Luis Castillo was on first and running on the 2-1 pitch to Nick Punto. Punto foul tipped the ball, which altered the path of the ball slightly. The ball, before hitting the ground, then took the following route: it either did or did not hit catcher John Buck's glove (the reasoning for the argument), then hit his shoulder, bounced back down and hit his glove, bounced up again and was caught by Buck's bare hand. The ball never hit the ground. At this point, Buck purposely dropped the ball on the ground. Home plate umpire Larry Young never killed the play, nor gave a signal. After Castillo reached 2nd base, Young called time and asked his 1B and 3B umps for help.
The ruling on the field was that the fouled ball first hit Buck's glove, meaning that even though it rattled around Buck's equipment, when he caught it, it was a "foul tip" and a live ball.
Buddy Bell argued that the ball had not hit Buck's glove first, but Buck's equipment, which would have made it a foul ball, sending Castillo back to 1st base. He got tossed for throwing his hat.
|