[fitump56]

Originally Posted by BretMan

I was watching the game and- as a Reds fan- hated to say it but this was the right call, wiping both runs off the board.

The bases were indeed loaded. With two out, Griffey was at third, Dunn on second, and Hattenberg has just been walked to load 'em up.

The Red's manager argued, delaying the game for a good five minutes. He, the plate umpire and third base umpire had a lengthy conference, which seemed rather amicable. I was surprised they let it go on that long. Somewhere in this sequence the plate umpire went to the dugout and used the phone to call "upstairs". I would have liked to hear that conversation!

The manager finally returned to the dugout then, before a pitch could be thrown, popped out again. He seemed to be filing a protest at that point, but there was no mention of that on the air or in subsequent news accounts.

The announcers, needless to say, butchered the explanation of the call. After several minutes of fumbling for an answer, they concluded that it must have been a "timing play", where Dunn's miss of third happened before Griffey touched the plate, thus negating his run.

Today's account in our local paper had it right- the appealed miss was considered a force out and, being the third out, no runs could score- and even included a reference to the proper MLB rule, 7.12.

Thx for th info.