Quote:
Originally Posted by CT1
But Lee was very slow in breaking toward the ball, and by the time he got to where he could have made a play, F1 and F2 were already in position.
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True. And, IMJ, the reason he was slow was because he initially saw R1 in his path, and then he bumped into him.
The ball was popped up down the first base line more than halfway to first. If there was no R1 anywhere in the vicinity, F3 is making that play 999 times out of 1000. The only reason F2 got to it and almost made the catch was because he didn't hear F3 call him off, which he most certainly would have if R1 didn't hinder F3.
Not to give players and managers too much credit, but the mere fact that Ethier and Mattingly didn't complain about the play's outcome spoke volumes, IMHO. Donnie Baseball was a first baseman for most of his career, so I'm sure he felt that Carlos Lee had the better shot at getting to the ball, and the interference call was justified.