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Phelps-Johjima crash
Anyone who saw Josh Phelps of the Yankees crash the Mariners' Kenji Johjima yesterday viewed a perfect example of a play that does not violate any MLB rule but merits retaliation. (Phelps was plunked next time up, and he seemed to accept that he deserved it, but even after warnings from the umpire, the Yankees then plunked somebody else. If there were ever obvious cases of throwing at batters, these were they.)
For those who didn't see it, Johjima did not have the ball, and his body was poised toward the mound. Even though Phelps had a clear path to the plate, he crashed Johjima—and then reached back and to his right to touch the plate. It makes you wonder how dirty a play has to be to result in an ejection in MLB. When I did Fed the crashing runner would of course be ejected, but I don't think we had the power to call him out. Is Fed still that way? http://123pichosting.com/images/208907yankees-600.jpg |
In FED you'd definitely have malicious contact. The penalty states that the ball is immediately dead and the (offensive) player is ejected and declared out, unless he has already scored.
As you described the play it's obvious that the runner didn't touch the plate. However, if you ruled that he already passed the plate you'd count the run, which would be subject to appeal for missing the plate. Could you declare the runner out or do you have to wait for an appeal? |
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Offensive Interference?
Is it really lawful to tackle an offensive player who is waiting to catch a thrown ball? Only at the plate? Is bumping OK, but grabbing would not be?
What if the batter had advanced because Johjima didn't field the ball cleanly? Any difference? |
Situational Umpiring
The press reports that Washburn hit Phelps on his first pitch, but I just verified on the replay that he missed him (quite a bit inside at the waist) on the first pitch. Washburn's inability to hit the target left the umpire with a bit of a dilemma. (What it's been doing to Mariners fans this year is a different story.)
In any case, the umpire could have judged that Washburn was intentionally pitching at the batter. Heck, the whole stadium knew he was. But Mike Everitt let it play out, and even Phelps seemed to relax and let the ball hit him. On the second pitch, Washburn hit Phelps and both teams got the warning from PU. |
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Then turn and face the other dugout and wait for the offensive manager. :D |
Simply as a point of information, here is what the MLBUM has to say on the subject, under the discussion of Offensive Interference:
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Dang, okay...good. I'm not crazy. I was at the game and I coulda sworn that Washburn threw a pitch before he hit him. I was starting to doubt myself when I read the newspaper account.
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Just waitin'
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