You have to see this one!
 

Never have even HEARD of this before - what is the rule reference/mechanics on this??

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | WSH@STL: Morse has single overturned into grand slam - Video | nationals.com: Multimedia

:eek::confused:

This Seemed Rather Silly
 

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | WSH@STL: Morse has single overturned into grand slam - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

Why make Morse go all the way back home? When the umpires came out after reviewing replay, he was standing on first. The runners could have just continued running from that point.

Weird...

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What in the world? He even pretended to swing again. This is bizarre.

I don't think the officials were certain about any runner tagging up or touching, so they made them all start from their original position so as to acertain there would be no appeal of a missed base. Seems logical to me.

Morse added a little flair to it by swinging. After the game he stated " I was just trying to get another thread started on the Official Forum".

What a guy!!!!!!

Nelson said that it was because of Morse's tagout going back to 1B - they wanted make sure all the runners properly tagged their respective bases - Morse added the little flair of the phantom swing himself.

And they say there's no show biz left in sports anymore :p

As ridiculous as this sounds, it is the only logical explanation.

I have a question of logic. Why isn't there a yellow line above which would be a home run that would help make these calls a bit more obvious?

Ok Rich, time to close this thread down. This guy is way too logical for this forum.

:d

(1) It wouldn't fit with the Busch Stadium decor.

(2) It would detract from the advertising signs located just above & behind the wall, & they certainly can't have that.

Ah...so it isn't the game the people pay to see. It is the advertising.

Got it. ;)

That yellow line doesn't always work, either. I've seen batted balls clear the line, and the umpires still have a hard time discerning if they did. Same with the foul poles, and determining if the ball crossed in front of or behind them. It often makes me wonder why those poles aren't something like black where it would be easier to see an off-white ball cross in front or behind.

And the yellow line on top of the fence with the yellow foul pole makes even less sense. In once case, the yellow is in play. In the other, it is out of play.

The most important things we can learn from this is, whatever level you are working as an umpire,..
a) learn , know and discuss the ground rules of the facility you are working before the game.
b) before the game, make a thorough walk around of the field to see if there is anything beyond the fence (poles, trees, signage etc) which can fool you into making an improper call.

And the most important one:

Make sure you or your partners can see what really happens!!

Several times in two man we are stuck with one set of eyes watching the ball into the sun or light blue sky, and standing there hoping someone makes a move that helps you determine what actually happened. Your partner is diong his job watching the runners and well, we have all been there. Hell, anyone can get it right with replay.

The B/R should have been called out when he retreated past the plate.

Maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but it would be worth it to see Davey Johnson's reaction.

Why? He wasn't avoiding a tag.

In case you didn't read that far, I will repost the second sentence of my two-sentence post:

Maybe that's a bit of a stretch, but it would be worth it to see Davey Johnson's reaction. [Emphasis added]

I read that, and it's not even a stretch. It's downright wrong. :p

A "stretch" is when you interpret a rule to an extreme to make it fit a situation. You might "stretch" the passing a runner rule to say the BR would be out if he overran first base while a runner at first is still touching the bag.

Quibble of the week. Congratulations! :p