Once upon a time....

[JimR]

Last night’s bizarre ending conjured up this memory:

I coached at Brenham HS from 1968-71. Somewhere in there we were playing in a tournament in College Station; I do not remember our opponent, but that does not matter. We were in a sacrifice bunt situation (yes, we sacrificed), and our hitter got down a perfect bunt down the first baseline. The 1B fielded the ball about halfway up the line, and waited for our hitter to come to him and be tagged. Like Bregman, my hitter retreated from the tag and moved back toward the catcher. Rather than simply turning and throwing the ball to the 2B who was covering first base to get the out, their 1B threw the ball to the catcher. A rundown commenced! Between first and home! After 3-4 throws, my hitter was tagged out, but by then I was laughing so hard, I did not care.

So if you ask me if I ever have seen anything like last night, my answer is “Well, sorta.”

[Duman]

You do see some crazy ending in HS baseball. My son's freshman year, with one out and a runner at 1st in a tie game, the batter swings and misses at a ball in the dirt.  The runner was going and the batter took off on the ball in the dirt.  The catcher popped up and threw that ball over the 1st baseman's head into a vast area of foul territory down the RF line.  The runner at first scored on the error and they won on a walk off throwing error where the batter was already out because 1st was occupied. 

[JimR]

You do see some crazy ending in HS baseball. My son's freshman year, with one out and a runner at 1st in a tie game, the batter swings and misses at a ball in the dirt.  The runner was going and the batter took off on the ball in the dirt.  The catcher popped up and threw that ball over the 1st baseman's head into a vast area of foul territory down the RF line.  The runner at first scored on the error and they won on a walk off throwing error where the batter was already out because 1st was occupied.

Hinch said last night even if Bregman had been ruled out for running in the baseline, the play continues, and the Astros would win on the wild throw. I assumed dead ball, and Tucker goes back to third. Apparently, I was wrong...again.

[Waldo]

In college my wife and I played on a city league coed slow-pitch softball team.  We lost every game we played but we had a hell of a lot of fun.

In one of our games, I came to the plate in the last inning down a run, with one out and runners on 2nd and 3rd.  Our opponent was almost as bad as we were, and their third baseman - an awkward, lanky girl with two left feet - had been booting plays all night.  My typical strategy was simply to take walks and get 2nd base for free, but their pitcher had been pumping strikes all game long.  So I stepped into the box with the mindset of pulling the ball hard, right in the 6-10 feet of dirt between her and the third base bag.

I swung at the first pitch and saw that I had hit a sinking line drive that was hooking right where I wanted it to go (a miracle in and of itself).  Untouched, it would land about 3-4 feet inside the base.  My runner at third takes a generous lead, assuming the same outcome I am.  The third baseman stumbles to her right and reaches across her body to stab at the ball with her glove.  She catches it, but then her glove arm gets tangled up with her legs and she falls.  The ball pops out of her glove and bounces off her chest and into the air toward the line, my runner taking off with abandon at seeing the ball come loose.  As the third baseman hits the dirt, she somehow gets her right arm out from underneath her body and reaches her hand out to catch the ball four inches off the ground.  The force of the ball landing in her hand nudges her hand down to touch the bag directly underneath.

Double play, ballgame.  I did everything I wanted to do and the third baseman beat me, so good for her.  I wish I had video of it.

[HudsonHawk]

Hinch said last night even if Bregman had been ruled out for running in the baseline, the play continues, and the Astros would win on the wild throw. I assumed dead ball, and Tucker goes back to third. Apparently, I was wrong...again.

If a batter is called out for interference by running outside of the running lane, it’s a dead ball. Runners cannot advance. I believe you’re correct and Hinch is wrong on this one.

[JimR]

If a batter is called out for interference by running outside of the running lane, it’s a dead ball. Runners cannot advance. I believe you’re correct and Hinch is wrong on this one.

You know what, I misstated what Hinch said. He said if the ruling was Bregman was out on the tag, the play continues, not if he was out for being hit with the throw inside the line.

Huge difference. Sorry.

[HudsonHawk]

I was catching a game in high school where we were leading by three runs with two out in the last inning. Bases were loaded and guy hits what should be a game winning grand slam. The runner from 3B starts to run home when the ball is hit, gets right up to the plate and turns to watch the ball. It goes over the fence and all his team pours onto the field to celebrate. Only one problem...you guessed it, he never touched the plate. He got to within a foot of it then just started celebrating. Of course both the umpire and I saw it, and after the dust settled, we appealed and he was out out. No runs score and we win the game.

[HudsonHawk]

You know what, I misstated what Hinch said. He said if the ruling was Bregman was out on the rage, the play continues, not if he was out for being hit with the throw inside the line.

Huge difference. Sorry.

Ah... yeah, if he’s out on the tag but Lucroy throws it anyway, it’s a live ball. 

[JimR]

Ah... yeah, if he’s out in the tag but Lucroy throws it anyway, it’s a live ball.

Why did autocorrect thing rage was the word I wanted?

[Lefty]

Why did autocorrect thing rage was the word I wanted?

Too much Ken Giles talk.

[JimR]

Too much Ken Giles talk.

No doubt