Bizarre baseball play in Denmark game generates ton of interest
Kelly Fenton
The Denmark News
DENMARK – A bizarre play in the third inning of Denmark’s regional-final battle with Wrightstown occasioned a deep dive into the old baseball rulebook, specifically Section 3 of the Proper Appeals chapter, otherwise known as the ‘Fourth-Out Appeal.’
Here’s what happened:
With one out and the bases loaded and Denmark leading 4-1, the Vikings put on a suicide squeeze, with pinch runner Garrett Taicher racing down the third base line when the pitch was released. Nolan Perry popped up the bunt but it still took a terrific diving catch by the pitcher, who wheeled to third, saw no one covering, then turned and threw to first to nab the runner who was on the move to second for the third out of the inning.
Before we get into how a runner who fails to tag up on a caught pop up or fly ball can produce a run, there is such a thing as a ‘time play.’ With a couple of exceptions, albeit, very common ones – a fly out or pop out or a ground ball that results in a force out at first to end an inning – if a runner touches home before the third out is recorded on that same play, the run counts.
Taicher definitely touched home before the third out was recorded but … he clearly left the base early, it being a suicide squeeze and all.
And yet, shortly after the inning ended, the scoreboard showed 5-1. This produced a whole lot of puzzled discussion among fans and journalists and there was an assumption among many that that run would ultimately be taken off the board.
It was not and it was the right call. And the run was decisive in Denmark’s 6-5 win.
The fact is, an umpire cannot unilaterally rule that a player left the bag early. It must be appealed by the defense by throwing to the base from which, they are claiming, the runner left early. Denmark coach Bill Miller knew this rule and went out to discuss it with the umpires right after the inning-ending play when he noticed the scoreboard was still showing 4-1. The point he was making was that Taicher reached home well before the third out and while everyone knows he left early, only an appeal by the defense can make it right. And there were already three outs. And, most importantly, as we’ll soon discover, the entire Wrightstown team had already left the field.
“They didn’t put the run up initially but when I saw Bill go out to talk to the umpire, my heart went in my stomach because I knew what he was talking to him about and I knew the rule because I’d seen it on Tik Tok recently when it happened in the major leagues,” said a gracious Wrightstown coach Eric Beard a couple of days later.
As it turns out, Wrightstown did have recourse in what is known as the Fourth-Out Appeal. What this allows is for a defensive team to appeal to an umpire for a fourth out that would supersede the third out if it would prove advantageous. The Umpire Bible gives the example of a first-and-third, one-out situation in which the batter hits a deep fly ball and the runner from third leaves early and scores. In the meantime the runner from first is thrown out trying to advance to second for the third out. The defensive team can still appeal that the runner left early from third. That fourth out would negate the third out and take the run off the board.
In this very specific instance on Wednesday, Wrightstown could have, after the double play that ended the inning, made an appeal to the umpire that Taicher left early by having a player simply step on third with the ball. Had the Tigers done that – in essence, recorded a fourth out – the run would not have counted.
But … no appeal can be made unless at least one defensive player remains on the field. Given that the umpire’s decision to count the run didn’t come until after the inning was deemed over, the Tigers were out of luck. Despite that, the Wrightstown coach was not fretting.
“We had a couple of options there,” he said. “The pitcher could have thrown to third or stepped on third and no run would have scored. Sure, if the run had gone up before we left the field and we’d seen that we could have done something. But the score is what it should have been.”
Other odd aspects of this play: On the video, the catcher is standing up as the pitch is delivered as Wrightstown was anticipating a squeeze and throwing high to try to make it difficult for Perry to get his bat on the ball. Kudos to Perry for making contact. Also, the reason the pitcher didn’t throw to third is that the third baseman was charging and the shortstop had not yet arrived at the bag. Hard to judge the Tiger pitcher in that frantic moment but with Taicher already heading toward the dugout, the pitcher could have strolled to third and secured a run-less double play.
Finally, in all the craziness of those 15 seconds, here is the most bizarre: Had there been no outs it would have been the easiest triple play on record, requiring only a throw from first to third after the force at first.
The play has generated remarkable interest. As of Monday evening the video and explanation of the play on The Denmark News Facebook page had produced nearly 200,000 views, 100 comments (on the original post), 100 shares and hundreds of additional comments in the shared posts, many from working umpires.