A bizarre play unfolded Friday night during the Los Angeles Dodgers-New York Mets game at Citi Field that shocked everyone involved.
Everyone except the umpires.
It all went down in the top of the third inning with Mookie Betts at the plate and Michael Conforto on second base and Shohei Ohtani on first base. Betts hit a fly ball into right-center field, where Mets outfielders Tyrone Taylor and Juan Soto both attempted to make the catch. Instead, they bumped into each other, prompting the ball to pop out of Taylor's glove. He bobbled it a bit before eventually catching it with his bare hand for the out.
But while the ball was being bobbled, Conforto tagged up from second base and took off for third base, while Ohtani tagged up from first base to second base. Taylor fired the ball to second base, beating Ohtani by a mile, but the umpire called Ohtani safe. And this is where things get tricky. Mets players assumed Conforto tagged early and failed to wait until Taylor caught the ball for the out. Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor was shocked that the umpire called Ohtani safe at second, as Lindor assumed he executed the double play -- with Conforto tagging early and Ohtani getting to second base late. Even the AppleTV+ broadcasters, play-by-play announcer Wayne Randazzo and analyst Dontrelle Willis, were adamant that the Mets' replay challenge would overturn the call and give the Mets the double play.
They were wrong.
Tyrone Taylor makes the catch after a juggle! 😅
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 23, 2025
The Mets did not get a double play after umpires ruled that Michael Conforto took off on the touch instead of the catch
(via @AppleTV) pic.twitter.com/ErVh9Nq5Rv
— Foul Territory (@bsbls885) May 23, 2025
The Apple TV+'s rules analyst, former MLB umpire Ben Gorman, explained that a baserunner doesn't have to wait until the ball is caught and called an out. The rule dictates a baserunner can tag up once the opposing team simply makes contact with the baseball.
“The reason behind the touch, as opposed to when he eventually catches the ball, is that an outfielder can actually juggle the ball all the way in and prevent the guy from advancing,” Gorman explained. “As soon as the ball hits the glove, he can take off."
“You learn something new every day, Wayne,” Willis exclaimed. “Wow.”
“For real,” Randazzo replied. “So, because he waited for the touch to happen, the catch is essentially nullified, in terms of tagging up. And Conforto was ruled to have tagged up appropriately.”
He added, "Conforto tagged appropriately because he tagged on the initial touch. He didn't wait for the catch. And [the Mets] had a play at second base but they didn't realize they needed to tag Shohei. They thought touching the bag would be a double play."
Randazzo later got a note from his producer, which explained that "Tommy McCarthy played in the late 1800s and he would juggle the ball on purpose to mess with the base runners, so they put the rule in because of our friend here."
Willis laughed off the whole thing, saying he didn't feel bad because it was clear that the players on the field didn't know the rule either.
"Well, you know what, I didn't know the rules and apparently Francisco Lindor, who's on the field, didn't know the rules, either," Willis quipped. "So I don't feel so bad."
from Men's Journal https://ift.tt/yfH0rZd
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