What is Wrong With This Play?

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[TonyCrenshawsLatte]

Ump: "Sorry, you stepping on the home plate doesn't count."
Catcher: "Why not???"
Ump: "Because I wasn't paying attention."

[ericjohannsen]

This is why it's so important, as an umpire, to run through likely scenarios in your head before each pitch is delivered. If you do that with 2 strikes and bases loaded, you will be mentally ready for the most likely play should the pitch be a strike not caught... exactly the play that happened here.

[sttv]

I don't think the umpire even knew that the catcher could step on home plate for a force out here.

[AkumaAPN]

Lesson learned: assume all umps are incompetent, and if you make a play that absolutely 100% no question ends the inning, stop what you're doing, look at the ump, and get his attention, and make sure he sees you make the inning ending play, and make sure he makes the call.

If the catcher stands on the middle of home plate, and doesn't move until he hears the call, the ump is given no opportunity to ruin everything.

[RandyCarey]

I was at The Metrodome for its last ever game, and I paid attention to how the last out was made by the Twins. Joe Mauer was catching, bases loaded. A strike out, but the ball hit the dirt. Mauer just collected the ball and stepped on home. Out. A force out, of course.

[KevinQuinn]

None of what I'm about to say makes any of this the players' fault, it was the umpire missing the call that was the cause of all of this but I do have 2 tips for the defense to help avoid a bad ump from ruining your day. First, any time you tag a base or home to force a player out or to appeal a missed base or leaving too early, and you have the time, it is best to make it clear to the umpire what you are doing. Hold the ball up, demonstratively touch the base or home and maybe even say what you're doing out loud if they don't immediately signal anything. Second, if you do something that should earn you an out call, and again if you have time, make sure the ump signals the out call before tossing the ball away or running off the field. It shouldn't have to be so, but when the ump's not paying attention to the base touch or to the situation, it's good to make sure.

[Rowgue]

It's definitely on the umpire for missing the catcher making the force out. But the catcher didn't help himself. Instead of emphatically stepping on the plate and looking to the umpire to make sure he got the out, he casually stepped on it as he ran out in front of home looking like he was going to make a throw to first.

[davesimms]

When I played catcher on a play like this I would stepped on the plate and turned to the umpire and not given him a chance to foul this up. Never assume anything!

[Lava]

I umpired for 30 years. Truly, this is a terrible mistake by the umpire. I fully sympathize with the defensive team here.
In my experience, if the catcher understood the situation, he would stomp on the plate and keep his foot there to show me there was no doubt he was making a force play. Having said that, it's also up to me to realize the situation too and be actively looking for the catcher to make the simple play at the plate.

[markanderson]

I saw this exact play in a final four playoff game in Sarasota, Florida where these umpires also missed the call. They scored the runner from third and bases were still loaded after the call. They were never invited back to the final four. I was evaluating umpires for FHSAA at the time.

[darinlegore]

Matt is right, even if catcher did not verbally identify or even know what he was doing it is an OUT! You do not have to say a word.

[michaelangelos]

Another esteemed graduate of the angel Hernandez school of umpiring.

[QuovatisPS]

We're told bases loaded, but given the quality and angles of the video, we can't really verify. Perhaps it was 1st and 3rd, and the runner at 1st really booked it home. Given the catcher's reaction though, he seems pretty sure of himself.

[MarkKusenberger]

I'm familiar with this game. Austin McCallum vs Medina Valley. It was a playoff game. The first runner scored the tying run, the second runner scored the go-ahead run. And it was the final run of the game.

[blahdblah]

The only thing I have is that umps often need to take a sidebar and make sure the call is correct, especially on strange plays like this. Many times there is a logical explanation.

[rupaabhi]

Thanks for assembling all these videos. I feel like, in the future, you could have an online course for umpires, based on all the material on your channel.

For folks who do not know the rule, if the batter legitimately reaches first base on a dropped third, the pitcher still gets the strike out. That means a pitcher theoretically could have 5 strike outs in an inning. That’s some crazy baseball rule for you.

[haroldbirckhead]

I agree the catcher could have been more intentional with stepping on the plate and making sure the ump saw it but… it was clear as day… I would have called time and talked the field umpire as calmly as possible and explained what I saw… I know it looks real bad on the home plate ump but..we have a major shortage of umpires at the high school level… our rainouts had to be made up on Saturdays because no umpires were available. I’m like Matt, never been tossed but…this would have been hard to take..

[addictedfishing]

Ya I’d definitely get tossed in that situation 😂

[grantfraser]

I played in an annual softball tournament that was unfortunately not organized until the final two weeks and we only had volunteer umpires from a local league.

We had an umpire in our second game that thought he should be the center of attention. Easy 3rd out at first by about 20 feet and I was watching from the sidelines. As our team trotted off the field and the opponents were making their way on, I noticed the umpire with an unusual look at our team and I realized with apprehension that he hadn't made the usual out signal.

Sure enough, as our last outfielder made it across the infield the umpire turned to us and said "Well now that you all have left the field, I'll tell you that he was SAFE".

We lost it but we did what we had to do because it's technically a judgment call. We went back out and secured a 4th out.

It was his last game. I volunteered to umpire a few games when I wasn't playing and we got one or two other players to help out. Turned out to be a great tournament and real umpires wrre located for the last couple of games the next day.

Bad umpires suck but they are easily replaced. They're a part of the game. Unfortunately the guy in this video was probably paid. Really terrible call but getting tossed never helps your team. Compaints to the umpires association is the remedy.

[chriswebster]

That’s the silliest thing I’ve ever heard. First of all, the catcher stepping on the plate was no accident, but, even if it was, it wouldn’t make any difference. There was a force at home, and the guy with the ball touched home plate. The runner should’ve been out, and the inning should’ve been over.

If a first baseman thinks he catches a hit ball in the air, for the third out, but the umpire says it hit the ground before he caught it, yet, then, he “accidentally” touches first base, on his way to the dugout, before the batter gets to the base, the batter is still out. The fielder doesn’t have to say, “I’m intentionally touching first base to get the batter out, because the ball hopped on the ground before I caught it.” He just has to touch first base. His intentions are irrelevant.

Even if it did make any difference, whether or not him touching home plate was an accident (which it doesn’t), the catcher clearly stepped on home plate for a reason, and he most definitely did that on purpose, so, even if you were right about his intent making a difference (which you aren’t), you’d still be wrong about the call.

Even the umpire knows he messed up, by this point. I’m sure he didn’t mean to do it, and I’m sure he feels bad about it, but there’s no reason to pretend like he was right, when even he knows he was wrong, and I’m sure he does. Everyone knows that, at this point, except for you.