Red Sox Turn Two on Catch & Failure-to-Tag Appeal Play

[Lindsay]

Atlanta hit into an odd inning-ending double play to end the 1st inning in Boston as 2B Umpire Mike Estabrook ruled that Red Sox second baseman Christian Arroyo caught Braves batter Marcell Ozuna's bases-loaded line drive. After the play, Boston appealed that Braves baserunner Austin Riley failed to tag up after the catch, with 3B Umpire Andy Fletcher sustaining the appeal for the inning's final out.

The call itself of catch vs no catch is quite close and not at issue here. What is a potential problem is the umpire's mechanics at second base, as the out signal was so small relative to what it could have been...did the runner from third even have a chance to see it? We might never know.

Video as follows:

Alternate Link: Boston gets unusual double play to end 1st on infield catch, appeal play

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[Lou B]

They also ran themselves into a triple play 8-3-5.

At least they won!

[The Man in Blue]

Yes, come up big.  This is a mistake I have made a number of times and still catch myself making every now and then.  I sometimes feel that a "big sell" on a seemingly routine incident feels more like I am trying to convince rather than communicate, so I stay too casual.  "Oh yeah, of course that was a ____, no need for me to emphasize it."  😁

Another slight mechanic observation ... and I had to watch this a couple of times because of the editing ...

On the appeal, it appears that U4 is calling the guy on third base out.  F5 tagging him during the call added to that confusion.  It would have been clearer to point to the dugout (indicating the runner who "scored" and went into the dugout), then the bag, then signal the out.

Like I said, maybe it was more a product of the editing, but I had to watch it a couple of times to figure out where the runner on third came from and who he was.  The out mechanic was adding to my confusion there.

 

[Velho]

On 7/26/2023 at 9:07 AM, The Man in Blue said:

Yes, come up big.  This is a mistake I have made a number of times and still catch myself making every now and then.  I sometimes feel that a "big sell" on a seemingly routine incident feels more like I am trying to convince rather than communicate, so I stay too casual.  "Oh yeah, of course that was a ____, no need for me to emphasize it."  😁

Yeah, that weak out call caused confusion on the field as documented by Jomboy