Sometimes bad calls get made during the course of a baseball game . . . an umpire gets out of position and a ball lands fair, and is called foul . . . a batter takes a full count low and outside pitch clearly out of the strike zone, and gets rung up instead . . . or a pitcher covers first base on a ball hit to the first baseman and steps on the bag a full step ahead of the runner, and the batter is called safe. This is all a part of the game. What Cardinals fan to this day still does not cringe at the name of Don Denkinger who erroneously called Jorge Orta safe at first base in the bottom of the ninth inning of game 6 of the 1985 World Series with the Cardinals leading the series 3 games to 2, and holding a 1-0 lead, only to have the botched call by first base umpire Denkinger give the Royals new life as they rallied to score 2 runs following the blown call to take game 6 and the momentum of that victory into game 7, winning it 11-0, a game that most would agree should never have been played, but turning it into their one and only World Series title? As tough as it is to fall victim to poor judgment calls on the part of umpires (everyone wants the close call to go their way), what is more difficult to swallow is when games are decided not by the players on the field or even by the judgment of the umpire, but instead are decided by unpires not understanding the basic rules of the game. And such was the case on Tuesday, May 12, 2009 when the FBC Kids Pitch baseball team fell to undefeated First Mid 9-8 in extra innings.
Damien Ferguson had a rough first inning for FBC as he was nailed by a fastball from Ryan Taylor just above his left knee on a 3-1 count with one out and nobody on. Damien went down in the dirt in considerable pain, but he toughed it out, remembering that getting hit is a part of the game. Damien was able in spite of getting hit to steal both second and third base, but he would be stranded there as FBC loaded the bases but failed to score. FBC would end up leaving 14 runners stranded on base in the first 5 innings, and this would come back to haunt them as the game progressed. Damien was given the nod as starting pitcher for FBC, sporting an ERA of 0.00 coming into the game, and if the rules of the game would have been enforced correctly he still would have an ERA of 0.00. But that is, as they say, baseball, and apparently it was just not meant to be. On Damien's very first pitch of the game he got First Mid's leadoff hitter Steven Righter to pop the ball up along the first base line, where Damien was in position to catch the ball. Just as Damien was about to catch the ball Righter slammed into Damien, knocking both players to the ground, where they lay for a considerable time. Damien, who earlier this year had one and half teeth knocked out while playing basketball, was hit again in the mouth on the play by the elbow of Righter, and his lip is still cut and swollen today. However, at least his teeth remained intact.
According to baseball rule 7.08 (b) any base runner is out when he hinders a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball. And under the comment section of rule 7.08 (b) it says a runner who is adjudged to have hindered a fielder who is attempting to make a play on a batted ball is out whether it was intentional or not. Now it would seem to me that being ran into and getting hit in the mouth by an elbow while attempting to make a catch on a batted ball should be adjudged as a hindrance to a fielder, and when asked if he was going to call the batter out the umpire's answer was "I don't know what the call is." And when the league commissioner was asked about the play, his response was "I would have to back up the call of the umpire who called it a foul ball. In his judgment a ball that is foul is foul." That is well and good, but the only problem with that is it is entirely irrelevant and it has nothing to do with the rule in question. We were not seeking to have a foul ball call overturned. We were only asking for the rules of the game to be enforced, and the batter should have been called out immediately. It makes no difference if the ball is fair or foul. The runner is not allowed to hinder the play of the defense. But instead of the batter being called out, the umpire ruled the play a foul ball, so Damien had to take the mound after being shaken up, and he ended up walking the batter that should have been called out for offensive interference. Ryan Taylor then popped out to second for out number 1 which should have been out number 2. Righter stole second and scored when Tanner Niemeyer singled into right centerfield. Morgan Lanman reached on a fielder's choice for out number 2 which should have been the inning ending play leaving the score deadlocked at 0-0, but unfortunately for Damien and FBC the umpires were not through handing the game over to First Mid. Andrew Polston singled into center, and Morgan Lanman attempted to take third from first on the play. Damien backed up the throw in from the outfield which missed the cutoff, and he fired a strike to third baseman Dalton Armes, who tagged the runner out. However, the base umpire had not moved into position with runners on base, and he had stayed at first base instead of going behind the mound where he could have been in position to make the call, so he and the home plate umpire looked at each other clulessly, shrugged their shoulders, literally, and meekly ruled the runner safe. This should have been out number 4, but instead of being out of the inning with only one umpire given run of the inning, First Mid was allowed to continue to bat. In the meantime, Polston took second on the throw to third base, bringing Tyler Cole to the plate. Damien fell behind 3-0 to the batter, even though pitches 2 and 3 had been strikes when FBC was batting, but suddenly they were balls, and I really hate to say that, but it is true, nonetheless. Damien did fight back and worked the count full before Cole hit a fly ball into left field that should have been caught, but instead it went over the head of the left centerfielder. Donovan Ferguson, Damien's younger brother, was in left field, and he had raced over and was in position to make the catch, but the left centerfielder called for the ball, and Donovan rightfully backed away in order for his teammate to make the catch. But alas! it was not meant to be, and the ball dropped just behind the fielder. Donovan picked up the ball and fired it back into the infield, holding the runner at second base, but 2 more runs had scored. Tate Little then lofted a fly ball into right which fell and he ended up at third base as Cole scored the 4th gift run of the inning. Damien then struck out Tristan Overton on 3 pitches to end the inning with FBC trailing 4-0.
Donovan Ferguson led off the top of the second and drew a full count walk. He then stole second abd third base easily, and he was joined on the bases by Alex Platz and Timothy Forrest, both of whom also walked following strikeouts to Michael Brown and Brayton Sparrow. Joseph Rader continued the 2 out rally by drawing yet another walk as he forced Donovan in for his first run of the season and his team's first run of the game. This brought the top of the batting order to the plate and both Trevor Edwards and Damien Ferguson were issued RBI walks, making it 6 free passes for the inning, and bringing the score closer at 3-2 First Mid. Drake Jeffries came to the plate and proceeded to strike out as FBC left three runners on base for the second consecutive inning. Damien held First Mid scoreless in the bottom of the second inning, striking out 2 and getting Steven Righter to pop out to the first baseman, and the score remained 3-2 in favor of First Mid.
Dalton Stephens singled and stole second to start the top of the third for FBC. Dalton Armes followed with a walk, and Skyler Hood, who would make the play of the game later in the game, singled into left field, driving in Stephens with the tying run and nobody out. Donovan Ferguson and Michael Brown struck out, with Brown attempting to bunt inexplicably with 2 strikes, but Brayton Sparrow kept the inning alive by drawing a 2 out walk on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases. Alex Platz walked to drive in his first run of the season as Dalton Armes was forced in from third, and FBC had their first lead of the game, 5-4. The inning ended as Timothy Forrest was called out on strikes. Damien Ferguson went to the mound for the final time to start the bottom of the third and Ryan Taylor reached on an infield single. Following a steal of second base, Taylor tied the score as he came in on an RBI double off the bat of Tanner Niemeyer, who then stole third base. Morgan Lanman struck out for out number 1 and Andrew Polston whiffed for out number 2. It appeared that Damien was going to get out of the inning when Tyler Cole swung and missed on a 2-2 count, but for some unexplained reason the umpire called ball 3, giving Cole yet another life. He responded by singling into right, giving the lead back to First Mid 6-5, as their team scored their fifth gift run of the game. Tristan Overton popped out to second to end the inning with the score still 6-5, and FBC still having a chance. So as far as I can tell Damien should have left the game after 3 innings pitching with a 5-1 lead.
Trevor Edwards had a 1 out infield single as the fourth inning got underway, and Damien Ferguson followed with a single. Edwards slid past second base on the play and was tagged out for out number 2. Drake Jeffries had an RBI double as he hit the ball deep into left field, and Damien was able to score all the way from first base, knotting the game at 6-6. Jeffries stole third with Dalton Stephens at the plate, and Stephens drove in the go ahead run on an infield single to give the lead back to FBC 7-6. Stephens took second on an errant throw from the third baseman, but he was left stranded following a walk to Dalton Armes and a strikeout of Skyler Hood. Drake Jeffries took over pitching duties in the bottom half of the frame and he issued a walk before striking out the next 3 batters, leaving the score 7-6 FBC after 4.
Donovan Ferguson got things started for FBC in the top of the fifth, drawing a 7 pitch walk. He reached third base safely as he stole his third base of the game and he went to third on an infield single off the bat of Michael Brown. Brayton Sparrow struck out swinging on a full count, and Alex Platz followed by fanning on 3 pitches. What had started out as a very promising inning had quickly deteriorated. Timothy Forrest walked to load the bases, but Joseph Rader struck out looking as he jumped back from a pitch that was right down central, with FBC once again leaving the bases loaded. Drake Jeffries walked Steven Righter to start the bottom of the fifth, and he was forced out at second base on a fielder's choice hit to shortstop Damien Ferguson. Taylor stole second and third base before coming home with the tying run as Tanner Niemeyer drilled a changeup into deep left field. Niemeyer stole third himself, and he reached home safely on an RBI triple hit by Andrew Polston following a strikeout of Morgan Lanman. Tyler Cole then struck out swinging to end the inning with First Mid back on top 8-7.
Trevor Edwards struck out to start the top of the sixth inning for out number 1. Damien Ferguson hit a shot to the hot corner at third base, but the third baseman made a fine play on the ball, throwing out Damien at first base for out number 2. Drake Jeffries had his second double in as many at bats, and he scored the tying run as Dalton Stephens had the clutch 2 out RBI single to tie the score at 8-8. He would be left at third base following steals of second and third, though, as Dalton Armes went down swinging to end the inning. Drake Jeffries pitched his third and final inning in the bottom of the sixth, striking out all 3 batters he faced to send the game into extra innings.
FBC did not score in the top of the seventh with all 3 batters striking out. Donovan Ferguson had a really good at bat, though, as he yanked a 2-2 pitch deep into left field and over the fence that went foul. Trevor Edwards was the pitcher for FBC in the bottom half of the inning, and he held First Mid scoreless thanks to a little defensive help from his friends. Logan Winn walked and stole second and third, Nick Redfern struck out swinging, and Cameron Harlin walked, putting runners at the corners as Steven Righter came to the plate. Righter drove a 1-1 fastball from Edwards into right center field which looked as if it would be the game winning hit, but Skyler Hood came from out of nowhere to make the play of game, sliding to make a shoestring catch of the ball just above the grass. Both runners had taken off at the ping of the bat, and Skyler threw the ball into first base for the inning ending double play that could have been a triple play if there had not already been 1 out. Damien Ferguson, who was now catching, reported afterwards that the home plate umpire told the runner from third base as he was touching home plate that he should go back to third. That is infuriating. It is not the responsibility of the umpire to coach the boys. They have coaches for that. It is the duty of the umpire to call the game, and to do so accurately and fairly. He had no business telling that runner that he should go back to third base.
Even though momentum had shifted in their favor, FBC could not take advantage, leaving another runner stranded at third base in the top of the eighth inning. Since First Mid had their 2, 3 and 4 hitters coming to the plate, the FBC coach opted to go with as strong of an outfied as possible, putting Drake Jeffries in left center and Dalton Stephens in right center. Donovan Ferguson was moved to second base, and Damien Ferguson was back behind the plate. Ryan Taylor led off with a single up the middle that just eluded the glove of the diving second baseman Donovan Ferguson. Tanner Niemeyer singled cleanly into left, and both runners moved up a base on steals. The infield was moved in for the play at the plate, and Morgan Lanman hit a single up the middle on a 2-1 count, ending the contest with First Mid winning 9-8.
After the game, the coaches let the kids know how proud they were of their performance. Skyler Hood was awarded the game ball.
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