In a close Yankees/Red Sox battle on Saturday, Dean Anna slid into second. He lifted his foot of the bag – only briefly – while being tagged. Anna was called safe on the field. After a coach’s challenge, the replace was ruled inconclusive. The call on the field stood.
Only, the replays seemed to be pretty conclusive.
Watch that right foot… Click for video from MLB.com
The league later admitted that the review was incorrect and that the call should’ve been overturned.
MLB did not have immediate access to conclusive angle on Anna play at second. Acknowledges that call should have been made differently.
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) April 12, 2014
“It’s extremely difficult to have any faith in the that’s being used,” Red Sox manager John Farrell said.
Not only is it hard to have faith in the system. It’s hard to even understand what exactly that system entails. What, precisely, is a catch?
On the ESPN broadcast, John Kruk said Mike Napoli’s glove had to be closed before the ball could be considered secure. Farrell, on the other hand, said “we were instructed that when the ball enters the glove — not that it has to hit the back of the glove — is where the out is deemed complete.”
There is similar confusion on whether or not a fielder has possession of a ball as he transfers it from his glove to his throwing hand, a call that’s being made inconsistently and carries huge loophole implications. Nobody knows what a catch is anymore. – Deadspin’s Barry Petchesky
Head over to Deadspin for the complete story, along with how replay worked once again in the Yankees’ favor on Sunday.
