Depending on who you ask and which rules you go by, San Diego Padres first basemen Wil Myers either hit a double or a homerun in the bottom of the first inning on Tuesday. Now, Major League Baseball is working with the Padres to make sure there’s only one answer in the future.
Here’s what happened. Myers knocked a deep drive to the right-centerfield wall against the Atlanta Braves. The ball hit the very top of the wall padding and bounced onto the field. Myers started his home run trot but ended up stopping at second base when the umpires didn’t seem to agree. Turned out, the call was made that Myers had hit into a ground rule double. That was also upheld by Major League Baseball’s instant-replay command center out in New York. Everyone carried on and the Padres went on to lose 3-0.
After the game, San Diego manager Andy Green said that the team viewed the call as a misinterpretation of the Petco Park’s ground rules, one that changed the direction and possibly the outcome of the contest.
“I have no clue how New York interpreted it the way they did,” Green said. “It’s hard to even understand. It’s frustrating for the team. It’s frustrating for Wil. We’re on top 1-0 at that point in time, and that ball is clearly a home run the way our ground rules are written.
“… I thought they’d get it right. I mean, that’s kind of what the whole idea of replay is, that they get it right. I’m not sure where the complication came from.”
Myers also agreed (obviously) that there was something off about the decision.
“I saw the rule; it said if it hits the top of the wall, it’s a home run,” Myers said. “From what I saw, it looked like it hit the top of the wall, but that’s up to New York. I’ve missed fair share of fastballs down the middle, so, you know, if they miss one [call], it’s no big deal.”
The official stadium rules state that a “batted ball in flight striking the top of the right field wall above/beyond the padding or scoreboard” is a home run.
Per the San Diego News-Tribune, Green told The Mighty 1090 on Wednesday that he had spoken to league officials and “they’re taking ownership over making a mistake yesterday. They’re saying our rule is probably written a little too ambiguously, but they approved our rule and it was misinterpreted.”
“It’s above or beyond the padding,” Green said. “My understanding of where they made their mistake was they interpreted it as above and beyond, and since it hit padding, it was not beyond padding. Our fence is very unique there. It’s got three or four feet of padding. No other fence in baseball has that. It’s just one of those absolutely rare plays that does change a direction of a game.
“Going forward, rest assured that every single time we see umpires in our stadium we’ll be talking about that eventuality and any possible other thing that’s out there that’s obscure that’s never happened before that could possibly happen.”
So in the future, Padres players now know that if the ball hits the padding, keep running as fast as you can. This also serves as a nice illustration about the role proper punctuation plays.
