This was certainly one of the more odd things you would ever see in a baseball game at just about any level, as well as one of the more illegal things.
A video surfaced of a first base umpire in Texas visibly trying to cover up home plate with dirt, as Texas High’s J.T. Morgan rounded the bases after hitting a home run in Game 2 of their series against Whitehouse. Had Morgan not touched home plate, he would have been ruled out.
Here’s the video in question:
MUST WATCH: after @JT_Morgan12 HR. WATCH UMP. So he couldn’t see it to touch and get called out? #Playoffs #txhsbsb pic.twitter.com/vlsy6xrNpG
— KIP (@kipwilliams15) May 9, 2016
Morgan stuck his hands out in confusion, wiped the plate across with his cleats, and went back to the dugout. You can clearly see the umpire focusing his attention towards the plate, to see whether or not Morgan makes contact with it.
According to East Texas Sports Network, the Texas Association of Sports Officials (TASO) announced late Tuesday afternoon that it would be investigating the umpire’s actions during the three-game series.
TASO released the following statement, from ETSN:
The Texas Association of Sports Officials (TASO) has been made aware of the incident involving our members during the Texas High vs. Whitehouse Baseball game this past weekend. Our organization has an established process to address serious complaints of this nature. TASO will conduct a thorough investigation regarding all aspects of the 3 game series and take any necessary action based on the outcome of the investigation. As always, our organization is committed to our Texas student athletes to ensure a fair and impartial outcome of every game.
Texas High’s head coach John McClure told ETSN that he wasn’t pressing TASO for a conviction of the umpire. The play didn’t affect the outcome of the series, but it certainly doesn’t have people feeling well knowing of the corruption, and having their team lose the series.
The investigation should certainly bring us some interesting answers to this situation, in one of the more strange circumstances you’ll ever see in a baseball game.
[ETSN]
