Tribe Screwed Out of Yet Another Win

The first, of course, being the postponement where the Erie Warriors were one strike away from an official game that they were soundly winning.

The second, being the protested game from last Saturday where the Indians entered their offensive half-inning tied to the Orioles and finished their offensive half-inning down a run. I wonder how many times that's happened.

A recap:

In the bottom of the sixth inning, with the score tied at 2, crew chief Ed Montague instructed the official scorer to add a run to the Orioles' tally, making it 3-2.

The run had come in the top of the third inning. The Orioles were up, 2-1, with one out and runners on the corners. Ramon Hernandez hit a line drive to center field that was caught by Grady Sizemore, who then threw to first base, doubling up Miguel Tejada. But while Sizemore lobbed the ball to first, Nick Markakis tagged up at third and scored before Tejada was ruled out. Thus, Markakis' run should have counted, but it was waved off by home-plate umpire Marvin Hudson.

Baltimore didn't argue the call until after the third, when bench coach Tom Trebelhorn talked it over with Montague. The rule book was summoned, and the umpires had several conversations with both dugouts before Montague finally ruled the run should be tacked on in the sixth.

Indians manager Eric Wedge immediately told Montague the Indians would play the remainder of the game in protest. The Indians took a 4-3 lead on Jhonny Peralta's two-run homer in the sixth, but they eventually lost the game, 7-4.

Once an official protest was filed Sunday, the Indians were hoping MLB would accept it and have the game replayed this weekend in Baltimore -- either from the third inning, with the run intact, or the sixth inning, with the run nullified.

Instead, the game stands as a Cleveland loss...

I watched every pitch of that game and understand that the umpires screwed up and that run should have counted. However, it should have been changed at the time of the bad call. If not --- tough titties. Can an umpire completely change the make-up of a game several innings after the fact? Think about how a manager's strategy could become completely screwed. Imagine closers being wasted and unavailable the following night. Imagine double switches and substitutions that could have been made but weren't because you were winning at the time and the umpire just now decides that you're losing.

At first, I thought the protest would swiftly be ruled in the Tribe's favor due to this gem from the Official Rules (bold emphasis mine):

Rule 4.19 Comment: Whenever a manager protests a game because of alleged misapplication of the rules the protest will not be recognized unless the umpires are notified at the time the play under protest occurs and before the next pitch, play or attempted play. A protest arising on a game-ending play may be filed until 12 noon the following day with the league office.

However, I guess if the O's didn't officially protest the call and just bitched informally, this rule isn't applicable? That's terrible! Why would any team want to officially protest if there's a chance the umpire will change his mind 8 innings later if you complain long enough? That's a heavy dilemma a manager will now have to ponder.

The umps were allowed to screw us fans of the feathered due to this obscure piece of garbage:

Rule 9.01(c) : "Each umpire has authority to rule on any point not specifically covered in these rules."

Completely ridiculous! A rule book can not possibly enumerate every single tiny possibility that could ever arise. This shouldn't give the umpires carte blanche to do whatever the hell they want. Is there a rule that says "Umpires may not force teams to swap their regulation uniforms"? Is there a rule that says "Umpires may not require a batter to perform fellatio before stepping in the box"? I don't see any. This could make the game a lot more interesting.



Conclusion: Rule 4.19 cited above needs to be amended to say that a game can't be turned upside down from an official protest, informal whining, or the sudden whims of an ump at any future point of the contest. Any change that impacts the game needs to be made before play ensues. Next, either Rule 9.01(c) needs to go away or the Official Rules need about 90,000 additional pages.