Atlanta Braves Off-Day Rulebook Fail (Reds/DBacks)

Aug 9, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price (38) challenges that Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Chris Owings (not pictured) did not step on first base after his walk off single at Chase Field. The play was upheld. The Diamondbacks won 4-3 in ten innings. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports

The Reds Tried… But Messed it Up

On instructions from the dugout, CF Billy Hamilton trotted back out toward the wall in left center.  By then, a Diamondbacks field worker had already reached the ball and picked it up.  Hamilton nonetheless called for the ball and had it thrown to him.  From there it was tossed to the infield, where the Reds then passed it around, tagging second, first, and third bases in succession.

At that point, Reds manager Bryan Price then began a consultation – or maybe it was negotiation – with the umpire crew.  The Reds, by his logic, had just completed a double play in forcing out the runners on second and third base, thus ending the inning.  For the record, those umpires were Vic Carapazza (home), Adam Hamari, Brian Knight, and crew chief Larry Vanover.

Trouble is, there was a flaw in the argument from the get-go:  because second base had been the initial base tagged, that action would have actually removed the force play at third base.  Even if you argue that Peralta had ‘abandoned the play’ by walking to the dugout, it’s still a tag play and thus the Diamondbacks still win because the run had scored first and Owings had touched first base himself.

Then there’s that part about having to ignore the ‘interference’ by the DBacks’ employee, but we’ll set that aside for today.

Nonetheless, there’s a couple of gotchas in the rule book about this situation:

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