This one's for davehogg

[zoethe]

I don't follow sports, but I do find them entertaining when they wander in my direction. Particularly when it's a quirky play that makes all the difference in the world.

So when I saw a headline stating that Howie Kendrick's in-the-park homer had been taken away from him, I had to watch the video. Watching it, I'd have to say that they called it right to change it to a four-base error. Do you think it's the right call?

And I'm thinking it's sort of a double error. I'm only getting the one angle, but if it hadn't tipped off Jose Guillen's, would it have been a foul ball?

Comments

[mistapotta.livejournal.com]

I love the way the tag broke.

I like baseball, but I'm not a scoring nut. If he crossed the plate, it's a run. Does it really matter if it's a home run or not?

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Making it an error-based score changes a bunch of stats - pitcher's ERA, batter's total home runs for the season, a small impact to his batting stats. If score was the only thing for which they kept track, it would be different.

[poxy-report.livejournal.com]

Being Australian, and disinterested in sports, I would have to say that I have no idea.

Aren't you so glad I contributed?

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Yes, thanks for stopping by. Have a cookie. ;-)

[davehogg.livejournal.com]

An inside-the-park homer is very dramatic, so official scorers tend to bend over backward to give one, but that's clearly an error. The definition of an error is a play that a fielder should have made with "routine effort", and that fits into that category. He got to the ball in plenty of time and just missed it.

However, while I am a sportswriter, I've never been an official scorer. Therefore, in the interest of fully answering your question, I just showed the play to Chuck Klonke, who is the official scorer for the Tigers.

He said that after watching the play at regular speed and then the replay, he agrees that it is clearly an error.

[davehogg.livejournal.com]

And, no, I think the ball was hooking back toward the field and would have been fair. That's why Guillen missed it, he ran to where it was going and it sliced back into him.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Thanks. You definitely have more experience watching than I; it was hard to see if it was hooking back (ah, wind currents!) from that angle.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

That's what I figured. Nice to have good authorities around to ask. Thanks, hon!

[greybeta.livejournal.com]

Since the outfielder didn't have to dive for the ball, it's an error. Oftentimes they'll award an inside-the-park homer if the fielder dives for it and misses it.

Also, that was a crazy, crazy bounce off Guillen's glove.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

My sportswriter sweetie said in another comment that he thought it looked like the ball was hooking back, and Guillen said that he closed the mitt where the thought the ball was, causing it to tip off the end, so Dave's comment about it hooking back would seem to be corroborated by Guillen's comment.

[3circledsun.livejournal.com]

That should definitely be an error, the right fielder misplayed it big time.

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

Still, hate to see the batter lose the cred, particularly when it took them a week to decide.

[ccr1138.livejournal.com]

My eyes glazed over at the word "sports."

[zoethe.livejournal.com]

An understandable reaction. ;-)