By Blaidd Drwg
In the bottom of the 7th inning of last night’s Mariners-Rangers game, home plate umpire Jim Wolf actually made a call that (incorrectly) almost never gets made in MLB baseball games. Casey Kotchman at bat and hits a little bleeder in front of the plate and it is picked up by Matt Treanor who proceeds to throw the ball past 1B Jason Smoak. However, Jim Wolf waves the play off and calls Kotchman out for interference. You see Kotchman was clearly running on the fair side of the first base line, which is against the rules (there is actually a runners box that runs on the foul side of the baseline for the last 45 feet to first base and the runner is supposed to be in that box). In Wolf’s opinion, Kotchman’s running interfered with Treanor’s ability to make the play, hence the call. Score it 2-3 on the putout.
I think I need to send Wolf a fruit basket or something for actually making that call. I will see if I can find footage of the play later.
FlatbreadGarden 