Ump says Yelich attempted to go to second and calls him out, a breakdown
What Happened
In the bottom of the sixth at home, the Brewers trailed by two and needed a baserunner. Christian Yelich dropped a bunt against the shift, the pitcher fielded it and threw wide of first base. Yelich's first base coach yelled go, Yelich took one step toward second, then thought better of it and stayed put. The first baseman tagged him anyway, and the umpire ruled Yelich had attempted to advance and called him out. Yelich went off, dropping a string of profanities while his coach tried to hold him back.
Why This Matters
This is one of those plays where the rulebook leaves everything to the umpire's gut. A runner who's been awarded a base on an overthrow can be put out if he attempts to advance further. The word doing all the work there is attempt, and nobody defines it. Yelich took a single step and reversed course, which a lot of people would call thinking about going rather than actually going. The umpire saw it differently and there's no replay challenge for judgment like that. For Milwaukee it killed a rally in a two-run game, and for Yelich, fresh off his MVP years and grinding through an injury-marred 2021, it was another small gut punch in a frustrating season. The first base coach even owned the bad read in real time.
With 1.7M views, this breakdown sits in the top 9% of all 1,583 Jomboy breakdowns, proof that a one-step judgment call can light fans up.
Key Moments
Who / What Is Involved
Players: Christian Yelich. Teams: Brewers.
Key Terms Mentioned
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentthe Brewers are down two runs in the
bottom of the sixth inning they need a
base runner to get something going and
Yelich seems the sees the perfect
opportunity to get on lay a little bunt
they're shifting him a little bit
pitcher Fields the ball comes up firing
the first but it's bounces wide first
base coach says go go go yelli takes one
step kind of left and then says no first
P says hey my bad my bad man damn I read
that wrong that's my bad but the Umpire
is just staring at yell so India the
first baseman sees it he tags him out um
says you're at or he says are you
[ __ ] [ __ ] me are you [ __ ]
[ __ ] me no
no can't be doing that [ __ ] you [ __ ] you
[ __ ] you
[ __ ] he's mad at him and Quinton
Barry's trying to hold him back CU he's
like [ __ ] I'm the one that kind of told
him to go and he's like [ __ ] that you
can't make that call and I look at the
first base coach [ __ ] a man damn it
why' I tell him to go now he's a oh God
God
man y's talking the other arm says
that's [ __ ] terrible he's going to
walk off upset now you make the call one
little step there the rule is that the
runner has to attempt to go to Second
and it's up to the Umpire to determine
that which is so wide open you me a
thousand other people could interpret
those words so differently he has to
attempt to go to second in my head he
didn't attempt to go to Second at all he
thought about attempting to go to Second
that's not attempting to go to Second
that's thinking maybe I should go to
Second and then thinking very quickly no
no no no it would be dumb to attempt to
go to Second let's not attempt to go to
Second so if I'm the um that is not an
attempt to go to second but I'm sure
thousands of you probably see it
differently than I do