Manager throws first base in protest, a breakdown
What Happened
Trey Turner steps up to the plate for the Washington Nationals in the bottom of the seventh inning, with his team leading the Chicago Cubs by two runs. Turner is known for his speed, and he's looking to get on base and help the Nationals add to their lead. Turner takes the first pitch, then fouls the next one back. The umpire calls strike three on a high fastball that Turner swings and misses at. Turner immediately takes off running down the first base line, trying to beat the throw. The umpire rules that Turner interfered with the play, calling him out. Nationals manager Dave Martinez immediately erupts in protest, furiously arguing the call with the umpire. Martinez claims that Turner was simply running in a straight line, as any player would, and that the bad throw from the Cubs' first baseman is what caused the interference. Martinez passionately advocates for the rules to be changed, suggesting that the base should be moved if the umpires want runners to run in a specific lane. Enraged by the umpire's decision, Martinez dramatically tosses the first base out of its position, drawing cheers from the Nationals' home crowd. The umpire promptly ejects Martinez from the game, but the manager continues his tirade, clearly frustrated by what he sees as an unfair and illogical call. After the game, Martinez tells reporters that the umpire simply said he "had to make that call," even though the rule allows for some discretion. Martinez argues that umpires who are "rule followers" and "literalists" often struggle with judgment calls, failing to consider the context and intent of the player's actions. The incident highlights the ongoing debate in baseball over the interference rule and how it is interpreted and applied by umpires. While the umpire may have been technically correct in his ruling, Martinez and many fans believe that the rule needs to be revised to better reflect the realities of the game and protect players who are simply running the bases in a natural manner.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momenttrey turner's at the plate he's got some
speed to his game the nationals are
up two runs in the seventh inning
against the cubs turner's trying to get
on
push another one across maybe save the
bullpen maybe keep it going maybe blow
it out he's got one and one count fouls
that one right back this dude catches
said hey
where those kids at anyone's those kids
no okay i guess i'll just keep the ball
for myself next pitch high fastball
turner chases doesn't make contact drop
third strike runs down the line to beat
the throw now you can see
the umpire got himself in position the
home plate umpire
he's in position checking out the base
path
and turner runs as straight as you can
but they
call them out for interference a lot of
people watch these breakdowns that don't
watch baseball regularly
this is a judgment call so it's no hard
yes or no it's does the ump think he
interfered
and the problem is the way that umps
have been calling it they just reward
bad throws so that's a bad throw right
a good throw since the first baseman set
up over here a good throw would come
over here
or if the first baseman wanted to set up
on the inside which would have been
weird
then the throw comes over here but
because it's a bad throw
and it hits turner they'll call him out
for interference even though
he ran as straight as you can possibly
run
down the line to the back now you might
be asking well there's a runner's lane
over here
shouldn't he run in there well the base
is on this side and that's
what you're going to see his manager get
really upset about it's not the first
time
he's been called out for interference
for running in a straight line you go oh
okay and just accepts it and walks off
and says that is
so ridiculous i'm not even gonna argue
but david martinez's manager he says
i'll argue he's what are you doing
this is how he ran straight to the back
what do you want him to do
umpire throws him out he says well if
you want him to run on that side
then take the goddamn base and put it
there if that's where you want him to
run really good kick
now look at the look at the joy he
brought these fans look at this lady hey
look look honey look honey yes yes yes
this little kid oh my god and then mom
covers her face like oh
this dude just straight pumped up hell
yeah first base toss i always wanted to
see one
martinez is pissed now he said in his
post game that the ump told tim
i have to make that call yeah all i
heard was i had to make that call
and i just said no you don't yeah the
second part of the rule is a judgment
call
i think you know my psychoanalyst is
that the people that gravitate towards
being umpires
are rule followers they're literalists
if the rulebook says
you know it's a judgment call you don't
have to make it but you can make it
i don't think that adds up to their
personality i think they don't know what
that means
i think they just say no i mean i have
to make that call ball hit him and he
was running outside the lane it's like
what are we doing
fix the rule put the bag like davey's
saying on
that side if that's where you want him
to run because he just ran in a straight
line
so i'm with davey i don't get it it's
just very easy for the umpire to not
make that call
if he doesn't make that call there's not
a single person
that's going to say whoa why didn't he
call interference because the human
being with a brain knows it's not and
this guy's like pumped up
yes i will put the base back in its spot
this is my job this is what i practice
for i'm finally going to show
all the people my knee routine bam bam
bam you're gone i'm gone base is back
i have done my job that dude's probably
so winded i mean i would be
i would be probably just sapping the
turner in the world series so he's just
on the railing probably thinking yeah
this sucks
hey when this happens i run in a
straight line they make a bad throw
i get punished for it this breakdown is
brought to you by the chris rose
rotation if you're a nationals fan they
just had
max scherzer on for a full interview
awesome to hear you gotta check it out
it's on the jm baseball youtube channel
or any podcast you want
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on the show
scherzer was the guest this week give it
a listen