Umpire ejects Oregon baserunner after reviewing this collision at the plate, a breakdown
What Happened
In a pivotal moment during the baseball game between the Oregon Ducks and Utah Valley Wolverines, an umpire's controversial call leads to the ejection of an Oregon baserunner. In the bottom of the eighth inning, with the game hanging in the balance, the score is tight. The Oregon Ducks are threatening, with runners on first and third base. A bloop single to left field allows the runner from third to attempt to score. The Wolverines' catcher fields the throw, but his relay throw bounces off the glove, creating a play at the plate. The Oregon baserunner, #77, barrels towards home, colliding with the Wolverines' catcher. The umpire initially calls the runner safe, but after reviewing the play, the umpire determines that the contact made by the Oregon baserunner was "malicious," resulting in him being called out and ejected from the game. "The video review shows there was no obstruction, but the contact was malicious, resulting in an out and an ejection of number 77," the umpire announces to the crowd in a stern but matter-of-fact tone. The decision leaves the Oregon players, coaches, and fans stunned. "What? He's out and ejected? That's ridiculous!" one fan shouts in disbelief. The Wolverines' catcher, visibly frustrated, turns to his coach, asking, "What was that about?" According to the NCAA rules, the collision rule takes precedence over the obstruction rule in this situation. The rules state that a baserunner must make a "legal slide" by keeping their "buttocks and legs on the ground" before making contact with the catcher. The Oregon baserunner, however, did not execute a proper slide, leading to the umpire's decision. As the teams regroup, the Ducks' coach can be seen leaning forward, visibly upset by the turn of events. The Wolverines' pitcher, who had just caught the ball in one bounce, is left wondering if he could have tagged the runner out had the umpire not prematurely called him safe. The controversial call has left both teams and the fans questioning the umpire's decision, with some expressing their frustration with the "softness" of the sport. Nonetheless, the umpire's ruling stands, and the Oregon baserunner is ejected, a significant blow to the Ducks' chances of staging a comeback in this closely contested game.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentbig controversial moment in this game between oregon and utah valley but first how about a
good luck kiss come on babe give me a good luck kiss oh they're throwing them out no they're
coming home out this breakdown is brought to you by seat geek the kiss worked ecstatic they're
ecstatic they altered the game so here's a slide and a play at home and they're like did he block
the plate i couldn't reach it and they went and reviewed it and they said nah and the catcher
tosses the ball behind his back and this fan says bye-bye bye-bye now later on first and third
bottom eighth hanging curve bloop to left field he camps under he camps under he grabs it the
runner's coming home he air mails and it looks like one hop off the glove kabang wow the pitcher
actually catches the ball in one bounce kind of just noticing that it bounces up pitcher
grabs the ball and it's off the glove and it's off the glove and it's off the glove and it's off
right there in one bounce if he had not touched the plate pitcher could have tagged him but the
umpire called safe saying he did touch home plate already did he he didn't it's a premature call by
the ump there wow i he did not touch home plate but the ump called him safe i wonder if this
pitcher had run and tagged him right there if he would have called him out they could have reviewed
it gotten the out call because i don't think he touched home yet neither did the kid ump called
him safe
prematurely and now he can't tag him anyway he doesn't ask the catcher if he's good he doesn't
say anything he just runs away and celebrates and the fans are just like got rocked you got
rocked you got rocked umps get together and they're like hmm something seems wrong on this
one catcher's like what was my neck work yeah yeah wish i had the ball okay he's stuck leaning
forward his coach just
always leaning forward i found out it's just something about him and the ball beat him but
it was not grabbed no real slide we'll get into that barrel roll over the body
bam catcher kind of like flicks him off with his knees then he goes to touch really wish the
pitcher touched him it would have been interesting to see so they go to review it and everyone's
like what could it be this sport's so soft i watch baseball for all the contact and the
quality uh people lie and tell themselves that it's a finesse sport safe at home okay they come
back from the replay review and they say a video review the catch in the outfield results in out
number one no duh get to the point the play at the plate there's no obstruction
but the contact was malicious resulting in an out
and an ejection of number 77 did that umpire just deliver that news in the most fun way possible
basically a content machine he comes out and says the first out was the fly ball that got caught
everyone's like okay cool and then he says there's no obstruction on the play but he is out and
ejected and can't play tomorrow either so that blue really just he just toyed with that fan base
he's blocking the play what's he supposed to do oh oh my god here's uh just a little comparison
of the two plays that i showed you already this is when the ball gets to the catcher
both throws beat the runner the other guy is already sliding head first this guy not sliding
doesn't go down till really late i don't know if you can really count it as a slide does run into
the catcher who does not have a ball so what we do have is a statement from the ball catcher
from ncaa which i actually appreciate it's thorough it tells you exactly what happened
it runs through it so at number one why was this play not deemed obstruction by the catcher since
he did not have the ball in the possession and they go on to say this would have been obstruction
by the catcher had there not been a violation of the collision rule eight seven so the collision
rule overrides the obstruction rule okay if that's what the rule says what did the runner do
during the game and what did the runner do during the game and what did the runner do during the
play that could be considered malicious great great question and it says the rule refers to
flagrant or malicious contact that does not mean that the contact was intentional or that the
runner tried to injure the catcher maybe change the name because malicious you kind of you have
intent usually that's what you think actions listed on page 91 in the note to this rule
indicate that if the runner does not make a legal slide which is
buttocks and legs on the ground before contact if that's really what the rule book says every coach
has to teach that because that is you know rules a lot of times have wiggle room that has no wiggle
room your butt and your leg have to be on the dirt before you make contact if that's really
the rule book every running coach in college or assistant coach should have a slide day where you
teach that uh and then it goes on to say or make motions that show effort to avoid a collision
trying to reach the plate the rule should be enforced um and then they say they can't appeal
it i think what's going on is why they're making the rule this way is so you can't intimidate the
catcher into a drop footsteps falco situation you can't charge down the mound you know and then
veer off at the very last second to scare the catcher into dropping the ball they want you to
be committing to the slide before that can happen and he did not now i don't have a full database of
college plays but i do have a full database of mlb plays that's much easier to find and i wanted to
see plays at the plate when do guys usually hit hit the ground with their butt when they slide
at home on a close play and up top you're gonna see this runner uh and down below his knee hits
in the batter's box
the oregon's knee would have hit at the very end of the batter's box closest to home plate
his toe would have been like on the base by the time he slid so i went and found every example of
this to see where most guys slide this guy his knees down before the batter's box on the bottom
and you know again he's not going into his slide until the batter's box it's a late slide i don't
even know if it's a slide
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and it's just it's not a slide i know people are going to be mad at me about this because i think
the general consensus on the internet was that this is a bullshit call if that's the way the rules are
written i blame the coaches for not teaching the kids the rule if it says you can't make contact
with the catcher until your butt or knee is down on the dirt first clear cut easy easy ruling like
very easy ruling
and yeah all the comparisons
are just not
they just don't look the same guys are just down way earlier in all of these
way earlier there's another one
there's another one now that's the front of the base which i think this kid was trying to do maybe
let's see this he just gave himself up
he's going to the back of the bag and the catcher's way up
But yeah, knee down at the third base side of the batter's box.
That's where most people are getting their knee down.
Third base side of the batter's box.
It's not what we have here.
Knee down on the bottom, third base side of the batter's box.
Knee down, third base side of the batter's box.
Way before the third base side of the batter's box.
Third base side of the batter's box.
third base side of the batter's box knee down yep okay so this one's kind of later he's got a lane
yeah okay so this is what i found even if that catcher catches that
the collision rule would have still overrided the obstruction rule maybe people don't maybe
that's maybe that's confusing for some people if he had caught it it's not like then you get
obstruction you the collision rule would have still overridden it because he did not avoid
contact nor get down in time and yeah the mlb comparisons again that's all i have i don't have
a bunch of college footage to sort through it's the same thing almost every time you know here
he just kind of tries to evade but it is knee down on the back side of the batter's box which
is not what happened here that's the way the rule's written i think you know i don't know
if he should get suspended the next game i don't know if he has to be ejected
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i think those are college rules because they really wanted to be safe but if they're trying
to avoid this they have a rule in place to avoid it and this kid didn't do what the rule said thank
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