Umpire forgets the count and batter gets 4 strikes, a breakdown
What Happened
In a surprising turn of events, Jordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros steps up to the plate against pitcher Rich Hill of the New York Mets. The game is tight, with the score close and both teams vying for an important win. Alvarez takes the first pitch, a curveball that misses low, making the count 1-0. The next pitch, another curveball from Hill, is called a strike. Alvarez fouls off the following slider, bringing the count to 1-1. As the players take a moment to catch their breath, the umpire, Jim Wolf, appears to lose track of the count. The 1-2 pitch from Hill is another slider that Alvarez fouls off. However, instead of calling it the third strike, Wolf mistakenly calls it strike three, ending the at-bat. Neither the players, managers, nor the TV broadcast teams notice the error, though the radio announcers catch on. Alvarez, unaware of the umpire's mistake, simply walks back to the dugout, while Hill and the Mets celebrate the strikeout. The radio announcers are quick to point out that the count should have been 1-2, not 0-2 as Wolf had called it. The surprising mix-up by the veteran umpire goes largely unnoticed, with only the eagle-eyed radio broadcasters acknowledging the gaffe. This rare occurrence, where the umpire forgets the count and a batter is granted an extra strike, is a unique moment in the 2022 MLB season. Despite the unexpected development, the game continues, with the Astros and Mets locked in a tight contest. The umpiring crew, led by Wolf, will undoubtedly review the play and ensure such a mistake does not happen again. Meanwhile, the players and fans carry on, focused on the outcome of the game and the ongoing battle between these two talented teams.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentWe got the first four strike at bat of the 2022 season that we know about. It's brought to you
by my good friends over at DraftKings. Jordan Alvarez is up against Rich Hale. Here's the
first pitch. Ball, low, curve ball, over the top, low. Okay, 1-0. I didn't cut anything. I just sped
up a little bit between some pitches here and there so you can see it all the way through.
The 1-0, the next pitch, he's going to go over the top again. Another curve, 71 miles per hour,
that's strike one. Boom, that's what he said. He said strike one, so we speed it up. The 1-1,
he drops down with the slider. It's fouled. Rich Hale runs after it like a crazy person.
You got fielders, third baseman. Where you at? He's huffing. He's puffing. He's out of breath.
That's the second strike. Here's the replay. Him and the catcher just sprinting, trying to catch
this ball, gassing themselves out. Third baseman was in a shift. We don't blame him anymore. Rich
Hale hates shifts, so he was like, I'll just get it, but he's out of breath. So there's a big
delay. We're going to see what happens. We're going to see what happens. We're going to see what
happens. There's a big delay here. We've waited a lot of time. He's like, let me mess with the
rosin bag, catch my breath. Catcher's like, you know what? Me too, man. I got to catch my breath
too. I'm tired. Delay, cleans the plate. The 1-2, now that's a long delay. He shakes off a pitch.
Maybe everyone got confused because of that delay. Next pitch, sidearm again, change up,
gets strike, and the ump just calls it strike three, and nobody notices. Nobody in the crowd
notices. Nobody, none of the umps. There's four of them. There's four of them. There's four of
them notice. Both managers don't notice. The pitcher doesn't notice. Nobody notices. This guy
doesn't notice because he just found out he can close out apps, so he's just swiping away. Just
close, close, close, close, close, close, close, close, close, close, close. Jordan Alvarez,
he knows. He's like, mm, okay. I just, oh my God, son, don't do it. I'll just stay here.
Another drop down and grounds out a four strike at bat. Now, both radio broadcasts did notice.
Listen to those. 1-2 pitch is strike on the inside corner. That is the ultimate glass half
full statement. Isn't that a strike out of Jordan Alvarez? I mean, I thought that was strike three.
Rich Hill, the 1-2, sidearm again, fastball is a strike. That's strike three as Alvarez is down
on strikes. He's still standing in the box. That's three, isn't it? I thought so.
But Jim Wolfe doesn't think so. Neither does Jordan. Neither does Rich Hill,
so it must be 1-2 now. All right. So, both radio broadcasts paying good attention to the game.
They totally understand. Both TV broadcasts, no idea. Listen to this one.
Eighth career start against the Astros. Oh, drop down. Yeah.
Oh, drop down. He threw the last pitch sidearm as well.
Laredo, and it's one and two. Now, you know you're good when you start to mess with
pitchers all the time. You know you're good when you start to mess with pitchers all the time.
There's arm angles, and they try and create pitches and arm angles to try and get you out.
Yep. So, this crew is too busy telling their audience that Jordan Alvarez is so good that
Rich Hill's creating new arm angles to try and get him down. Not that he throws from that release
point on all sliders and changeups. It's just that Jordan is so good. That's what's happening.
Then the other booth, the Red Sox booth, this one's pretty good.
To get him out, and that'll be in there for a strike. Good call. I know it doesn't look like
a strike. It's supposed to be away.
We had a reach across the plate. Wolfie stayed right with that call.
He's an umpire you like a lot.
He was my favorite in the game. He's a good, good umpire, and you're able to communicate with him.
He will let you know if he misses a pitch.
He will let you know if he misses a pitch. I know he's talking about a pitch in the strike zone,
but that is too good. On a call when the ump literally missed, he forgot about a whole pitch.
They're just praising the ump. Can't make it up. Thanks to my good friends over at DraftKings for
sponsoring this video. This happens like a couple times a year. It's really not that big of a deal,
but it is wild that there's so many people that should be keeping track of this,
and all of them can forget.