Because of the introduction of The Weekly Puig and The Week That Was, we went ahead and pushed our compendium of replay reviews back to Wednesday, where you can expect to find it from now on. I think managers are beginning to get accustomed to the whole replay thing now – we’re seeing fewer and fewer stupid challenges, but some are still oozing their way through the cracks.
May 12th, Cubs vs Cardinals – no favoritism here
Yadier Molina gets the benefit of the doubt on plays at the plate because he’s, you know, Yadier Molina. But Emilio Bonifacio got screwed over twice on this play – he was called out without being tagged, *and* Molina was blocking the plate without the ball. Replay overturned the out call and thankfully gave Bonifacio the run.
May 13th, Angels vs Phillies – it’s still not perfect.
Chase Utley was *not* safe on this play at third base. He wasn’t tagged on the lower part of the body like you expect on a feet-first slide, but instead on the upper part of his body. Luis Jimenez had his glove on Utley’s helmet while blocking the base perfectly…but the safe call wasn’t overturned. The Angels still won the game, but what a load of crap that review was.
May 13th, Rangers vs Astros – Prince isn’t slick.
Prince Fielder pounded this ball through the shift, and tried to get greedy. He also tried to get creative and do the “pull one arm back while extending the other arm” technique, and it almost worked. But replay overturned the safe call, and Prince’s slickness was all for naught.
May 14th, Nationals vs Diamondbacks – reviewing a trap?
This is…incredibly bizarre. A.J. Pollock made a great diving catch in center field…and it was ruled a trap. The ball was thrown into the infield and a double play was turned. The Nationals challenged to overturn a call of a trap into a catch, which is something you’d NEVER expect considering they were the team on offense at the team. The call was overturned, and the double play was taken off the books. What a strange situation.
May 15th, Indians vs Blue Jays – another odd challenge.
On this challenge, the Indians challenged whether or not Brett Lawrie had touched first base on this double. That’s something you don’t see every day. The replay was inconclusive and Lawrie’s double stood, and honestly, there wasn’t enough evidence in either direction to make a definitive call, allowing the call on the field to stand.
May 16th, Marlins vs Giants – more transfer rule garbage.
This would have been a safe call in the early part of this season. But with the transfer rule back to its familiar roots, it’s back to being an out call. How ridiculous was the transfer rule reinterpretation in hindsight? Stanton clearly made the catch and had control of the ball for long enough before making the throw, and last month, it would have been called a no catch. Jeez.
May 17th, Athletics vs Indians – flashbacks to last year.
Last season, there was a horrendous call at Progressive Field between the Athletics and Indians where a clear home run by Adam Rosales was called a double. This was a nearly identical play, with a long fly ball from Josh Donaldson hitting the top of the left field wall and looking like a potential homer. Unlike the Rosales play last year, this wasn’t nearly as conclusive, and the triple call on the field was upheld. Unlike last year, the call didn’t matter at all – Brandon Moss doubled Donaldson home on the next pitch, and the A’s won the game 6-2.
May 17th, Pirates vs Yankees – super Sanchez.
This slide by Tony Sanchez was hilarious. He flew through the air like Superman, and very nearly evaded Derek Jeter’s tag. The key phrase is “very nearly”, as the replays showed Jeter tagging Sanchez’s jersey. Another quirk about this play – Joe Girardi didn’t even come out of the dugout. Jeter was the one who challenged it for the Yankees. That takes some pull.
