Brewers appeal ruling in Sabathia’s one-hitter against Pirates.
September 1, 2008
Nobody in the Brewers organization will have trouble remembering CC Sabathia’s start Sunday in Pittsburgh as one of the best pitching performances of the year.
But how will history remember it?
The Brewers will be filing a formal appeal to Major League Baseball in an effort to overturn a scoring decision in the fifth inning, when Andy LaRoche hit a check-swing dribbler back to Sabathia. The left-hander bobbled the ball, and LaRoche was credited with the only hit of the game.
Sabathia struck out 11 and essentially allowed only two well-struck balls all day, both right at infielders. A different ruling would amount to the second no-hitter in club history and first since Juan Nieves in 1987.
Media relations director Mike Vassallo said he did not know how long the appeal process will take, though his office will send a DVD of the play and proper documentation to MLB’s office in New York via priority mail, likely to arrive no later than Wednesday morning.
The league, after considering the evidence submitted by the Brewers, may overturn a decision through the two-year-old appeal process. Under MLB rule 10.01, “The League President, after considering the evidence submitted and any other evidence he wishes to consider, may request that the official scorer change a judgment call or, if the League President concludes that the judgment of the official scorer had been clearly erroneous, may order a change in a judgment call.”
Pittsburgh official scorer Bob Webb offered an explanation of what he saw on Sunday, when he ruled the play a hit almost immediately and declined to change his ruling after viewing replays.
“Even if he comes up with the ball cleanly, in my estimation, he’s got more than ordinary difficulty in getting the runner at first base,” said Webb, who described the ball as “spinning” when Sabathia approached it.
Brewers manager Ned Yost did not see it that way.
“It’s not a very good explanation in my mind,” Yost said. “No. 1, the ball was not spinning; the ball was rolling. There’s a huge difference. It’s a lot easier for a left-handed pitcher to go to the third-base line and make that throw than a right-handed pitcher. The explanation didn’t cover it for me, but again, that’s water under the bridge and it’s all said and done.”
Brewers official scorer Tim O’Driscoll, in his 21st year at the position, said he saw the play differently, though he said the only opinion that mattered was Webb’s.
“If CC fields with his glove, which he should have done, there’s no question about anything because the guy is out by 15 feet,” O’Driscoll said. “With normal effort, should an out have been made? In my opinion, it was [with] normal effort. He had plenty of time to throw him out.”
O’Driscoll admitted he was glad to not be in Webb’s shoes.
“I know without question, the rest of the game, he was just praying someone would get a base hit,” O’Driscoll said. “The official scorer in any city does not want to become the center of a controversy. It’s like a referee or umpire, we don’t want anybody to notice us. We want to go home quiet and not have a controversial situation.”
The situation is not entirely lost on O’Driscoll. During his first season in the official scorer’s capacity, O’Driscoll oversaw the game that snapped Paul Molitor’s 39-game hitting streak in 1987. Indians first baseman Pat Tabler dropped a throw from third base, allowing Molitor to reach on an error, and Molitor never got another chance at the dish. Rick Manning singled in the winning run in the ninth with Molitor on deck.
“Unlike a 300th win, which Nolan Ryan was going to get eventually, or Robin Yount’s 3,000th hit,” O’Driscoll said, referring to other events that took place in Milwaukee, “with Molitor, you were sitting on every at-bat. I just couldn’t take a piece of coal and turn it into a diamond.”
O’Driscoll said he was surprised Webb made his decision so quickly, though he conceded there were times when a call needed to be made based on original reaction.
Yost said Monday an overturning of the ruling would offer limited consolation.
“Yesterday was the day it should have been a no-hitter,” Yost said. “It takes away from that aspect. The celebration with your teammates, the excitement of our plane ride home yesterday, that’s all gone. So whatever they call it, they missed their opportunity to do it right.”
The Brewers were able to overturn a scorer’s ruling earlier in the year, when Prince Fielder was retroactively charged with an error in Houston on a dropped throw to first base. Astros outfielder Michael Bourn was initially given an infield single, and Guillermo Mota went on to allow two runs. The earned tallies were later changed to unearned, dropping Mota’s ERA by half a run.
Vassallo said the league took two weeks to respond to that appeal before making a change, and did indicate the official scorer had been involved in the decision-changing process. No known precedent exists for the retroactive awarding of a no-hitter.
Hookscenter.com wire report (Radcliffe).
Comments
Got something to say?
You must be logged in to post a comment.