PITTSBURGH — Already trailing the Florida Marlins, 6-1 in the 3rd inning on Friday night’s 13-4 loss at PNC Park, a rather odd play happened in left field.
With one out, Omar Infante hit a 1-1 pitch into deep left field. Alex Presley ran to make the catch up against the wall, but the ball bounced off his glove and into the stands for a three-run home run.
“It was a weird thing, a freak thing,” Presley said. “I don’t really have an explanation for it. I mean, I should catch it in my mind, that’s all that matters. Just an odd play.”
“There was a lot of discussion about that [call] last night,” Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle said. “And rightfully so. The one thing I’ve always held on to is tradition can be vision killer and there might need to be a day when that call is made an error, so its not a home run. If that ball is knocked over the fence, that is an error on the outfield.”
Hurdle strongly believes it should be an error. The Pirates have contact Major League Baseball for an official review.
“Every call so far has been a homer run. Head, body, glove, over the fence seems to be the magic elixir,” Hurdle said. “That one bothers me. That one’s different. It’s different from all the other ones I’ve seen.”
At first, Presley said he didn’t realize the ball went over the wall to give the Marlins a then, 9-1 lead.
“I was looking around,” Presley said. “I had to put my head down on the ball to get back there. Then I looked up and it was just kind of behind me a tad and I had to make an adjustment and it cost me, basically. It happens. Hopefully not again.”
It became a hot topic with players and media this afternoon. Some agreed it should be an error, while others a home run.
“I think that’s what makes it beautiful,” Hurdle said. “I do think there needs to be a day where we get past the point, where a ball is off a glove and goes over the fence it’s a home run. We’re not past that point right now. This is the perfect lab experiment for me to get it out there and have a pretty good discussion about it.”
Photo credit: Yahoo! Sports
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