Squeeze Play: Was Willits Safe?
There's been a lot written and said about the 9th inning squeeze play the Angels attempted during Monday night's Game 4. I'm not going to question the decision to put that play on here, at least not in this posting, but I wanted to address the question; was Reggie Willits safe because Jason Varitek had dropped the ball while tagging Willits out? ESPN's Dave Campbell thinks Willits was safe (ESPN audio), and obviously so does Angels' manager Mike Scioscia in this O.C. Register piece.
I've created a short, looping video of the play, from the 3rd base side:
The video shows that Varitek had control of the ball when he tagged Willits, and the ball didn't come loose until Varitek hit the ground. It was the ground that caused the ball to come loose, not the contact with Willits. In my opinion, the umpire made the right call and Willits was out.
He's definitely out if he made contact on the tag. You're right, he controlled the ball until he hit the ground. I just can't be 100% sure he got him with the glove from that shot.
@Brian:
yeah, it's hard to tell from that shot. but in case you didn't see this play from the other angles they showed during the game Varitek definately made contact with Willits.
I'd be interested in seeing what the official rule book would have to say regarding this play, the wording that is...is there any room for interpretation regarding a play like this or is it precise? i'm guessing the wording may be pretty explicit as the ump at 3rd didn't even confer with the other umpires. or the ump was just that stubborn.
to play devil's advocate for a minute:
i may be comparing apples to oranges here but if you have a play at the plate and the runner plows thru the catcher and the ball is jarred loose, the runner is safe, yeah? there's no considering how the ball came loose: runner hitting catcher or catcher hitting ground. the catcher may have had complete control of the ball in glove prior to being hit (which in theory would allow a tag) yet afterwards he looses the ball. runner safe.
i'm may be totally off here but i just thought i'd throw that out there.
maybe if it wasn't the pink-i mean-red sox eliminating us again i'd be more accepting of the fact that Willits was out. meh.
what a way to end a season. i'm still sick to my stomach.