“Even if the umpire had called fair right away, Han Yoo-seom wouldn’t have gotten to second base, so we made an out.”
On the 21st, the SSG Landers had to deal with a bizarre situation. They had nothing to say about the outcome of the 1-2 loss, but there was a part of the process that didn’t quite convince them.
Trailing 0-2 through seven innings, SSG had a golden opportunity in the bottom of the eighth. After Choo Shin-soo singled to left field, Heredia drew a walk. Choi followed with a double down the right field line. With runners on first and second, Han Yoo-seom drew a walk to load the bases.
Park Sung-han hit the fourth pitch from reliever Yoo Young-chan, and the ball sailed down the first base line, right into the hands of Woo Hyo-dong at first base. A grounder to second turned into an infield hit.
At that moment, Han Yusum, the runner at first base, looked at the first baseman as he tried to run to second base. He needed to see if it was a foul or fair. The first base umpire didn’t call fair. He raised his arm ambiguously. The umpire’s call was unclear, so how should the player decide. Han Yoo-seom stepped on the first base again. The first base umpire Woo Hyo-dong did not call fair. The SSG team can only think of a balk or a foul.
LG requested a video replay to confirm the fair/foul call. Once the ball was judged to have hit first baseman Kim Min-sung’s glove, it was a fair ball, meaning that Eredia, the third baseman who crossed home plate on Park’s hit, was allowed to score.
The problem is that Han was called out. “There was no intention to advance to second base,” the umpire said. Coach Kim Won-hyung protested for more than 10 minutes, but it was not accepted. Eventually, he was sent off for protesting the video review and the situation didn’t change.
The KBO commented on the umpires’ decision, saying, “The ball passed through the first baseman’s glove and was declared fair. In the video review center, play stopped when the ball hit the umpire, but even if the umpire had declared it fair right away, Han Yoo-seom would not have made it to second base, so the out was made.”
This is where the explanation became difficult to understand. “Even if the umpire had declared fair, Han Yoo-seom would not have gotten to second base,” he assumed. Coach Kim Won-hyung also questioned this point. But he didn’t accept it. No one was convinced.
Han Yoo-seom became a “virtual out. The umpire made the call as if he knew what Kim Min-sung’s next play would be. The KBO only punished the first base umpire Woo Hyo-dong. It admitted that it had misapplied the rule.
The KBO announced, “We have suspended umpire Woo Hyo-dong for causing confusion by not operating the game smoothly during the LG-SSG game at SSG Landers Field on March 21.”
“The first base umpire Woo Hyo-dong misapplied Official Baseball Rule 5.06 (c) Balls Dead (6) and should have declared an in-play after SSG’s Park Sung-hwan’s bunt hit the umpire in the bottom of the eighth inning, but instead declared a ball dead, causing confusion in the game,” the KBO explained.
Umpire Woo will be suspended for the remainder of the season after today (April 22). He was at fault for not making a clear call.
But was Woo Hyo-dong entirely at fault? “I know that it doesn’t change the result, but the referees on the field told the video review center that it was a wrong call,” Kim Won-hyung said at the time.
Coach Kim said, “I only needed to see the foul/pair. It’s a bad call. I know it doesn’t change, but we thought it was a foul because the first baseman raised his arm, and then there was a ridiculous call. I don’t understand how they can make assumptions about the next play.”
What to make of the assumption that Han Yusum would have been out instead of going to second base? Kim Min-sung could have caught the ball and thrown to third instead of second, or he could have thrown home. Even if he threw to second, it would have been a bad throw. By making such assumptions, the SSG can overturn the game. The Reading Center has created something that is not in the rules.
This issue will have to be revisited in the future. Amidst the confusion, SSG owner Jung Yong-jin expressed his displeasure. He felt sorry for the players who had to suffer defeat in such a ridiculous situation.
“At 11:30 a.m., the owner personally visited the KBO and had a 30-minute conversation with commissioner Heo Gu-yeon,” the SSG team said. “We visited the KBO and met with President Heo Koo-yeon in order to boost the morale of the players of the baseball team that unfortunately lost due to a controversial decision on the 21st and to emphasize the KBO’s sense of mission in charge of running professional baseball,” the team explained.
“The reason why players play with all their might and fans cheer at the top of their lungs is because of the premise that the game is being played fairly,” Jung said, adding, “I asked Heo to have a sense of mission not only for our club, but also for the players who put their lives on the line for a single ball.” 토토사이트
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