The Miami Marlins fell victim to the ridiculous and obscure Rule 7.13, dropping a 3-1 game to the Reds the Fish should have won.
With the bases loaded and one out, Cincinnati's Todd Frazier pelted a hit right at Giancarlo Stanton in right field for the out. Stanton then threw a one-hop laser to Marlins catcher Jeff Mathis as the Reds' Zack Cozart ran home after tagging third.
Mathis tagged Cozart, completing the inning-ending double play.
Until....
The umpires reviewed the play, and implemented the ridiculous Rule 7.13, saying Mathis had blocked the plate. Cozart was called safe, the Reds added two more runs, and the Marlins ended up losing the game.
As it is with these calls, a committee in New York reviewed the play at the request of Reds manager Bryan Price. Over six minutes later, crew chief Mike Winters made the call official, completely screwing the Marlins via a ridiculous rule.
According to the rule, which was put into effect just this past off-season, unless the catcher has possession of the ball, he can't block home plate without giving a baserunner a path.
It's as confusing as it is infuriating.
Basically, the catcher needs to wait for the ball to get to him before he can stand and block the plate.
It's Mathis' job to tag the runner out when the ball gets to him. It's the way catchers are taught to play since they're kids. But the new rule says he needs to not be in said runner's way before catching the ball.
Price took advantage of the rule, and claimed that Mathis was standing in the wrong place, and therefore Cozart should've been called safe.
New York agreed, and the Reds were able to tag on a couple of more runs, ending the Marlins win-streak.
That's when former catcher and current Marlins manager Mike Redmond lost his shit.
He screamed and wailed his way at Mike Winters, but to no avail. The call stood, and the Marlins lost.
Afterwards, Redmond tore into the rule in a profanity-laced tirade.
"I'll tell you as a former catcher in this league for 13 seasons, as a grinder who loved this game and respects this game so much, this game has been a part of my life forever," Redmond said during the post game press conference. "To lose a ballgame tonight on that play is a joke. It's an absolute joke. I don't think anybody who plays this game should feel good about winning that game. And I would say that if had been reversed. That guy was out by 15 feet. It was a great baseball play. G threw a strike to Matty. He was out by 15 feet. He didn't slide because he couldn't slide because he was out by so far.
"And yet those guys in New York decided the outcome of that game. I don't blame Mike Winters. He was on it. He knew the call on the field was right and he told me that when I was out there. So as a manager you sit there and look your players in the face and my job is to pump these guys up and keep those guys going every single day. No doubt we have some grinders out there in this clubhouse. To look at them in the face and say we lost the game on a technicality is bullshit. Absolute bullshit. I'm so pissed. Like I said I played this game for so long. I've given this game everything I've had as a player and a manager. What a joke. What a fucking joke. That's ridiculous."
The Marlins are now 53-55 on the season, and 4 and half games back in the Wild Card chase.
A loss like this can cost a team a shot at the playoffs, which would be such a Marlins thing to happen.
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