Quote:
Originally Posted by 1998 Yankees
This is the same crew that had to confer to get the call right when a runner ran out of the basepath onto the infield grass to avoid being tagged out. Took all four of 'em, but at least they got that right. The runner? Youkilis, who proceeded to argue vehemently even though replays show him tiptoeing through the tulips, so to speak. LOL.
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The reason why Youkilis was so upset (and why Francona was later ejected) was that when the tag was attempted, Youkilis was still in the baseline. He didn't get onto the grass until after the fielder started to throw to first. Had the fielder held onto the ball and Youkilis goes into the grass, he's out. Since the Yankee player gave up on tagging Youkilis (maybe he just assumed that the umpire was going to call him out), the fact that he strayed onto the grass becomes irrelevant.
The umpire's meeting could only have been to discuss whether there was still an attempt to tag Youkilis when he went into the grass. Replays clearly show that there wasn't. The umpires actually got the call wrong.