Jose Altuve came to the plate in the top of the ninth of a tie game with a runner on second. The first pitch was a 100 mph fastball in the zone, but the umpire didn’t call it a strike. Next pitch, 99 mph with sink, called strike one. Then things got weird. A 100 mph pitch came in tight, and Altuve reacted like it hit him in the foot. The umpire didn’t make a clear call and seemed confused. Altuve and the Astros dugout asked for a review. On replay, the ball appears to just barely graze Altuve’s toe, but it’s hard to tell definitively. Then comes the effort to prove it. Altuve took off his shoe and sock on the field and pointed to his toe, trying to show the umpire a mark where the ball hit. He balanced on his cleat while doing it, like a kid avoiding a gross locker room floor.
The umps didn’t buy it and didn’t give him first base. Instead, they ejected him, likely for showing up the umpire. The moment sparked memories of the old “shoe polish play” from the 1957 World Series, when a mark on a player’s shoe proved he was hit. Altuve tried to pull the same move, but it didn’t work. Fans around the dugout laughed, the energy stayed light, but Altuve ended up out of the game. It was a rare moment of improv drama in a high-stakes situation, with one of baseball’s smallest stars once again at the center of attention.