Umpires incorrectly confirm the ball hit Alex Bregman's bat, a breakdown
What Happened
In the bottom of the 4th inning of a 1-1 game, Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman steps up to the plate against the Cincinnati Reds. On a 1-1 pitch, the home plate umpire initially rules that Bregman did not swing at the pitch. However, the Astros' catcher and pitcher immediately begin arguing, claiming the ball hit Bregman's bat. The umpire appears ready to call it a foul tip, but then hesitates, unsure if Bregman actually swung or not. Bregman insists the ball hit him, not his bat, and begins walking to first base. The Reds argue that the umpire called it a foul tip, so it should be ruled a foul ball. The umpires convene and decide to review the play. Replays clearly show the ball did not hit Bregman's bat - it appears to have hit his arm, causing his jersey to wrinkle. Despite the evidence, the umpires ultimately rule it a foul ball, much to Bregman's frustration. "He said foul tip, but there's no way that ball hit the bat," Bregman says emphatically, throwing his hands up in disbelief. The Astros manager, Dusty Baker, also argues vehemently with the umpires, questioning how they can maintain the foul ball call after reviewing the play. The at-bat continues, and Bregman fights off a few more pitches before being called out on a borderline 3-2 pitch that he argues is low. Bregman's Reds counterpart, manager David Bell, is then ejected for continuing to dispute the call. "You're getting pitches wrong and you got the replay wrong," Bell tells the umpire angrily. "That pitch wasn't low." The umpire remains steadfast in his rulings, writing in his notebook that "no one understands what I'm about." Despite the bizarre and controversial sequence, Bregman and the Astros are able to prevail 2-1 in the game. The play exemplifies the ongoing challenges with instant replay reviews in Major League Baseball, as umpires sometimes struggle to admit mistakes or override their initial judgments, even in the face of clear video evidence.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentone of the more bizarre replay reviews
I've seen in Major League Baseball this
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bregman's up tied game fourth inning 1-1
count and then did he go did he go no
swing says the Umpire but wait what
happened cuz the pitcher and the catcher
they're saying hey did he
swing the home plate umpire is about to
say foul tip you can see him is about to
say foul tip but then he never really
does the signal because he's like well
wait did he swing if he's calling foul
tip then that shouldn't
matter they say no he didn't swing but
bregman's like well that Pitch hit me
and he said I didn't swing so I guess
the call is hit by pitch and the Astros
are like okay we'll review it meanwhile
the reds are like he said foul tip
bregman just walks the first base the
umpire's given explanation throwing on
the field is a foul ball no hit by pitch
Houston's challenging so they're saying
he did call foul tip and everyone's
looking at it and then they show the
replays and there's no way it hit the
bat that's for
certain there's just no way it hit the
bat did it hit his arm because you can
see the jersey does get jumbled up there
does get wrinkled but again he said foul
tip because he heard
something and then
that shows it did not hit the
bat and the Umpire called foul foul cuz
he heard something and now we know for
certain he did not hear the ball hit the
bat so if he heard something he must
have heard it hit his arm I understand
you can't say with 100% certainty from
this angle it hit him it looks like it
did his jersey wrinkles but you can also
say 100% certainty that ball did not hit
that bat so it should not be ruled foul
ball right right right right right Major
League Baseball well bregman gets win
and he's like oh my God starts walking
back because he knows what's about to
happen he just throws his hands oh my
goodness the Reds he said foul ball yeah
yeah right yeah he said foul ball so I
don't know why he went to first base
umpires come back say Rie foul ball
there no hit by pitch it's a foul ball
uh bregman points at The Catcher And
they just share it loud he's like well
you know you just got one huh didn't
look like the pitch at the bat at all on
that replay what he's like well they
reviewed it
h and he never called foul ball yeah you
said did he swing he said no never
called foul ball never called foul ball
huh and he's like no he had foul ball
that is what we used for for replay it's
like yeah but why uh no I'm say well I
heard something and we sent a review and
they said we got it right oh my goodness
I never seen how do you not like once
thing something gets reviewed everything
should be in question and they should
say well we are we're not positive it
hit him in the arm but we're positive it
didn't hit the bat so we'll just say
ball that's not an option
that's not an option come on he didn't
hit the bat you can't watch that and
then ah anyway bregman bregman at bat
continues he fights some off he gets to
a 3-2 and then he gets rung up on that
one he says oh that ball is low he's
like no it's not it is it's down twice
one at bat twice and one at bat come on
hey you're out of here and bregman's
like who
me me
no not you your coach oh okay all right
cool he's like you're ejected I didn't
like what you said he's like well you're
getting pitches wrong and you got the
replay wrong and that pitch wasn't low
though so you know you can see it come
in above his knee there so that pitch
isn't low but the replay situation is
egregious umpire writes in his book says
they're mean to me no one understands
what I'm about but my BRAC is pretty
cool this one was brought to you by seed
geek thank you to seed geek if you want
to get $20 off go watch this first hand
you can use code johnboy at SeatGeek and
you can do that I would like them to not
be so stubborn when it comes to reviews