Umpire admits he was wrong in the World Series, a breakdown
What Happened
Aaron Judge steps into the batter's box in the bottom of the ninth, the New York Yankees trailing by one. The stakes are high as the Yankees look to mount a late-inning comeback in this crucial World Series matchup. Deion Sanders, the speedy outfielder for the Atlanta Braves, steps up to the plate with a .500 batting average in the postseason. The Braves have been dominant on the basepaths, setting a playoff record by going 13-for-13 in stolen bases. The first pitch from Braves pitcher Alejandro Guzman is a called strike. Sanders then fouls off the next pitch, putting himself in an 0-2 hole. Guzman mixes in a breaking ball that misses the zone low, and Sanders wisely holds off. On the next pitch, Sanders hits a slow roller towards first base. Guzman fields the ball cleanly and throws to John Olerud, but the throw pulls Olerud off the bag, allowing the lightning-fast Sanders to reach safely. With Sanders on first, the Braves waste no time trying to put him in scoring position. Olerud makes multiple pickoff attempts, keeping Sanders close. Finally, on the sixth pickoff try, Olerud appears to tag Sanders as he comes off the bag, but the umpire, Bob Davidson, rules Sanders safe, much to the dismay of the Blue Jays' third baseman, Kelly Gruber. "I tagged him right on the foot," Gruber protests, but Davidson stands by his call, saying, "I saw daylight, so I gotta go with what I saw." Gruber is left "dumbfounded" by the umpire's admission that he may have missed the play. The defensive miscue proves costly, as Braves third baseman Terry Pendleton singles to right field, advancing Sanders to second base. Deion Sanders then breaks for third on the hit, and Gruber dives to make the tag, but the umpire again rules Sanders safe, much to Gruber's disbelief. "Oh, come on. What?" Gruber exclaims, convinced he had made the play. After the game, umpire Bob Davidson acknowledges his mistake, saying, "I thought I was 100% right. Then I saw the replays and the pictures, and I thought, 'Ah, I probably missed the play.'" Davidson's admission does little to console the Blue Jays, who missed out on the chance to turn the second triple play in World Series history.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentDeion Sanders coming to bat for the Braves in game three of the World Series.
He's got a 500 batting average in the World Series. The Braves are 13 for
13 in stolen bases. Postseason record. I don't know if it's been broken. We're tied
up in game three. First pitch, Joe West says, stride. Next pitch, he
went up and away. Now he goes up and in. He's in an 0-2 hole.
Stays with the fastball up top. It gets fouled off. Goes to a breaking ball.
It's way below the zone. This fan loves it. Love the take. Love the pitch.
I'm not sure. Back to the low and away fastball. Swinging bunt. Guzman grabs it.
Throws it to Olerud. Pulls him off the bag. Dion, he's
a fast guy. Safe. Double helmet, neon Dion sign in the back. It's 1992. Ola
Rude wearing a batting helmet at first. Guzman fields this pretty nicely
into the bare hand, gets a grip on it. Little tiny reload, but
fires it high. So now we've got a runner on first base. I told you
they're 13 for 13 in stolen bases. The Braves liked running, and when they ran,
they felt good about it. So Dion Sanders at first base, and surely they're gonna
keep them close. Now this was a different time in baseball. Pickoffs could go on
for a long time. We got one pickoff, we got two pickoffs. Olerud throws the
tag down there, nothing. We got three in a row before a pitch is thrown.
Deion Sanders is like, okay, well, I'm getting tired now and annoyed by all of
this. Throw a pitch. No, a fourth pickoff before a pitch was
thrown. Pendleton at bat like, what about me? Okay, I'm getting bored and a pitch
fouled back. Big ol' swing. And then let's go back to the pickoffs safe. That's
the fifth pickoff and this is the sixth. And this one I actually found very
interesting because Olerud kind of bumps him off the bag going for the ball. He
gets shouldered a little, Deion Sanders. But I don't know the rule on that. But
he comes off the bag. Like he's off the bag right there and the glove
is on his waist. And right there the glove's in his armpit. And Deion's foot
is not, you know, he touches the bag right there. You can see the dust,
the white powder come up. So I wonder if they had the ticky tack replay
that we have now, would this, would he have been out right here, which would
have negated the whole purpose of this video and what we're about to get to.
But Olderwood kind of bumped them, so I don't even know if there's any rules
about that. Finally, the second pitch and Pendleton bored out of his mind, slaps a
single to right field. Sanders is on second, a little dodging of the ball, says
what up. Alomar's gonna come up to him and they're gonna chat and laugh, a
little bump, little what's up dude, how are ya? And then, young David Justice steps
to the plate. Another lefty against the righty, Guzman, here's where things get fun. The
first pitch is a low fastball, hammered to center. Devon White is running, running,
tracks it down and grabs it, throws it back in. Surely you can double off
someone. They double off the runner at first and now they're going for a triple
play because Deion broke for third. Kelly Gruber, third baseman, dives to get him. They
say, safe, safe, safe. Kelly Gruber says, I tagged him right on the foot.
Oh, come on. No, I saw daylight. You gotta be kidding me. I'm trying to
tell you. I tagged him right on the foot. Oh, can't believe it. I
got him on the foot. All right. If you're being honest. All right, I believe
you, but I saw space there, so I gotta go with what I saw. Oh,
all right. Okay. Kelly Gruber actually said that The umpire was nice guy.
He said, he told me, Kelly, you might have, but I saw daylight. Gerber said,
I was dumbfounded. I was used to the American league umpires who were quite confrontational.
So shout out to the national league umpires. Joe West is behind the dish. Devon
White is like, what about my play? Is this going to ruin the play I
made? Like, are people not going to talk about it? Cause it was really nice.
And it was really nice. And for people that don't watch a lot of baseball,
I, I love this. He checks to see where he's at. Sees the warning track.
is coming up, turns back, finds the ball, and then plants one foot on the
track, second foot on the track, can tell by the feel of the ground, that's
all he's got. Notice he's gotta leave his feet and brace for the wall just
in time. Woo hoo hoo, to get that. What a catch by White.
Kevin Kiermaier said he was his favorite center fielder. growing up and yeah, very good.
Seven gold gloves. Now I didn't tell you about this, that runner on first Terry
Pendleton, he was out cause he ran past Deion Sanders. So the outfield did not
even need to throw to first base. Look at Deion, like get back dude, get
back and don't touch me. But he did touch him. And I think that he's
kind of out there cause that could be Sanders assisting him. But anyway, he's out.
They do not need to throw to first base, but by throwing to first base,
they, allowed themselves the opportunity at a triple play because Dion saw that
and ran to third. If they had thrown into second base, it would have just
been a double play because Sanders would not have taken off for third, but he
took off for third. Kelly Gruber tracked him down and tagged him on the heel,
which was missed by the umpire who said, save, save, save. No, I
saw daylight and Kelly Gruber, oh, come on. What?
He's like, I tagged him. It was a triple play. It would have been the
second triple play in World Series history. And he's like, he might have been right.
You know? Damn, he might have been right. And they asked him about it in
the papers afterwards. And Bob Davidson admitted today that he was wrong on the call
during Tuesday night's Game 3 here that prevented the Blue Jays from turning the second
triple play in World Series history. When I first called the play, I thought I
was 100% right. It was right there. It was right in front of me. Then
I saw the replays and the picture. And I thought, ah. I probably missed the
play, but that's baseball and I have to turn the page and go on today.
No one feels worse about it than I do. I don't like to miss plays.
Gerber told me right away he had gotten his heel. He was professional about it
though, and it was no big deal. I thought I was correct at first, but
then I saw the pictures and I had to admit I probably missed it. Damn
pictures. Always correcting things. Sanders now on second base. There's two outs in
the inning. And the first pitch is outside. And next pitch is outside. And I
like the sequencing here because you still see he's just playing with that outside edge.
The first pitch, breaking ball, no chase. The next pitch, he's like, all right, well,
if you're not going to chase, I'm going to throw one for a strike. On
the outside, Joe West gives him the call. Now they've established we're throwing on the
outer edge. And he says maybe now he'll chase it because he just saw it
for a strike. So he throws a breaking ball off the plate and... Almost chases
it, but does not chase it. Sanders stays at second base. Three breaking balls on
the outside edge in a row. I think he's got him ready for the fastball
on the outside. Here it is. And what a pitch. Nice. And another one, a
little more outside. See, this was the one he swung at. And it's actually, he's
throwing that to try and get a strike on the outside. And then he says,
well, you're swinging. Well, let's throw another one even more off. See if you chase
that. He does not. So now the count is full, three and two. And Guzman
says, all right, no, I don't want to get cute. Let's just blow one by
him. Bam, fastball, outer half, strike three. The missed call doesn't really matter. All it
cost him was some extra pitches, but maybe those just got Guzman fired up and
in the zone because he's feeling good now. And a little overlay just because I
have access to 60 frame per second footage of archives, which is awesome. That's the
two pitches. One falls off, one stays true. Kelly Gruber thinking, ah, I really wanted
the triple play though. Would have been cool.