Umps lose track of the count, a breakdown
What Happened
The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates are facing off in the first game of a double-header. In the late innings, the game is close, with the Cardinals trailing by one run. Tyler O'Neill steps up to the plate for the Cardinals with one out in the inning. O'Neill takes a couple pitches and the count goes to 1-2. The umpire appears to call strike three, which would have been the second out of the inning. However, the umpire then seems unsure of the count and the players and managers get involved, discussing what the count should be. After a brief conference, the umpires determine that the count is actually 3-2, not 1-2 as they had initially thought. O'Neill is awarded a walk to first base. "I thought it was 3-2," says Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt (Paul Goldschmidt). "Why didn't you have me walk to first?" The umpire, who is the tallest in MLB history, admits, "I probably screwed it up somewhere." The players and managers attempt to sort out what exactly happened, but no one was keeping close track of the count. They have to review the at-bat on video to determine the correct count. Once they get the count right, O'Neill is awarded the walk to first base. This extends the inning for the Cardinals, who then load the bases. Designated hitter Brendan Donovan (Brendan Donovan) steps up and hits a deep fly ball, but it is caught for the final out, preserving the Pirates' one-run lead. "Isn't that just weird?" comments one of the Cardinals players, shaking his head at the umpires' mistake. The confusion over the count disrupts the flow of the game and leaves both teams and the umpires a bit flustered. It's an unusual moment that highlights the importance of keeping accurate track of the count, even at the highest levels of baseball.
Full Transcript
Click timestamps to jump to that momentthe cardinals and the pirates are
playing game one of a double header and
out number two you got the old bobble
bobble scoop scoop show the ump throw it
around
look around bow and arrow get made fun
of by your teammates laugh at yourself
because you made the play
out number two nice fun start to the
inning well it gets more fun
keep track of the count here they're one
out away
from winning game one of the double
header strike one nice call blue
fastball strike two on the swing 99
miles per hour owen two is the count
doesn't get that call which would have
ended the game
nice really nice o2 pitch
maybe it was off maybe it was on
probably a 50 50 call
one two now okay foul back the count
remains the same one two
in the dirt did he go no that's a ball
two two in the dirt did he go
no that's a ball three and two full
count in the dirt
did he go no gets to walk to first
except he doesn't walk to first and no
one tells him to walk to first
and then his manager looks at the ump
and says what do you
mean you had that as two and two i had
it as three and two
and then you get some hot mics here and
you can hear the umpire and the player
discussing it
newman's like yeah i thought it was 3-2
why didn't you walk to first then
that's kind of odd but whatever the
umpire
tallest umpire in all of the history
bumps saying
yeah i probably [ __ ] it up somewhere
it's kind of funny i mean you got to be
able to laugh at yourself and have some
humility but
don't mess things up surely his friends
will know what happened he gets them he
said were any of you
per chance watching that at bat
and keeping track of what was going on
and regulating the game
and he says i was i was i was it's ball
four there's ball four
and his friend said no dude sorry we
weren't paying attention at all
so he's like all right we're gonna have
to go under the hood
find out how many pitches were thrown
and what the count was takes two minutes
because i'm guessing someone had to
rewind and watch all of these pitches
which is i don't know just bizarre they
get it right in the end they say yeah
it's ball four
you go to first base and then everything
just unravels look at this
another play another great play no it
was a simple play
they botched it goldie can't come up
with the pick then he walks josh bell
now the bases are loaded they're down by
one run
oh [ __ ] murphy sends one way deep nah
out gama ended but the umps really
messed that up isn't that weird