I was in the crowd in Miami for that insane ending vs. San Diego. Four months later here I am, reminiscing on the day and wanting to dig in more on the rule book. I recalled the Mikie Mahtook moment, and a quick Google search led me here. Thanks for this article and the perspective you offer.
What a series! Unlucky perhaps but very lucky in a few games before hand.
One think that drives me nuts: your assertion that the padding on the wall "shouldn't matter" as you should win the game anyway. Similar to; if the ref makes a mistake you should have done enough anyway. Well that is not the way sport works. The padding on the wall matters, in fact it took the game out of the Padre's hands. In baseball luck plays a bigger part than other sports so when you lose on a dodgy wall it is the wall's fault not the Padre's fault for not being better. I think writters and fans say these phrases so they dont look like sore losers.
The point is you can’t control the padding, so you can’t count on it being in your favor as a win condition. It’s about agency. And when you lose because of a sliver of chance going against you the place to look for improvement is what you have control over.
I'd love to think that if the padding was level, like all the other sections of the wall; the ball bounces over. But I'm not sure if that padding was correctly set that the ball doesn't just bounce down for a clear ground rule double.
Initially, I accepted the ruling in the game because it seemed to make sense. Now, after seeing how inconsistently the same call has been made ... I feel robbed. We will avenge this injustice with a new win streak!
I was in the crowd in Miami for that insane ending vs. San Diego. Four months later here I am, reminiscing on the day and wanting to dig in more on the rule book. I recalled the Mikie Mahtook moment, and a quick Google search led me here. Thanks for this article and the perspective you offer.
What a series! Unlucky perhaps but very lucky in a few games before hand.
One think that drives me nuts: your assertion that the padding on the wall "shouldn't matter" as you should win the game anyway. Similar to; if the ref makes a mistake you should have done enough anyway. Well that is not the way sport works. The padding on the wall matters, in fact it took the game out of the Padre's hands. In baseball luck plays a bigger part than other sports so when you lose on a dodgy wall it is the wall's fault not the Padre's fault for not being better. I think writters and fans say these phrases so they dont look like sore losers.
The point is you can’t control the padding, so you can’t count on it being in your favor as a win condition. It’s about agency. And when you lose because of a sliver of chance going against you the place to look for improvement is what you have control over.
I'd love to think that if the padding was level, like all the other sections of the wall; the ball bounces over. But I'm not sure if that padding was correctly set that the ball doesn't just bounce down for a clear ground rule double.
Initially, I accepted the ruling in the game because it seemed to make sense. Now, after seeing how inconsistently the same call has been made ... I feel robbed. We will avenge this injustice with a new win streak!