A touted Kansas City Royals minor leaguer had a solo home run taken off his ledger on Tuesday night, when he was called out for failing to touch home plate even though he appeared to do so.
Bobby Witt Jr. of Double-A Northwest Arkansas was docked what would have been his second home run of the game in the fifth inning after the Frisco RoughRiders tried the seldom successful appeal play -- and, to just about everyone's surprise, it worked.
The bizarre scene unfolded when the next batter stepped up to the plate after Witt's apparent homer. Frisco's pitcher stepped off the rubber and delivered a lob to the catcher, who then stomped on the plate, prompting an out signal from the umpire.
In the video that circulated around Baseball Twitter on Tuesday, it certainly looked like Witt touched the plate on his way back to the dugout. He appeared to stutter-step and shuffle laterally as he crossed the dish, in what seemed to be a pretty tame and understated celebration.
Perhaps the umpire took exception to it, or perhaps he genuinely thought Witt didn't touch the plate. In any event, the apparently botched call turned heads, even prompting Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes to chime in. Witt, for his part, responded to Mahomes after the game, insisting that he did in fact tap on the dish.
In the end, Witt's hit was ruled a triple -- a 430-foot triple -- and he was retired as a baserunner. He finished the game going 3-for-4, raising his season line to .254/.333/.544 with 10 home runs and 8 stolen bases in 129 plate appearances.
Amazingly, the strange incident came on the same day Pittsburgh Pirates slugger Ke'Bryan Hayes cost himself a home run by missing first while rounding the bases. That call, however, appeared to be the correct one.
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