PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The Phillies have been the talk of baseball since Sunday night thanks to a controversial call in their 7-6 series finale victory at Atlanta.
With the game tied at 6 in the top of the ninth, one out and Alec Bohm at third base, Didi Gregorius sent a fly ball 230 feet toward shallow left field. Bohm tagged up attempting to beat Marcell Ozuna’s throw home.
Initially, it looked like Bohm was safe, sliding past Atlanta catcher Travis d’Arnaud's tag attempt.
However, on second look, with slowed-down replay, it appeared fairly clearly to some that Bohm’s left foot missed the plate.
Naturally, this game-defining play went to Major League Baseball’s replay review center in New York City, where officials could not find conclusive evidence to overturn the initial call by home plate umpire Lance Barrett.
Atlanta’s dugout went ballistic, most notably manager Brian Snitker. The fans at Truist Park were booing and cursing, and some even threw debris on the field.
It was the second time in four days that a controversial call affected a game in the National League East. New York Mets outfielder Michael Conforto had a walk-off hit by pitch against the Miami Marlins last Thursday. The only problem was it was a strike and Conforto didn’t try to get out of the way.
That particular play was non-reviewable, and afterwards home plate ump Ron Kulpa admitted he messed up.
Postgame on Sunday, Phillies Manager Joe Girardi said, "It was by the skin of his big toe, I think, that we scored. It looked like his big toe kinda hit the corner of the plate is what we saw when we saw a lot of the angles."
Alec Bohm was as direct as he could be, saying, "I was called safe. That’s all that matters."
Though, this might suggest that not even he is convinced that he touched the plate.
Snitker said he did not see Bohm touch the plate.
Atlanta starting pitcher and former Phillie Drew Smyly, who was out of the game at that point, called it "embarrassing," and questioned the purpose of replay review if this is going to be the result.
D’Arnaud might have had one of the best perspectives in the ballpark.
And while Snitker and a lot of Atlanta players were clearly upset, shortstop Dansby Swanson was mad for an entirely different reason — the debris thrown by fans.
“That’s incredibly disrespectful,” Swanson said. He grew up in that part of the country. “It’s an embarrassing representation of our city, 'cause I know, from being from here, that’s not how we act.”
"There are kids that are here. There are kids that are sitting in the front row, and you got bottles whizzing by their heads. Endangering kids that may not be able to protect themselves is downright embarrassing and it should never happen again.”
This wasn’t the first time the umpires and replay officials were arguably wrong, and it won’t be the last. If the roles were reversed, Philadelphia fans would be going bonkers this morning. The bottom line is replay review isn’t fool proof in any sport.