CREATED BY SPORTS BETTORS FOR SPORTS BETTORS
LET’S HEAR YOUR STORY
One of the beautiful parts of baseball is the extensive spectrum of manager anger.
There's "tersely question a pitch selection" mad. There's "yell at a guy for not running out a ground ball" mad. There's "red-faced screaming at a belligerent umpire" mad.
Then there's "get so frustrated about losing a game because of a bad non-call you print out a visual aid and show it to the media" mad, as Nationals manager Dave Martinez showed on Wednesday.
The play in question came in the bottom of the ninth inning against the Houston Astros. The Nationals had rallied from down three runs in the top of the inning, but were in danger of a walk-off loss when the Astros loaded the bases against reliever Hunter Harvey.
With one out, Harvey appeared to get the play he needed when Astros center fielder Jake Meyers hit a ground ball to shortstop CJ Abrams, who threw out Kyle Tucker at home. Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz went for the double play with a throw to first base, only for the ball to bounce off Meyers' helmet and give the Astros the game-winning run.
Martinez was not happy. He believed Meyers was running outside the basepath when the throw hit him, which should have meant he was out. Home plate umpire Jeremy Riggs disagreed, and because it's not a challengeable play, the Astros won and the play was charged as a throwing error on Ruiz.
That wasn't the end of it, because Martinez apparently spent the precious time between the end of the game and his postgame news conference sitting by a printer to get a picture ready for reporters. The picture showed Meyers very clearly running on the infield grass as Ruiz threw to first:
Martinez's reaction to the play:
"There it is, right there. Take a good look at it. Is that on the line? I don't think so. I'm over this play. They need to fix the rule. This is what the umpires see, that he's running down the line? Tired of it. Tired of it. Fix it. We lost the game and he had nothing to say about it, because he can't make the right call. Brutal. Brutal."
You might remember the reason why Martinez said he's tired of this play.
Four years ago, in Game 6 of the World Series, the same two teams were playing when Nationals shortstop Trea Turner hit a soft grounder while down 3-2 in the seventh inning. Pitcher Brad Peacock's throw to first sailed past Turner, who clipped first baseman Yuli Gurriel's glove as he ran through the base.
The play ended with runners on second and third, but umpire Sam Holbrook ruled Turner out for interference. Replay showed Turner had run on the infield grass for a few steps before running directly over the base.
The Nationals eventually won the game 7-2 after rallying later that inning, but it was still a massively important call.
So the Nationals have now been on both sides of a potential interference call at Minute Maid Park, with the umpires ruling in the Astros' favor in both cases. Turner ran on the grass too much for the umpires' liking, while Meyers was fine running completely over the grass. Fortunately, this one at least didn't come with the risk of costing them the World Series.
The loss continues the Nationals' post-2019 hard times, as the team's record now sits at 26-40, good for last place in the NL East. The Astros improved to 39-29, second only to the Seattle Mariners in the AL West.
Daniel Weinman was crowned winner of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event on Monday, taking home a record breaking $12.1 million in winnings. Weinman had to outlast the other 10,043 entrants to take home the prize and get his hands on his share of live poker’s largest ever prize pool – a staggering $93,399,900. As well as taking home the prize money, 35-year-old Weinman also got his hands on the WSOP Main Event bracelet. The huge bracelet contains 500 grams of 10-karat yellow gold, as well as 2,352 various precious gemstones.
Daniel Weinman won the World Series of Poker's main event world championship on Monday in Las Vegas, earning $12.1 million along the way. Playing in the tournament for a 16th year, Weinman was tops in a deep pool of 10,043 players vying for $93.39 million. His victory came after just 164 hands at the final table. "I was honestly on the fence about even coming back and playing this tournament," the 35-year-old Atlanta native told reporters afterward. Weinman's final table featured Jan-Peter Jachtmann, who landed in fourth place and took home $3 million, as well as Toby Lewis, who finished seventh and secured $1.42 million. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, the main event's entry pool far outpaced the previous record of 8,773 set in 2006. "I've always kind of felt that poker was kind of going in a dying direction, but to see the numbers at the World Series this year has been incredible," Weinman said. "And to win this main event, it doesn't feel real. I mean, [there's] so much luck in a poker tournament. I thought I played very well." Steven Jones finished second, securing $6.5 million. And Adam Walton settled for third and a $4 million prize.
Your experience on this site will be improved by allowing cookies.