First base umpire Scott Barry badly missed a call in the eighth inning of Sunday’s Los Angeles Angeles-Kansas City Royals game, giving the Royals an extra out and Mark Trumbo an error.
Royals outfielder David Lough hit a routine grounder to first baseman Trumbo, who fielded it cleanly and took it to the bag for what should have been the last out of the inning. For some reason, Barry decided to call Lough safe. He said Trumbo didn’t touch the bag. Manager Mike Scioscia came out to argue the call but had no luck (he was later ejected for arguing with Marty Foster in the ninth inning).
As you can see in the screenshots above and below, the toe of Trumbo’s cleat was even bent, proving his foot touched the bag.
So how did Barry miss that call? Another screenshot below shows why.
How did Barry have a view of Trumbo’s foot from where he was standing?
I understand that umpires are humans who make mistakes, but this is why there should be expanded replay. If an ump isn’t in position to see a call and replay can help them make the right decision, why not take advantage of the technology available to get it right?
Maybe this call was just a makeup for this brutal call on Friday night when Marty Foster somehow called Mike Trout safe at second on a stolen base:
