Fortunately for umpire Jim Wolf, this play was not made at a crucial point during a close game. Otherwise, we would likely be talking about it for the remainder of the season. During the seventh inning of the Reds-Indians game on Thursday night, Carlos Santana was forced out at second base after a chopper was hit to Joey Votto at first. Votto made a poor throw, but Cincinnati shortstop Zach Cozart corralled it in plenty of time to get Santana. By plenty of time, we mean Santana was out by a solid three steps.
Dusty Baker came out to argue, but this isn’t a call that can be reversed with the current rules. Normally we would take this opportunity to talk about how this highlights baseball’s need for instant replay, but this is inexcusable regardless. Wolf was literally staring right at the play. His hesitation seemed to indicate he was unsure, but I don’t even know how you can be sure about a play like that. Unlike the blown call that preserved Johan Santana’s no-hitter, Wolf won’t live in infamy because of his miscue. That doesn’t make it any less disturbing.
H/T Big League Stew
