A national audience watched as the Braves lost to the Phillies, 7-6, on Sunday Night Baseball at Truist Park. But it was how the teams reached that final result that sparked emotions. In the ninth inning, Didi Gregorius hit a flyout that scored Alec Bohm from third, giving the Phillies the lead. The problem: Replay showed Bohm didn’t touch the plate. If he was ruled out, the inning would end and the Braves and Phillies would enter the bottom of the ninth in a 6-6 tie.
After a lengthy review, the call wasn’t overturned, despite evidence to the contrary. The Braves went three up, three down in their half of the inning to end the game. Manager Brian Snitker and several players expressed their frustrations and dissatisfaction with the replay system following the loss. They weren’t alone, as neutral observers piled on, questioning how MLB reached its conclusion.
“I have no idea what they saw,” tweeted ESPN analyst Buster Olney, whose employer was broadcasting the game. “Seems pretty conclusive — and lots of texts flying in from folks around baseball asking the same. This will be a big topic of conversation tomorrow.” Co-Worker Karl Ravech chimed in, as well: “If MLB has a view that is exclusive to them, that needs to be part of the explanation for the call being upheld. I did not see one replay which showed Bohm’s foot/toe touch home. Appeared to pop right over the plate.”
Former MLB player Will Middlebooks tweeted: “How do you watch that replay and say he’s safe. Hahaha this is a joke.” That prompted a reply from Angels star Mike Trout, the sport’s consensus best player, who added: “So bad... (laughing emoji).”
Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner chimed in: “Absolutely brutal, saw two angles that were clear he never touched the plate and we get a call stands? I’m with everyone else, what’s the point of replay?”
A handful of former Braves gave their thoughts. Two-sport star Brian Jordan: “Get rid of replay. If New York couldn’t see that he missed the plate then stop wasting time.”
Former outfielder Matt Diaz: “Why have replay?? @mlb that whoever made that call in NY needs to be named and held accountable like players would be if they messed up routine plays. Be better please.” Beloved former relievre Peter Moylan simply asked: “Why even have replay?”
Rich Eisen, one of the most well-known figures in sports media and host of the weekday “Rich Eisen Show,” tweeted to his 1.2 million followers: “The dreadful live call in the Phillies/Braves game and the ensuing replay emoji shrug to uphold it is made far worse by the fact that MLB umps are not required to explain their call “after further review” to the crowd and, thus, home audience like NFL, NBA and NHL refs all are.”
The same points were expressed by many others: What purpose does replay serve if, after slowing the game down further, it still doesn’t get the call correct? The MLB supervisor explanation (courtesy of The New York Times’ James Wagner) didn’t provide much clarity: “After viewing all relevant angles, the Replay Official could not definitively determine that the runner failed to touch home plate prior to the fielder applying the tag. The call STANDS, the runner is safe.”
Expect replay to dominate MLB conversations in the coming days. Nonetheless, the result is in the books. The Braves’ four-game winning streak was snapped and they dropped to 4-5. They open a four-game series against the Marlins beginning Monday night at Truist Park.
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