Home Run Derby

On Sunday, May 11, the Cincinnati Reds batted out of order in the ninth inning of a 8-3 loss to the New York Mets.

Backup catcher David Ross came to the plate to lead off the inning and lined out. But the batter in the No. 8 spot should have been outfielder Corey Patterson, with Ross hitting ninth after an earlier double switch.

Mets manager Willie Randolph came out to inform the umpiring crew of the mix-up. Patterson was charged with the out, which officially counts as a putout by the catcher, and Ross came up again. This time, he singled.

Good God.  Corey Patterson is finding new ways to make outs.  This time he didn’t even leave the stinking dugout. 

I thought of that one-liner myself, but Walkoff Walk beat me to publishing it.  Damn you, Iracane!  I’m stealing a picture for that.

But what’s also funny is that Cincinnati Reds’ manager Dusty Baker, who took responsibility for not catching the mix-up, has a short memory when it comes to teams batting out of order in games …

Baker said his only other experience with a team batting out of order came when he was a player and he was the one who hit when he wasn’t supposed to. When he came up the second time, he hit a three-run homer.

I’ve learned never to believe Chris Berman’s geography lessons, Jon Miller’s recognition of players named Lee, or any recollection of baseball history that comes out the the mouth of Joe Morgan or Dusty Baker.

Because Dusty Baker has been involved in two games where a team batted out of order … in the past five years.  From The Baseball Blogger’s Gift from God that is Retrosheet …

Sept 5, 2003 -

The Brewers’ Bill Hall started to bat out of order in the bottom of the second inning against the Cubs but did not complete the plate appearance. 

Hall was listed eighth in the batting order but came to the plate in the seventh spot the first time through the order. He took the first pitch for a ball before the mistake was rectified.  Keith Osik took his proper place at the plate, and despite being spotted ball one, struck out on five more pitches.  Hall then popped out to end the inning. 

I can see how Baker might have forgotten that - According to rule 6.07.a.1 there was no rules violation since the Brewers caught the error and corrected it before the end of the at-bat.

But Dusty should have remembered this one …

April 16, 2004 -

In the top of the seventh inning, Cubs manager Dusty Baker intended to place two new players in the lineup with a double switch but failed to tell Umpire C.B. Bucknor.

When the Cubs batted in the bottom of the inning, shortstop Ramon Martinez came to the plate in the ninth spot in the order and doubled.  The Reds protested that the Cubs were batting out of order.  Pitcher Kent Mercker, the proper batter, was called out. Baker argued with the umpires but was told that the call stood. Yelling & screaming, he tossed his lineup card on the ground and was ejected by Bucknor.  Baker threw his hat, walked away and returned; he tossed his hat again, stomped to the dugout and kicked some items in the on deck circle before finally leaving the field.

Why doesn’t Dusty remember that one? 

Well, for one, he was the one who looked like a dumbass, even though the Cubs came back and won the game after he got thrown out.  Also, Baker’s son called him “Mad Dog” after the game because of his tantrum.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 at 8:14 am and is filed under Anger Management, Cubs, MLB Weirdness, Mets, Reds. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.