Confusion reigns as midweek KBO action takes a chaotic turn

Baseball

Published: 19 May. 2022, 15:21 Updated: 19 May. 2022, 15:49

Confusion reigns as midweek KBO action takes a chaotic turn

A game between the Doosan Bears and the SSG Landers descends into confusion during the 11th inning at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Wednesday as uncertainty over whether a ball was caught and unclear umpire signals leave base runners unsure if they are supposed to advance or not. [YONHAP]

"We need to be better," Lotte Giants manager Larry Sutton shouted as he was ejected in the first inning of a game against the Kia Tigers on Wednesday, summing up a night when controversial calls and bizarre plays saw confusion reign across the KBO.

Sutton's ejection was the result of a disputed video review following a bases loaded double from Tigers' outfielder Socrates Brito that gave the visiting side a 2-0 lead at the top of the first inning.

Brito's line drive hugged the left field line, bouncing just inside within the diamond and then appearing to bounce just outside after crossing the plate. After reviewing the footage, the umpires ruled it a fair ball, allowing Socrates to take second and two runs to score on the play. Sutton argued that the ball had gone foul before it crossed the plate, with television replays also showing that the call could have gone either way.

Lotte Giants manager Larry Sutton is ejected in the first inning of a game against the Kia Tigers on Wednesday at Sajik Baseball Stadium in Busan after protesting a video review decision. [YONHAP]

As the dispute escalated, Sutton's departure quickly became inevitable — arguing with a video review decision is an automatic ejection in the KBO.

Remarkably, playing 90 percent of the game without a home team manager wasn't even the most notable thing about the Lotte-Kia game.

That moment came at the end of the fifth inning when a comedy of errors saw the Kia pitcher, shortstop, second baseman and third baseman falling over each other next to the mound to catch what should have been a routine pop up. Nobody caught the ball, allowing the Giants to get a runner all the way from second to home to tie the score at 7-7, while the resulting disorder allowed the original batter to make it all the way to third as there was nobody there to tag him out.

Finishing that game with a bang, Brito hit a three-run homer at the top of the eighth to put the Tigers ahead again, before the visiting side piled on with five more runs in the ninth to finish the game at 15-7.

Even stranger things were afoot at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul, where the SSG Landers and Doosan Bears were pushed into extra innings for the second night in a row.

After nearly four hours of grueling baseball, Doosan looked set to break the 2-2 tie at the bottom of the 11th inning.

With the bases loaded and one out, Doosan outfielder Jo Soo-haeng sent the ball into the left field, where it was intercepted by SSG outfielder Oh Tae-gon. It was initially unclear whether Oh had caught the ball or it had bounced into his glove, causing the Doosan base runners to freeze between the bases as they tried to decide whether to advance or not.

Oh reacted quickly, throwing the ball to shortstop Park Seong-han who tagged out Jung Soo-bin between second and third before stepping on the base to take out An Jae-seok between first and second. Meanwhile, Doosan's Kim Jae-ho advanced from third to cross home plate — crucially, before either Jung or An was tagged out — scoring what looked like the walk off run to win the game.

Doosan Bears outfielder Jo Soo-haeng watches as a video replay shows SSG Landers outfielder Oh Tae-gon failing to catch the ball in the 11th inning of a game against the Doosan Bears at Jamsil Baseball Stadium in southern Seoul on Wednesday.

What followed was mayhem. The Bears believed that they had just won the game, while the Landers were convinced they'd pulled off an unheard of 7-6 double play to end the inning. The four umpires appeared to be split on how to call the play, and whether Oh had actually caught the ball — although replays clearly showed he hadn't.

After 10 minutes of arguing — both the umpires amongst themselves and with the managers — the umpire crew chief announced that the two outs would stand and the inning ended. What nobody explained during the game or in the hours of analysis that have dominated Korean baseball news since is why Kim, who clearly crossed the plate before either tag, wasn't awarded the run to win the game.

Buried deep in the annals of baseball technicalities there is a rule that an inning-ending force out takes precedent over a run, even if the runner reaches home first. This may well be the basis for the umpire's decision, although it's not clear that this rule can be used if two outs are made on the play.

A visibly shaken Doosan quickly gave up three runs to the Landers at the top of the 12th, giving the visiting side a 5-2 win.

The drama doesn't stop there. Over in Daejeon, Jose Pirela of the Samsung Lions took advantage of a lazy snap throw to third at the top of the ninth inning to become only the 38th player in KBO history and the first foreign player since 2005 to steal home.

In a bizarre play, Hanwha Eagles pitcher Joo Hyun-sang sent a very slow and clearly telegraphed snap throw to third base, where Pirela was waiting. Rather than scurry back to the plate, Pirela sprinted home, making the run with enough time to cross the plate on his feet rather than sliding in.

Samsung won that game 5-3.

Down in Changwon, South Gyeongsang, the there was less confusion but plenty of drama, with the NC Dinos batting in 10 runs in the seventh inning to take a huge 15-3 victory over the Kiwoom Heroes.

Things were a little more sedated in Suwon, Gyeonggi, where the LG Twins and KT Wiz bucked the trend by endeavoring to play a normal game of baseball.

There was a nice moment at the top of the sixth inning when longstanding Wiz pitcher William Cuevas, released by the Suwon club earlier that day due to an elbow injury, and his family were given the opportunity to thank and say goodbye to fans, but with that one exception, the Twins and the Wiz opted to play a fairly normal game of baseball. LG won 9-1.

BY JIM BULLEY [jim.bulley@joongang.co.kr]