We have another roof-assisted out in an MLB playoff game. Though this one came at a considerably lower-leverage point of the game.
The latest baseball oddity of the postseason took place in Monday’s ALDS Game 2 between the Tampa Bay Rays and New York Yankees. With Tampa Bay holding a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, Yankees right fielder Spencer Jones hit a high fly ball to center field — so high that it hit the roof structure at Tropicana Field.
Advertisement
Four Tampa Bay defenders were tracking the ball. After a brief scramble when the ball hit the structure, right fielder Victor Mesa Jr. successfully tracked the ball to catch it.
Umpires convened for a meeting to discuss the ruling. They determined that Jones was out.
Should it have been an out?
The TNT broadcast, meanwhile, was ready with an explainer. There are four metal ringed scaffolding structures adjacent to the dome’s roof, lettered A through D. Each of them carries its own set of ground rules.
Jones’ fly ball hit the B ring. As the broadcast explained, a ball that hits the B ring in foul territory is a dead ball. A ball that hits it in fair territory is live. Jones’ fly ball was to center field and obviously fair. Since Mesa caught it, Jones was out. In the end, it was a simple call.
Advertisement
Would it have been a home run?
As to whether or not the fly ball would have been a home run without an assist from the roof at the Trop, it had a long way to travel at that launch angle to make it over the centerfield wall.
Balls like Jones’ with a 106.4 mph exit velocity and 44 degree launch angle have been home runs in some parks this season. But none of them have made it over a center-field wall, according to Baseball Savant.
Comments
Advertisement