Phillies formally file protest
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Phillies formally file protest
Paul Hagen and Daily News staff
The Phillies formally filed a protest today of yesterday's 14-inning loss to the Marlins.
General manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said the basis of the protest is that the Phillies don't believe the replay rule was properly applied.
"We felt like we had grounds to back Charlie’s protest, and we’ll let Major League Baseball make the decision," Amaro said. "Our feeling was that we frankly that the utilization of the video was not properly used in this case. But we’ll see."
By now you know that Hunter Pence was ruled out on fan interference call after initially being awarded a double in the sixth inning of what ended up as a 5-4 Phillies loss. The ruling change could have cost the Phillies two runs.
A fan wearing a Phillies jersey reached over the railing and tried to catch the ball with his hat. Marlins outfielder Bryan Peters' glove hit the hat when he attempted to make the play.
Afterward, Charlie Manuel said he protested because he did not believe the replay review was valid because only home runs are reviewable. The umpires said the review was valid because the Philliwes were arguing that it should have been a home run.
Asked what he expects to get out of it, Amaro said, "I don’t have an answer for that. We just felt like we had grounds."
Amaro said he did not know how long it would take to get a ruling. He the way the rule is written in the rulebook is "very clear."
"Our feeling was that, in our estimation, how you interpret the rule is that you utilize the video replay to decide whether a ball is a home run or not," he said. "We didn’t feel that was the case in this case."
Amaro said he is comfortable with the current replay system and does not think that it should be expanded beyond home runs.
He declined to comment when asked about the difference in statements made by Manuel and umpire Joe West. Manuel said he did not ask for a replay. West said the manager did. "I’m not going to get those discussions," Amaro said.
Asked whether he wanted the game to be replayed from the point of the issue, Amaro said, "Well, I think we’re just trying to do what we think is right. And we’ll deal with the consequences after that."
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STEVE544, I agree with what you say, especially this part: "any neither should however the commissioner of baseball is... for the good of the game..", whatever that means. The two guys who interfered may or may not be jerks, but I wouldn't blast them for this. Sitting in the stands at a Phillies game, it's pretty hard not to put your hand/hat out for what looks like a very catchable ball hit your way.— 1980
Opens up a whole new world of possibilities: say it's the NLCS vs. the Brewers, top of the eighth, two men on in a tie game. Braun hits a deep fly to left, Ibanez gets to the wall, leaps for the catch and a "smart" Phillies fan reaches over the rail and tries to catch the ball interfering with Ibanez trying to make the catch. Sorry, Braun, you're out and runners go back to where they were. Stupid call if upheld.— geeknphillly- I don't put much blame on the two fans.
They and nearby fans probably thought it was a home run.
But I seriously doubt any Phillie made that argument, and that makes Joe West not just a loud-mouth spotlight seeker but a liar.— VicM - Shame they can't protest Fabio Matthews being the Eagles MLB. They would win that one.— Astro Jones
- I live in SWFlorida---attended both Saturday and Sunday games---miserable outcomes but somewhat entertaining. I was in the 9th row directly behind the play. I thought it was going to be a HR, but it kept tailing. These guys acted on instinct---they're not bad guys, and when you're following the ball the last thing your thinking is---is this over that yellow line or not? When they were escorted out, they didn't ham it up. They made a mistake that may have cost the Phils the game. Maybe Paterson catches the ball, maybe he doesn't, but we'll never know. Peterson was getting into it in a friendly way with the Phils fans in RF---also seems like a good guy. (By the way, 4,000 fans and 3,500 were Phillies fans.) But the umps did apply the rule incorrectly, and are most at fault in all of this---either rule the fans interfered, or let it stand---the review was only intended to call it a HR or not, and they come back with an out? The Phils are right---but the game under protest rule should either be enforced, or taken off the books.— rags
Comment removed.- The whole point is if a review was requested for a possible home run call. Spectator interference can be involked in that situation.
What Joe West said to the press yesterday doesn't matter; his official statement is in the report he submitted to MLB.
The media isn't going to let the facts get in the way of their story.— cybersport - Comment removed.
- I'm pretty sure no Phillies talked to that fat liar prior to the review, so who asked for it to be a homerun? Joe West seems to love controversy, he's had a controversial call that hurt the Phillies several times over the past couple years. It's pretty clear, you can't review a double, so there is no way in the rulebook to fix the call they initially missed. So really, there are two acts of incompetence here, the initial missing of the interference call, and then throwing out the rulebook to overturn it. Refs/Umps have no accountability, that is the problem, Joe West should never get another paycheck from anyone.— Pelti
- Two Words---JOE WEST--One of the most arrogant umps around.
I remember one game where a Phils 2nd baseman asked him to move
a little in the field and was/or almost was thrown out of the game.— HO HUM - I actually can't stand T-Mac and the boys on TV, but they made a valid point yesterday. None of the umpires was able to get out there to get a good look at the play in question. It really isn't much of a surprise considering that the Fat Four made up yesterday's umpiring team. The other 3 pro leagues have athletic standards for their officials -- baseball should do the same.— catnameddomino
- Or the Faililles could have won the game in extra innings and went on with life, losing to a team 27 games back of them LOL.— mikenphilly
- Arm the citizens!— quigly46
- Still trying to figure out where the Philliwes play...
Who's editing this stuff? Really. The journalistic standard has gone right out the window. No wonder you're going broke.....— Bill8339 - as i said in another thread, the perfect corollary here the pass interference rule in football. if you are reviewing a close play to see if a player was in or out of bounds on a TD pass, the ref cannot come back from that review and say "i saw pass interference that wasn't called originally, so no TD." if he did, he'd be fined and/or fired. but that is not how it will go in baseball. we all know that. doesn't mean it's right. but it isn't going to change anything.— tockeyhockey
