The first use of official replay in Major League Baseball history and it involved Alex Rodriguez. Go figure.
"There's probably 800 players in the big leagues. The odds of me doing something controversial is 2-1. Somehow I find myself in these situations all the time," Rodriguez said. "It's just good to get the right call."
The historic moment occurred Wednesday at Tropicana Field in the ninth of the New York Yankees 8-4 victory against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Rodriguez turned on a fastball from Troy Percival and drove a towering fly ball down the left field line that hit the D-Ring catwalk beyond the left field foul pole. It bounced off the ring in foul territory. The question was whether the ball was in fair territory.
Third base umpire Brian Runge emphatically called the ball fair.
Rays catcher Dioner Navarro threw his mask and helmet on the ground in protest. Rays manager Joe Maddon emerged from the dugout and asked the umpires if they would want to take a look on the new 19-inch flatscreen TV installed last week in a room behind the visitor's dugout.
"The threat of us getting into the playoffs motivated this to happen sooner, because this is a tough building," Maddon said.
The foul poles do not extend high enough to reach past the catwalks, and the baseball tends to get lost in the white background.
Umpires Jerry Lane, Charlie Reliford and Runge went to view the replay, while home plate umpire Greg Gibson remained on the field.
They emerged 2 minutes, 15 seconds later, and Reliford twirled his right index finger, giving the signal for home run.
"A fair ball is fair when it leaves the playing field. That's why the foul poles are up there to help us. We have it going right over the pole, all four of us had it going right over the pole on the field. And our views of the replays confirmed that. It was not inconclusive. It was conclusive that Brian's call was correct."
"That is a tough call. Navi was adamant that it was foul," Maddon said. "They went through the process, and whether it was fair or foul, the process worked in a sense I'm sure everything worked underneath, they saw what they were supposed to see. They came out in a reasonable amount of time, the pitcher would not have been impacted by the time he was standing out there."
Maddon said he couldn't tell if the ball was fair or foul when it happened live.
"I thought it was fair once it left the park, and it was curving and hit the catwalk in foul territory," Rays first baseman Carlos Peña said. "That's what I saw."
Added Percival: "I thought it was clearly fair. But after looking at the replay I don't know what to think."
The rule was put into use Aug. 28. Wednesday was the first time it was used.
Reliford said the three umpires looked at "several" replays. He said even though all four agreed with Runge's call on the field, they decided to use the technology to back up their decision. Reliford said he has the final say, but said Wednesday's decision was a group effort.
"Technically it's up to the crew chief, but when the ship sinks everyone drowns," he said. "We operate as a crew. We do everything as a crew. And we make decisions as a crew. If it comes down to a split decision, then the crew chief is going to have to decide which decision is most likely correct."
Reliford said it was too early to tell if instant replay will work in baseball, but Yankee manager Joe Girardi is already a fan.
"They got the call right, and that's the most important thing," he said. "I've said that all along, the process worked."
Rodriguez said he spent the time after he circled the bases and before the umpires emerged from the dugout as if he were still facing Percival.
"I was really staying focused because I knew it was going to get replayed," he said. "I didn't want to break my concentration."
Rodriguez said he thought the ball was fair, but wasn't surprised it produced the first use of instant replay in baseball history.
"I saw the way Navarro jumped and Maddon jumped out of the dugout and said, here we go," Rodriguez said.
Yankee center fielder Johnny Damon wasn't surprised Rodriguez would be the player to trigger the historic landmark use of technology.
"I'm sure he's going to be a part of more of these," Damon said. "He's got nine more years left on his contract."
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