Derek Jeter reached second on a walk and a balk, then tried to steal third with no one out and Swisher at the plate. According to the Blue Jays broadcast, the throw beat Jeter, but Derek got his hand on the bag before the tag. Jeter argued, and Girardi came out to take the heat and Joe was tossed from the game. The broadcast thought Jeter was safe. Swisher follows with a single.
Was it really that smart for Jeter to be running with none out? Swisher is batting right-handed, so that gives him a little help.
Update: The inning sees a walk, balk, hit, hit batter and a caught stealing, but Romero prevents the Yankees from scoring, extending his scoreless streak to 21 innings.
You’re right that Jeter shouldn’t have been running. But the story turns out to be much more interesting, as we discovered after the game. The reason Jeter argued is that after he told the third base ump that he was never tagged, Foster told him that the throw beat him so it didn’t matter! “I was told by the umpire that I didn’t have to be tagged to be out,” an annoyed Jeter said after the game. (snipped from Pete Abraham)
I mean, I’m aware that this is the practice — I guess everyone who’s watched a lot of stolen bases does. But man, you know, baseball actually has rules, and the rules say that you have to be tagged to be out! No wonder Jeter got mad.
The crew chief handled the post-game well. Foster, the guilty ump, absconded.
The game was badly officiated, by the way. There were several other blown calls.
I see, no anchor tags in your comments? no href, anyway. So here’s the link:
http://yankees.lhblogs.com/2009/07/06/crew-chief-calls-were-wrong-today/
@James: Thanks, James. Amazing an umpire would say that to a player.