MLB contacted White Sox to explain bizarre game-ending interference call originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago
Major League Baseball contacted the White Sox about the controversial interference call in Thursday’s 8-6 loss to the Orioles.
ESPN insider Jesse Rogers reported Friday that the league “essentially” told the White Sox the call should not have been made.
According to sources, the league has contacted the White Sox. Essentially told them the obstruction call to end the game should not have been made. There IS some discretion there. https://t.co/gxCSWcXwb2
— Jesse Rogers (@JesseRogersESPN) May 24, 2024
White Sox general manager Chris Gets confirmed Friday that the team has spoken to MLB but would not reveal what was said other than to say he was told the umpire’s ability to call interference is generally a judgment call .
“There is discretion,” Getz said.
That means the referee wasn’t obligated to interfere with Vaughn for accidentally (not to mention barely) stepping into the shortstop’s path to the ball, but he wasn’t technically foul for doing so either, no matter how rickety.
And this was definitely a bit sticky.
Trailing 8-2 in the final frame, the White Sox rallied for four runs in the bottom of the ninth and had a chance to win the game with runners on first and second base with one out.
Andrew Benintendi swung for an infield pop-out, and Andrew Vaughn leisurely walked back to second base when shortstop Gunner Henderson moved up to make the catch. The referee called interference on Vaughn, who inadvertently stepped into Henderson’s path.
As in the league’s oral explanation, the MLB rulebook states that “a runner adjudged to have interfered with a fielder attempting to make a play on a batted ball is out, whether intentionally or not. ” The key word here is ‘rated’.
Suffice it to say, the White Sox still disagree with the umpire’s ruling.
“I don’t like the way the play was called,” White Sox manager Pedro Grifol told reporters on Friday. “I think it was called inaccurately in my opinion. Just my opinion. I don’t think a baseball game should end like that.”
That opinion echoes that of the majority of those who watched the play in person and at home, including Orioles manager Brandon Hyde.
“I feel like we got out of there,” Hyde said after the game.
The White Sox will try to put Thursday’s fiasco behind them when they take on the Orioles in game two of the series on Friday at 6:40 p.m.
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