Padres Lose To Marlins After Umps Enforce Wild Rule To Overturn Ha-Seong Kim HR
Hitting a homer in the ninth inning to tie or win a baseball game is one of the greatest thrills in the sport. San Diego Padres shortstop Ha-Seong Kim experienced that thrill Sunday against the Miami Marlins.
At least, that’s what everyone thought at first.
With two outs in the ninth inning and his team down a run, Kim laced a ball toward left field. The ball proceeded to hit the top of the wall, bounce off left fielder Kyle Stowers, and over the fence.
This ball from Ha-Seong Kim looked like a HR, but it ended up being a double. (Photo by Kelly Gavin/MLB Photos via Getty Images)
Everyone, Kim included, thought that he had just tied the score with one mighty swing. However, after official review, the play was ruled a ground rule double, to the utter shock of everyone watching the game.
When I saw the review of this play, I had the same thought that you probably did: "Who in their right mind would rule that a ground rule double? It clearly went over the fence!"
That certainly is true, your eyes did not betray you there. OutKick’s Dan Zaksheske and I had a discussion about this, and we were equally confused.
But after watching the play again (and doing a little extra digging), we found some semblance of a satisfying answer.
Zaksheske is an umpire for his local middle and high school leagues, and he said he’s been told (according to umpire.com) that: "If the ball (hits the wall and) continues ‘out’ then it's a HR. If the ball is deflected ‘back’ toward home and is then again deflected out, it's a double." This would track with what happened here.
If you watch the play again, you will see that after the ball makes contact with the yellow stripe on the fence, it was clearly coming back in the field of play before Stowers inadvertently hit it over the fence. And since loanDepot Park doesn’t have any ground rules for balls that hit the top of that fence, you can’t logically score a home run.
Even Padres manager Mike Shildt said post game that he believed the officiating crew made the right decision.
"The rule is if it hits the wall, hits the defender, and goes over the wall, it's a double. I think they got it right," Shildt said. "It’s a tough place, the timing of it…it feels like a home run, but the rule tells you differently."
Nevertheless, it still shocked and disappointed many fans, especially those who bet on the Padres. Sand Diego would end up losing 7-6.
That’s a brutal way to lose a ballgame. Kim will have to keep waiting for his next chance to play hero in the ninth inning.