Baseball is a game of rules. Written rules, unwritten rules, you name it.
It seems like there are so many rules in the game of baseball it can be tough to remember them all, unless, of course, it’s your job to know those rules like the back of your hand.
Speaking of which, the New York Mets and Washington Nationals had a wacky game on Monday night, with the Mets notching 10 runs in the top of the 12th inning to win by an absurd 16-7 score in extras.
BRAVES, REDS COMBINE FOR HISTORIC 16-RUN 8TH INNING IN WILD GAME
It was the most runs scored in an extra inning in over 40 years, but that might not have even been the craziest part of the game.
During that onslaught of offense, the Nationals decided they were tired of watching their pitcher getting shellacked and called in a position player to take the rubber.
The umpires looked like they were ready to lay down the law since the Mets were up by less than the requisite eight-run lead needed for the losing team to put a position player on the mound, but there was just one problem: the eight run rule doesn’t apply to extra innings.
ASTROS PLAYER SWINGS AND MISSES AT THREE PITCHES, WALKS ON BALL THREE AS EVERYONE FORGETS THE COUNT
Full disclosure, I wasn’t super familiar with the rules regarding position players getting to pitch, but I’m also not being paid by Major League Baseball to enforce the rules, so that’s a terrible look for the umpires.
Look at how long it took them to get this right!
Hell, they even had to call the replay center to get clarification on the rule. How long could that possibly take?
METS BROADCASTER KEITH HERNANDEZ’S OBLIVIOUS REACTION TO NEAR-MISS FOUL BALL SENDS SNY BOOTH INTO HYSTERICS
The guys in the broadcast booth were able to find the rules in a quarter of the time it took the umps to get clarity.
You can see the embarrassment on the umpire’s face and in his voice when he announces that, yes, Washington can in fact bring in a position player to pitch.
A game that was already taking longer than usual thanks to extra innings and the Mets taking a sledgehammer to the Nationals’ bullpen took even longer thanks to the confusion from this group of umpires.
I’m sure everyone just wanted to get home at that point, not watch a bunch of dudes in gray slacks hold their fingers to their ears for another five minutes.
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Folks in the comments section on X were absolutely letting both the umps and MLB have it.
Not a good look, indeed.
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The best part of all of this is that this was only game one of the series, and it’s a four-game set, so it will be interesting to see what this umpire crew has up its sleeve for an encore.
One thing is for sure, they will probably be doing a lot of homework this afternoon to try and avoid another incident like this one.