Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, August 14, 1995 TAG: 9509080125
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B2 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: ASSOCIATED PRESS
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
This time, however, things went their way.
It all involved an obscure rule that was violated by Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Angelo Encarnacion. The 22-year-old rookie, who played for the Salem Buccaneers in 1993, was caught touching a live ball with his mask on Saturday night, and his innocent mistake in the 11th inning caused a runner to be waved home, giving the Dodgers an 11-10 victory.
The odd play came two days after Los Angeles lost when umpires forfeited a game to St. Louis in the bottom of the ninth when fans threw souvenir baseballs onto the Dodger Stadium field.
``We lose one on a forfeit and then we get one on a really technical rule,'' said Mitch Webster, who was batting when the bizarre incident transpired. ``A guy could probably play this game for 50 years and never see it twice.''
Actually, Dodgers manager Tom Lasorda has.
The same technicality that benefited his team Saturday night turned against him in 1992 when Mike Scioscia went down to block a pitch in the dirt and clamped his mask over the ball to keep it from rolling in a game against San Diego.
Encarnacion fell into the same trap with the score tied at 10, runners on second and third and one out.
Webster swung at a 1-0 pitch in the dirt from Jeff McCurry, and Encarnacion made a nice play to keep the ball in front of him. The bouncing ball did not look like it was going to roll away, and Encarnacion used his mask to scoop it up.
``A couple of guys on the bench saw it right away,'' Lasorda said. ``We lost a game exactly like that here against San Diego. So we gave one away and we got one back because of that.
``I'd never seen that before in all the years I've been in baseball. Now I've seen it twice,'' he said.
Encarnacion's actions, whether inadvertent or intentional, violated baseball rule 7.05 (d). It states: ``Two bases if a fielder deliberately touches a thrown ball with his cap, mask or any part of his uniform detached from its proper place on his person. The ball is in play.''
Plate umpire Brian Gorman made no indication of any impropriety. But Lasorda came charging out of the dugout, and third base umpire and crew chief Harry Wendelstedt was called in for consultation.
Kelly was eventually awarded home plate.
``The ball was still moving and he gathered it up with the mask, which he cannot do,'' Wendelstedt said. ``And when my partner asked me if that's what I saw, I confirmed.
``Umpiring is based on common sense and fair play,'' said Wendelstedt, a 30-year veteran. ``When you see somebody do something that's against the rules of the game, you don't think about it. You don't think about repercussions. You just react. And that's what we did. Right away, my gut said. `You can't do that.'''
When Wendelstedt motioned to wave home Kelly, the Dodgers ran out to celebrate. Pirates manager Jim Leyland, meanwhile, came out to argue and announced the game was under protest.
``It looked to me like he blocked the ball, and when he went down, he had both hands down,'' Leyland said. ``He had his glove hand down and he had his right hand down, which had the mask in it. And the ball popped into the mask. But there's no way he deliberately used the mask to impede the progress of the ball.''
Encarnacion was charged with an error, the Pirates' first mistake in nine game. The gaffe gave the Dodgers a victory in a game they trailed 7-2 in the fifth inning, 7-6 in the ninth and 10-7 in the 10th.
``I didn't see it, because I took a bad swing and missed the ball,'' Webster said. ``Then I started to look down the third base line for a sign.
``Harry saw it all. It took a lot of guts to make that call because that was going to end the game. So you've got to respect a guy who goes ahead and does that,'' he said.
by CNB