Friday's WBSC’s Italy vs South Africa game in Parma ended via a triple play in the 10th inning after a batted ball that should have been ruled a foul ball, but was ruled fair…and was unreviewable via replay. Article: In 2017, we first suggested that MLB make more plays reviewable via video and instant replay, and Tmac listed a few specific plays, including the “batted ball hits batter in box” play (OBR [the Olympics uses MLB’s rules book]) 5.09(a)(7) is the governing rule) that was ultimately missed in ITA-RSA game-ending play. Had this play been reviewable, the play would have resulted in a foul ball instead of a triple play.
Regardless, this play illustrates the importance of crew consultation. Especially when it concerns a triple play vs foul ball situation like this—a literal game-changing play (going from multiple runners and none out to GAME OVER)—it probably would be helpful for umpires to get together to make every effort to get the play right without replay (seeing as most levels of baseball don’t use video review).
Oh, and this play should be reviewable.
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