Yankees score go-ahead run vs. Royals after controversial review. Was it the right call?
Michael Massey was visibly frustrated.
Moments after the Royals lost Game 1 of the American League Division Series against the New York Yankees on Saturday, the Kansas City Royals second baseman headed straight to the video room to take a look at one crucial play.
In the seventh inning, Massey had tagged Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm attempting to steal second base. Massey made an acrobatic play as he caught the incoming throw and placed his glove on Chisholm’s foot.
At first glance, it looked as Chisholm was out. However, second base umpire Lance Barrett called Chisholm safe, which prompted the Royals to challenge the ruling.
Massey pointed to the dugout and the Royals challenged the call. At first, the TBS broadcast crew expected it to stand, but upon seeing the slowed-down replays, even they decided the play should be ruled an out, as did the postgame crew.
A lengthy delay ensued.
An official replay review stayed with the call. Chisholm was safe at second base and the Royals lost their challenge. The Yankees took advantage as Alex Verdugo drove home Chisholm with an RBI single. It was the game-winning run as the Yankees won 6-5 and took a 1-0 series lead.
“I feel like you guys know me,” Massey said. “I don’t speak my mind too much on a lot of stuff, so I wanted to make sure I had the facts before I did. Like I said, if that’s something that is not going to be overturned, I’m not sure what (will) other than the obvious calls of guys out by two feet. Then, you know, there is no point in challenging.”
Here is an in-depth breakdown of the play.
Chisholm raced toward second base as Anthony Volpe struck out against Royals right-hander Michael Lorenzen. As Chisholm began his slide, he popped up a few inches short of the second base bag.
This allowed Massey time to place the tag on Chisholm’s foot. The slide took Chisholm to the corner of the second base bag, and there at first appeared to be a sliver of space, both between Chisholm’s foot and the bag and also to Massey’s glove.
“You could see the angle of his heel to the base,” Massey said. “Again, there is a little bit of dirt that gets in the way. But that’s kind of my point. You know, if we are going to have this system and we are playing an imperfect game, it’s outdoors, there is wind, there is rain, there is dirt.”
As Chisholm began to stand up, the replays showed potential evidence that Massey got the tag down in time. There were multiple angles to consider.
One angle showed Chisholm turns his foot as the glove was coming down. Other replay angles highlight Massey tagging Chisholm with enough space between the base to make a clear decision.
“In the moment, I felt pretty convinced in the tag that I got him,” Massey said. “I felt like I pointed right away and then when I looked up at (it) there was an angle that I just went and watched where you could see the daylight between his heel and the corner of the bag.”
Still, the call was upheld. And that left Massey in bewilderment about the inconsistency of the replay review system.
“I mean, if we are looking for more evidence than that, I think a lot of calls need to start staying the same as they were called on the field,” Massey said. “But with that being said, that’s not the reason we lost the game. We had plenty of opportunities to score runs and and make plays. We didn’t and, you know, it’s frustrating. But, we will be back at it on Monday.”
Royals manager Matt Quatraro shook his head at the on-field call. After the game, Quatraro said he didn’t get an explanation from the umpires regarding it. He felt there was evidence to support the call being overturned based on the same replays Massey reviewed.
“No, I haven’t gotten any sort of explanation, but it certainly looked — in my opinion, I thought we had a really good argument to get that overturned,” Quatraro said.
Many fans on X (formerly Twitter) — and even former Royals star Eric Hosmer — also voiced their displeasure. The key play was also discussed on the MLB postgame show by TBS analysts as well.
Chisholm had a different view of the controversial slide. He told reporters that he and Massey were discussing the play at second base. Still, he had confidence that his foot reached the base before the tag.
“I knew I was in there,” Chisholm said. “That’s what we were talking about at second base. He said, ‘I think I put down a good tag.’ And I said, ‘You did put down a good tag, but that doesn’t mean that I’m out.’ It was a lot of fun going back and forth, but I knew that I had it. And I knew they couldn’t overturn it.”
The Royals brought the top of their batting order to the plate in the ninth inning but were unable to find a tying run.
Massey remains convinced he tagged Chisholm out. After the game, he called for the replay system to be evaluated so calls can be accurate in the biggest moments.
“I’m not really sure of the whole point of the system if a call like that is not going to (be overturned),” Massey said. “You know, we tagged up the photos and you could see clear contact, and then you could see daylight from his foot and the base.”
This story was originally published October 5, 2024 at 9:24 PM with the headline "Yankees score go-ahead run vs. Royals after controversial review. Was it the right call?."
