The worst decision in MLB history and why Jonah Heim did everything right

New York dropped the ball.

There is no other way to say it. The call on the field was correct, the challenge had no basis. It was a slam dunk. And yet somehow, the replay official in New York just missed the dunk.

Tied up in the bottom of the eighth inning, Jonah Heim fields a bullet from Travis Jankowski in left to gun Elvis Andrus down at the plate. It was a thing of beauty. And then...

It is worth having a look at the rule before we get into what happened. MLB rule 6.01(i)(2) on collisions at home plate reads:

“Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score. If, in the judgment of the umpire, the catcher without possession of the ball blocks the pathway of the runner, the umpire shall call or signal the runner safe. Notwithstanding the above, it shall not be considered a violation of this Rule 6.01(i)(2) if the catcher blocks the pathway of the runner in a legitimate attempt to field the throw.”

By now, you will have certainly seen the play, with every angle doing the rounds on social media and ESPN. But here is the most definitive angle, demonstrating step by step how Jonah Heim played this exactly as all catchers have been taught, exactly as the rule demands, and why Elvis Andrus and the White Sox managed to hijack a win by fraud.

You will notice from one second in, Heim’s initial position was inside the plate, leaving the entirety of home plate to the outside for the runner. As the throw from Travis Jankowski pulled Heim to his left, he repositioned to the outside rear corner of the plate, again, leaving the entirety of the plate for the runner.

In fact, Andrus slid in the lane provided and touched the plate before he ever encountered Heim’s foot.

The replay officials in New York disagreed and overturned the onfield call, awarding the run.

The NBC announcers were mystified, along with everyone else who has a set of eyes in their head. Steve Stone said, “I have no idea why that was a violation… It doesn’t look like Heim is in front of the plate and he gives Andrus the outside corner to slide to... I think it’s a great break for the Sox, however, it doesn’t look to me like Heim impeded anything.”

Bruce Bochy, who was instantly ejected for questioning the call, said, “I just wanted to get clarification on exactly what was called, and for that call to be made, I’m dumbfounded. It’s absolutely one of the worst calls I’ve ever seen. And it was done by replay. I just don’t get it. I don’t care how many times they’ll try to explain it. You can’t do that in that situation. It’s a shame. It’s embarrassing, really.”

Jonah Heim was equally dumbfounded, saying, “I set up like we’re taught to set up on the corner of the plate. The ball took me up the line. I even backed up a little bit. He had all the whole front of the plate to slide into, so I’m not really sure what else I needed to do there. It’s unfortunate that that’s the decision they’re making in that kind of situation… It’s upsetting. It seems like they want me to try and not catch the ball and not tag the guy out.”

In response to the outcry of criticism coming in from all quarters, the MLB released an explanation from the replay center for the call that says that, “after reviewing all relevant angles,” the replay official “definitively determined that the catcher was in violation of the home plate collision rule.”

How, you ask? Well, it seems that, “The catcher’s initial positioning was illegal and his subsequent actions while not in possession of the ball hindered and impeded the runner’s path to home plate.”

Rubbish. Every word of that. Unmitigated nonsense, verbal diarrhea of the highest order. The MLB should be ashamed of not only getting this call so egregiously wrong, but of doubling down on that with a statement that is complete poppycock.

To further emphasize this, a remarkably similar play happened in the Giants-Padres game at nearly the same moment as the Rangers play. Austin Nola received the throw from Manny Machado and applied the tag to Austin Slater to record the out while offering even less of the plate to the runner than Heim did. No replay intervention, so the call stands.

In both cases, it is worth noting that the on-field umpiring crew got the call right. The culprit for this horror show is the replay booth in New York. They blew it, and they know it.

And in the end, that is what makes this call perhaps the worst in MLB history. It wasn’t made in the heat of the game, or without access to hindsight. It wasn’t human error. The call made on the spot, by the human with his boots on the ground, was made correctly. This abomination was calculated, considered, checked from every angle. And you can’t even lean on the old “it is inconclusive” line, because that would leave the call on the field intact. No, the decision was made to overturn the correct call.

I know that the chances of Jonah Heim reading this article are vanishingly slim. But just on the off chance that he does, I’ll say this: Jonah, you did everything perfectly. Your play was righteous. Your positioning was textbook and the tag was on the money. In short, don’t let the bastards get you down.