Game 2 turns on controversial bunt call

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Posted: Thursday October 08, 1998 01:42 AM

Fryman (right) touched first base as he was hit by Posada's throw AP

NEW YORK (AP) -- As Chuck Knoblauch pointed and screamed at the umpire, the ball trickled away behind him and Enrique Wilson stumbled around third base, losing his balance before a desperate dive for the plate.

In an instant, basic baseball became a comedy of errors.

Wilson's 12th-inning dash around the bases Wednesday turned out to be the winner for the Cleveland Indians in Game 2 of the American League Championship Series against the New York Yankees.

With the score 1-1, Jim Thome opened the Cleveland 12th with a single, becoming the Indians' first baserunner since the eighth inning. Manager Mike Hargrove sent in Wilson to run for Thome and flashed the bunt sign to Travis Fryman, hoping to get the lead runner to second base.

Fryman, a power hitter unaccustomed to sacrificing, nevertheless dropped a perfect bunt down the first base line and accompanied the ball down the line.

Tino Martinez fielded the ball and Knoblauch covered first but the throw hit Fryman in the back and bounced away. "I heard John Shulock yell `Safe!' and I saw the ball 30 feet away," Fryman said. "I figured I'd keep running until somebody told me to stop."

Meanwhile, Knoblauch ignored the ball and pointed frantically at Fryman, claiming interference because the runner was on the grass part of the field, in fair territory and not in the runner's lane.

"I was waiting for an out call," the second baseman said. "I didn't know where the ball was. He was running on the grass. Is he allowed to run on the grass?"

Well, as a matter of fact, he is, according to umpiring crew chief Jim Evans, who was in right field for Wednesday's game.

"You can go around the pitcher's mound," he said. "There's nothing illegal about that. The question is do you interfere with the throw? If he did, it's a different situation.

"It is an interpretation call. The base is in fair territory. If the runner stays in the lane, he misses the base. He has to be in fair territory or he misses the base. He has a right to be in that position."

Evans said the umpire's decision must be based on how close to the base the runner was when the ball struck him. Fryman and the throw seemed to arrive simultaneously.

The Yankees howled at the call by home plate ump Ted Hendry.

"No question, he was on the grass," manager Joe Torre said. "You can't tell the umpire what he saw, especially when three others come in and shake their heads like `If that's what he saw, it's OK with me.'

"The play was so blatant. It's Hendry's job to call him out. It happened before he got to the bag. The runners would have gone back and the batter been out."

Wilson, the pinch runner, saw what was happening and kept on running. By the time the rookie was around third, he was stumbling and staggering, almost about to lose his balance. Hargrove said he thought he'd need a wheelbarrel to get him home.

Finally, Knoblauch recovered the ball but his throw to catcher Jorge Posada was too late to catch the runner.

"It was a bad call," Knoblauch said. "If I could do it all over again, I'd do it the same way."

Replays indicated Knoblauch was right, that Fryman was never in the designated runner's lane next to the foul line, although he was square with the bag as he crossed it and was hit by the throw.

That was the difference as far as Evans was concerned.

"The umpire has to decide if it was a quality throw that would retire the runner and how close to the base the runner is," he said. "He has the right to be there that close to the base.

"If the runner is in fair territory, he can be called out if he interferes with the throw. This case probably happened right at the base. That's what Hendry based his ruling on. The fact that he was at the base makes it tough judgment call. I thought it could go either way. I thought it was the proper call in that situation."

So Wilson's run counted and moments later, Kenny Lofton's bases-loaded single delivered two more to wrap up Cleveland's victory that tied the best-of-7 series 1-1.  

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Multimedia
Crew chief Jim Evans explains the way the rule is written (1.06 M) Evans offers his opinion on the call (168 K) Travis Fryman describes his view of the bunt (471 K) Indians manager Mike Hargrove says the play was important, but it wasn't the whole game (605 K) Yankees manager Joe Torre says Fryman was clearly running on the infield grass (293 K) Torre says Knoblauch made a crucial mental error to top things off (278 K) Click here for the latest audio and video
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