There have been hundreds of thousands of baseball games played over the history of MLB. Despite that, there’s still plenty of potential to see something new every single day. That’s the beauty of the game.
On Wednesday, Boston Red Sox third-base coach Chad Epperson was involved in a bizarre play that stumped even the broadcasting crew. The incident occurred in the bottom of the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles.
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With Wilyer Abreu on first, Willson Contreras ripped a ball down the third-base line. Abreu hustled around the bases, barely beating a throw at the plate to score. The Orioles, however, took issue with that call and decided to challenge the play.
As replays were viewed on the broadcast, the announcers noticed something strange about Epperson’s positioning. As the ball scooted past third base, Epperson ran onto the field of play to wave Abreu home.
It was an unusual tactic.
It was also completely legal … kinda.
Here’s what Rule 5.03(c) says about base-coach positioning.
“Base coaches must remain within the coach’s box, except that a coach who has a play at his base may leave the coach’s box to signal the player to slide, advance, or return to a base, provided the coach does not interfere with the play.”
Did Epperson violate that rule? The play wasn’t at his base, though it technically could have been if Epperson told Abreu to stop. Epperson also didn’t interfere with the play while on the field.
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Initially, it appeared the umpires took issue with Epperson’s actions. After the game, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz said the umps told him if Epperson entered the field of play again, he could be ejected from the game.
Red Sox interim manager Crad Tracy said that wasn’t true, citing Rule 5.03 (c), per Masslive.com.
Tracy added that the team’s bench coach — José Flores — said he employed the same strategy when he served as the Orioles’ third-base coach back in 2019-2020. Due to the dimensions of Fenway Park, that particular corner can be tough to see from the normal, third-base coach position. By moving onto the field of play, the third-base coach can get a better look at the location of the ball to make a more educated decision on whether to send a player home.
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In this particular instance, Epperson made the wrong decision. Upon review, the play was overturned. Abreu was ruled out after Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman made the tag in time.
The play ultimately had no bearing on the game, as the Red Sox exploded for five runs in the fifth inning, eventually winning the contest 8-1.
It did, however, teach baseball fans about a weird, obscure rule … even if there’s still a little confusion over whether that rule was correctly applied in this instance.
