A Balk of Lightning - Umpire's Thunder Jump Scare Call

A surprise lightning strike during Norfolk Tides pitcher Roansy Contreras' delivery resulted in a thunder-scoring balk for Jacksonville as HP Umpire Derek Thomas called Contreras for illegally stopping his pitching motion. Was this the correct call or did Tides manager Tim Federowicz have an argument due to the extreme nature of the inclement weather.

With none out and a runner on third in the bottom of the 1st inning of the Tides vs Jumbo Shrimp game in Triple-A, lightning struck somewhere near Jacksonville's stadium, and the thunder just happened to clap as Contreras was beginning his delivery. Replays indicate that in the wake of the thunder, both the pitcher and batter left their respective positions (pitcher stepping off the rubber and batter exiting the box). HP Umpire Thomas ruled that Contreras balked first and waved home Jacksonville baserunner R3 Jakob Marsee to put Jacksonville on the board.

Official Baseball Rule 6.01(a)(1) governs the start-stop balk and states, "If there is a runner, or runners, it is a balk when the pitcher, while touching their plate, makes any motion naturally associated with their pitch and fails to make such delivery." To that end, the balk call was technically correct.

However, OBR 5.12(b)(1) addresses the case of calling "Time" during inclement weather: "The umpire in chief shall call 'Time' when in their judgment weather, darkness, or similar conditions make immediate further play impossible." This rule would have empowered the umpire to call "Time" during play itself, if the loud thunder clap were to have been deemed a condition making immediate further play impossible.

Finally, OBR 5.04(b)(2) discusses what happens when both a pitcher and batter violate a rule, such as both leaving positions during delivery: "Both the pitcher and batter have violated a rule and the umpire shall call time and both the batter and pitcher start over from 'scratch.'" Under this rule, the play could have been nullified and ruled no-pitch, effectively baseball's version of a do-over.

It should also be noted that in college, NCAA Rule 4-2-b, the lightning rule, addresses what to do in a lightning situation: "In the case of lightning, the game administrator and umpire-in-chief shall follow lightning guidelines..." Under these guidelines, games must come to an immediate halt upon lightning striking within a certain distance of the stadium and the suspended games may not be resumed until at least 30 minutes have elapsed since the last lightning strike within the prescribed radius. High school is similar.

But professional baseball has no such rule, meaning that the entirety of lightning or thunder-related pauses falls into the umpire's hands of judgment.

Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 097 - Brian Walsh (1; Mike Shildt)

HP Umpire Brian Walsh ejected Padres manager Mike Shildt (ball three call to Ketel Marte; QOCY) in the top of the 6th inning of the #Diamondbacks-#Padres game. With none out and none on, Diamondbacks batter Marte took a 2-2 sweeper from Padres pitcher Nick Pivetta for a called third ball. Replays indicate the pitch was located off the outer edge of home plate and belt-high (px -0.83, pz 2.67), the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the game was tied, 0-0. The Padres ultimately won the contest, 1-0.

  

This is Brian Walsh (60)'s 1st ejection of 2025.

*This pitch was located 1.00 horizontal inches from being deemed incorrect.

This is the 97th ejection report of the 2025 MLB regular season.

This is the 52nd manager ejection of 2025. Ejection Tally: 52 Managers, 15 Coaches, 30 Players.

This is San Diego's 6th ejection of 2025, 1st in the NL West (SD 6; ARI 4; LAD, SF 3; COL 1).

This is Mike Shildt's 3rd ejection of 2025, 1st since June 19 (Marvin Hudson; QOC = U [Fighting]).

This is Brian Walsh's 1st ejection since August 30, 2024 (Derek Shelton; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

Box: Arizona Diamondbacks vs San Diego Padres, 7/8/25 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 096 - Brock Ballou (1; Ray Montgomery)

HP Umpire Brock Ballou ejected Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery (strike three call to Mike Trout; QOCY) in the bottom of the 8th inning of the #Rangers-#Angels game. With two out and none on, Angels batter Trout took a 3-2 fastball from Rangers pitcher Jacob Webb for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the inner half of home plate and above the hollow beneath the knee (px -0.25, pz 1.63 [sz_bot 1.81 / RAD 1.69 / MOE 1.61]), the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Angels were leading, 5-4. The Angels ultimately won the contest, 6-5.

  

This is Brock Ballou (41)'s 1st ejection of 2025.

*This pitch was located 0.24 vertical inches from being deemed incorrect.

This is the 96th ejection report of the 2025 MLB regular season.

This is the 51st manager ejection of 2025. Ejection Tally: 51 Managers, 15 Coaches, 30 Players.

This is LA's 3rd ejection of 2025, 1st in the AL West (LAA, OAK, TEX 3; SEA, 2; HOU 1).

This is Ray Montgomery's first career MLB ejection.

This is Brock Ballou's 1st ejection since August 21, 2024 (Kevin Cash; QOC = Y [HBP/Ball]).

Box: Texas Rangers vs Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, 7/7/25 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 095 - Adam Hamari (1; John Mallee)

1B Umpire Adam Hamari ejected Cubs assistant hitting coach John Mallee (out of the base path call on Ian Happ; QOCN) in the bottom of the 3rd inning of the #Cardinals-#Cubs game. With none out and the bases loaded, Cubs batter Happ hit a 0-1 sweeper from Cardinals pitcher Matt Svanson on the ground to first baseman Willson Contreras, who attempted to tag batter-runner Happ in front of first base, ruled out of the base path by 1B Umpire Hamari. Replays indicate that Happ did not run more than three feet away from his base path in order to avoid Contreras' tag, the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Cubs were leading, 6-0. The Cubs ultimately won the contest, 11-0.

  

This is Adam Hamari (78)'s 1st ejection of 2025.

*Official Baseball Rule 5.09(b)(1): "Any runner is out when they run more than three feet away from their base path to avoid being tagged unless their action is to avoid interference with a fielder fielding a batted ball. A runner’s base path is established when the tag attempt occurs and is a straight line from the runner to the base they are attempting to reach safely."

This is the 95th ejection report of the 2025 MLB regular season.

This is the 15th coach ejection of 2025. Ejection Tally: 50 Managers, 15 Coaches, 30 Players.

This is Chicago's 6th ejection of 2025, 1st in the NL Central (CHC 6; PIT 4; CIN, STL 3; MIL 2).

This is John Mallee's first career MLB ejection.

This is Adam Hamari's 1st ejection since June 25, 2024 (Mike Shildt; QOC = U [USC-NEC]).

Box: St Louis Cardinals vs Chicago Cubs, 7/6/25 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 094 - John Bacon (3; Carlos Mendoza)

HP Umpire John Bacon ejected Mets manager Carlos Mendoza (strike three call to Luis Torrens; QOCN) in the bottom of the 9th inning of the #Yankees-#Mets game. With none out and none on, Mets batter Torrens took a 0-2 changeup from Yankees pitcher Devin Williams for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer half of home plate and below the hollow beneath the knee (px 0.61, pz 1.34 [sz_bot 1.57 / RAD 1.45 / MOE 1.38]), the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Yankees were leading, 6-4. The Yankees ultimately won the contest, 6-4.

  

This is John Bacon (70)'s 3rd ejection of 2025.

*This pitch was located 0.48 vertical inches from being deemed correct.

This is the 94th ejection report of the 2025 MLB regular season.

This is the 50th manager ejection of 2025. Ejection Tally: 50 Managers, 14 Coaches, 30 Players.

This is New York's 2nd ejection of 2025, 3rd in the NL East (MIA, WAS 3; NYM 2; ATL, PHI 1).

This is Carlos Mendoza's 2nd ejection of 2025, 1st since June 28 (Roberto Ortiz; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

This is John Bacon's 3rd ejection of 2025, 1st since April 17 (Jazz Chisholm; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).

Box: New York Yankees vs New York Mets, 7/6/25 | Video as follows: