Discussion of the 2018 World Series

We begin the 2018 Dodgers-Red Sox World Series discussion with Game 1 and HP Umpire Tim Timmons.

Chief Ted Barrett's Fall Classic entire crew/roster, including home plate probables, is available at the following link.
Related: 2018 World Series Umpire Crew (10/22/18).

Home plate umpire performance is listed following the completion of each contest according to UEFL-f/x, which accounts for UEFL Rules 6-2-b-a (horizontal bound, "Kulpa Rule") and 6-2-b-b (vertical strike zone, "Miller Rule"). Callable pitches (which excludes all swinging strikes, fair and foul balls, HBPs, and pitchouts) are organized by type: "ball" or "called strike." These two figures are added together upon which a final plate performance score is achieved. For more information on UEFL-f/x and why we don't use misleading pitch plots/graphics in our analysis ("pfx" link included for illustrative purposes only), visit the following link.
Related Post: UEFL f/x vs K-Zone and the Player-Umpire Disconnect (How #s work) (10/4/18).

- 10/23 LAD@BOS Gm 1: Tim Timmons: pfx. 107/110 Balls + 56/58 Strikes = 163/168 = 97.0%. +1 LA.
- 10/24 LAD@BOS Gm 2: Kerwin Danley: pfx. 77/78 Balls + 43/45 Strikes = 120/123 = 97.6%. +3 LA.

- 10/26 BOS@LAD Gm 3: Ted Barrett: pfx. 201/202 Balls + 76/84 Strikes = 277/286 = 96.9%. +7 LA.
- 10/27 BOS@LAD Gm 4: Chad Fairchild: pfx. 109/112 Balls + 58/60 Strikes = 167/172 = 97.1%. +1 LA.
- 10/28 BOS@LAD Gm 5: Jeff Nelson: pfx. 76/76 Balls + 40/42 Strikes = 116/118 = 98.3%. +2 BOS.
Series Complete (WS BOS Over LAD 4-1): 843/867 = 97.2%. Net Skew +10 LA.

Note: The highest plate score during the 2017 World Series was Dan Iassogna's 95.5% (WS Gm 6).
The highest plate score during the 2017 Postseason was Chad Fairchild's 97.4% (ALCS Gm 1).
The highest plate score during the 2018 Postseason, thus far, was Joe West's 99.4% (ALCS Gm 3).
The highest postseason plate score ever recorded was Joe West's 99.4% (2018 ALCS Gm 3).

Live Blog: Join the CCS Crew LIVE for World Series discussion and analysis (requires Java):

World Series Forfeit? Unable to Field Nine Players

With Dodgers and Red Sox managers running out of bench players and substitutes during Friday/Saturday's World Series Game 3 in Los Angeles, we ask what would happen if a team ran out of players and someone got hurt? Answer: Forfeit (umpire declaration). Longest postseason game in MLB history or not, professional baseball requires nine position players during every game with penalty of forfeit for any team that attempts to play shorthanded.

Really—a forfeit on baseball's biggest stage?

It certainly hasn't happened before during the World Series, but Official Baseball Rule 7.03(b) states that at the Major League level, a team forfeits when it cannot or will not field nine players on defense:

A game shall be forfeited to the opposing team when a team is unable or refuses to place nine players on the field.

And don't even think about trying to bring someone back into the game after they were already replaced: "A player once removed from a game shall not re-enter that game. If a player who has been substituted for attempts to reenter, or re-enters, the game in any capacity, the umpire-in-chief shall direct the player’s manager to remove such player from the game immediately" (OBR 5.10(d)).

And 5.10(d) Comment: "If, in an umpire’s judgment, the player re-entered the game knowing that he had been removed, the umpire may eject the manager."

Weaver and Springstead have a conversation.

History: The last major league forfeit of this variety occurred on September 15, 1977, when Orioles Manager Earl Weaver refused to place his team on the field after umpire Marty Springstead, alongside Larry Barnett, Jim Evans, and Vic Voltaggio, rejected Weaver's request to remove a bullpen tarp. Though Weaver claimed player safety as motivation, the American League recorded the game as a forfeit in favor of Toronto (the Blue Jays were leading, 4-0 at the time).

Meanwhile, the last minor league forfeit under 7.03(b) (formerly 4.15(c)) took place in August 2014, when umpires Andy Stukel and Jordan Johnson ruled a forfeit in the Pioneer League when the Ogden Raptors refused to take the field following a rain delay, arguing that the field was unplayable. That protest wound up overturned after the Pioneer League affirmed Ogden's protest and ordered the game replayed from the seventh inning interruption.
Related Post: MiLB Rookie Ball Forfeit Overturned on Upheld Protest (8/27/14).

One of the first forfeits of this variety occurred on August 31, 1872. According to retrosheet, Brooklyn refused to continue playing after disagreeing with umpire Tom Pratt's call. Philadelphia's Athletics thus won the contest.

Meanwhile, Boston's forfeit win over Cleveland on August 1, 1883 establishes that players not on the roster at the time of first pitch shall not be permitted to enter the game. Cleveland had attempted to replace injured pitcher Hugh Daily with Will Sawyer; Boston cried foul because Sawyer wasn't present at the start of the game, resulting in a forfeit.

Torre would come up with a solution.

That said, MLB brass—Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre, Commissioner Rob Manfred, and the like—does have some flexibility within the rules. For instance, OBR does not explicitly state how many players may be named to the roster. Though we know "25-man roster" as standard baseball vernacular, could MLB corporate tweak this element of the "not an official rule" provision? Recall, of course, pursuant to the 1883 precedent, that the player must be present at the start of the game, barring a rules change.

After all, Commissioner Emeritus Bud Selig did infamously declare a tie in the 11th inning of the 2002 All-Star Game after both teams ran out of available pitchers. That led to the whole "This time it counts" home-field advantage for the World Series campaign, and so forth, but most importantly...Selig's action took place during an All-Star Game that, at the time, didn't count for all that much.

We're talking about the World Series here.

Pursuant to MLB Umpire Manual procedure, a forfeit requires Crew Chief consent and the Crew Chief shall give ample warning to both sides (and to the crowd via the public address system, in the event of fans throwing debris, for instance) before declaring a forfeit; after the game, said Crew Chief contacts the MLB office to advise them of the forfeit.

SIDEBAR: Bob Davidson described a forfeit he had at Dodger Stadium in his Plate Meeting Podcast interview (Episode 1) when the Dodgers forfeited to the Cardinals in August 1995 on baseball giveaway night (fans threw balls on the field when things didn't go LA's way late in the game), and his late night conversation with NL President Leonard Coleman to advise him of the forfeited game.
Related Post: Plate Meeting Podcast Episode 1 - Bob Davidson (7/17/18).

Bob Davidson had a forfeit in LA in 1995.

For 2018 World Series Game 3, Crew Chief and HP Umpire Ted Barrett—who presided over 561 total pitches, 286 of which were callable—would surely consult with a supervisor or someone higher up the food chain, even if it meant waiting for Manfred and Torre to make it down to the field, or to get someone up in New York via Replay Review...this is MLB's ultimate jewel event, after all.

SIDEBAR: Stats count in a forfeit as long as the game has progressed enough innings to be a regulation game. With this potential forfeit situation occurring in extras, those states would count. If the team credited with the win was leading at the time of the forfeit, the pitchers would be credited with a win or loss as usual. If the team credited with the win was losing at the time of the forfeit, there would be no winning or losing pitchers. Forfeits receive an official score of 9-0 victories in favor of the benefiting team.

In sum, although Rule 7.03(b) is pretty clear about forfeiting a game when a team is unable to place nine players on the field, the collective MLB brain trust would have little trouble working out a creative solution to prevent this ultimate travesty from marring a World Series—or at least present an intercedent measure to soften the blow. Either that or a rules change for the offseason. One thing is for certain though, a decision this significant, at this monumental stage, would surely be out of the umpires' hands.

World Series Crew Embarks on Boston UMPS Care Visit

In the midst of a 2018 World Series assignment, Crew Chief Ted Barrett, and umpires Jeff Nelson, Jim Reynolds, and Tim Timmons made an UMPS CARE Charities BLUE for Kids visit to Boston Children's Hospital, joining Red Sox legends and MLB personnel on the charity outing just hours before Boston's 4-2 victory during Game 2.

World Series umpires visited Boston Children's.

While MLB donated video game-adorned Play Spaces, UMPS Care Charities stuck to its bread and butter, handing out 100 Build-A-Bear stuffed animal kits to critically-ill children on the heels of 1500 bears already distributed during UMPS CARE's 14 scheduled hospital visits during the 2018 regular season.

Barrett also let us in on a secret: "For most of us, this is our favorite event...we get more out of it I think than the kids do because we just have a blast with them... As umpires, usually, we're not bringing positive reactions, so it's great to get some smiles from people."

UMPS CARE (umpscare.com) recruits the home team's mascot whenever possible to help with the festivities, and Red Sox character Wally the Green Monster was on hand to help out, perhaps an apropos name on a day we remember the late, great Wally Bell, who once said of hospital visits, "To see the kids smile is the greatest thing in the world."
Related Post: Five Years Later - Remembering Wally Bell (10/25/18).

Video as follows:

Five Years Later - Remembering Wally Bell

Five years ago, on October 14, 2013, we lost Wally Bell, who had just umpired that postseason's NLDS. The 21-year MLB umpire, who died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 48, was remembered by Joe West, President of the World Umpires Association: "Wally was a great umpire, a great partner and a great friend. The umpiring community is deeply saddened by this tragic loss. He will be sorely missed by many."

Similar sentiments were shared throughout baseball, from then-Commissioner Bud Selig to Joe Torre and beyond.

Here at CCS, we noted a few more stories and reactions to Wally's passing during the postseason; there were moments of silence held at Dodger Stadium with Gerry Davis' NLCS crew; at Comerica Park, Joe West's ALCS umpires stood behind home plate in a "missing man" formation, in honor of Bell.
Related Post: MLB Umpire Wally Bell Dead at 48 (10/14/13).

This week, Foley's NY published a remembrance, writing, in part, "Wally was a MLB umpire who was quite a character and larger than life...I miss Wally and I would give anything to have him tell me the same stories over and over again." Visit Foley's for more.

We also visit ABC Action News for a segment remembering Bell in the following video section when Wally said, "To see the kids smile is the greatest thing in the world."

Video as follows:

2018 World Series Umpire Crew and Roster

MLB's 2018 World Series umpire roster features Ted Barrett as crew chief for the Dodgers-Red Sox fall classic along with six additional umpires selected from the AL and NL Division Series crews this postseason.

The Replay Official for the LCS and World Series serves in MLBAM's New York-based Replay Operations Center for Games One and Two of the series, before joining the on-field crew for Games Three through Seven. The home plate umpire for Game One of the series correspondingly serves as the Replay Official for Games Three through Seven.

The 2018 Fall Classic umpiring crew is comprised of umpires from the 2018 AL and NL Division Series. The following configuration refers to positions as assigned for Game 1 of the World Series and indicates prior assignments for the 2018 Division Series. Three of the seven World Series umpires came from ALDS-A (CLE@HOU), two were from NLDS-B (COL@MIL), while one umpire came from each of the remaining two Division Series.

2018 World Series Umpires (Los Angeles Dodgers @ Boston Red Sox)
HP: Tim Timmons '1st WS' (from ALDS-A [CLE@HOU]) [Game 1 Plate]
1B: Kerwin Danley (from NLDS-B [COL@MIL]) [Game 2 Plate]
2B: Ted Barrett* (from NLDS-B [COL@MIL]) [Game 3 Plate]
3B: Chad Fairchild '1st WS' (from ALDS-A [CLE@HOU]) [Game 4 Plate]
LF: Jeff Nelson* (from ALDS-A [CLE@HOU]) [Game 5 Plate]
RF: Jim Reynolds (from NLDS-A [ATL@LAD]) [Game 6 Plate]
Replay: Fieldin Culbreth* (from ALDS-B [NYY@BOS]) [Game 7 Plate]

Replay Assistant, World Series: Chris Conroy (from AL Division Series A [CLE@HOU])

Bold text denotes World Series Crew Chief, * denotes regular season Crew Chief, ^1st^ denotes first postseason assignment; `1st WS` denotes first World Series assignment. Per UEFL Rule 4-3-c, all umpires selected to appear in the World Series shall receive four bonus points for this appearance; crew chiefs shall receive one additional bonus point for this role (five points total). Officials assigned to replay review (without an on-field role) only do not receive points for this role.

This is the first Fall Classic for Timmons and Fairchild.  It's the second appearance for Reynolds and Danley.  It's the third time around for Culbreth.  Barrett and Nelson are here for the fourth time.  This marks the second time Reynolds, Nelson and Barrett worked together on the grandest stage. The trio officiated the 2014 World Series.

Greg Gibson follows West with Near-Perfecto in NLCS

Greg Gibson capped off Game 7 of the Dodgers-Brewers National League Championship Series with a 99.3% score behind home plate, echoing umpire Joe West's similar near-perfect feat in the ALCS earlier in the week. Gibson saw 142 callable pitches and missed just one of them, making Gibson and West the only two umpires in UEFL postseason history to call games with just one pitch in error.

Had West not achieved his 159-of-160 (99.4%) game in Game 3 of the ALCS in Houston, Gibson's mark would have set a UEFL record; as it stands, Gibson finds himself in second place behind West, having seen 18 less pitches than West (141/142 = 99.3%).
Related Post: Joe West Sets % Record in Near-Perfect Game in ALCS (10/16/18).

Gibson did set a new record, however, for longest consecutive innings of perfection; he took a perfect score into the bottom of the 9th inning Saturday night at Miller Park, where only a Clayton Kershaw 1-0 offering to Brewers batter Jesus Aguilar, who ultimately struck out swinging, stood in the way of numerical exactitude. Kershaw's 1-0 pitch, ruled a strike, was located just one tenth of an inch outside of the borderline range.

The NLCS has been the only series, other than the one-off Wild Card Games, to go the distance thus far in the 2018 postseason, and Gibson therefore has been the only umpire to officiate a winner-take-all game for a multi-game series (e.g., Division Series and League Championship Series rounds). In such a pivotal game, though the playing score may not have dictated its importance, it speaks well that the most statistically accurate umpiring plate performance of the series belonged to its Game 7 umpire.

Discussion of 2018 AL and NL Championship Series

Join us for discussion of the 2018 American League and National League Championship Series.

Umpires Scott Barry (NL, LAD@MIL) and James Hoye (AL, HOU@BOS) are game one plate umpires; Gerry Davis (NLCS) and Joe West (ALCS) are umpire crew chiefs.
Related: 2018 League Championship Series Umpires (10/11/18).

Home plate umpire performance is listed following the completion of each contest according to UEFL f/x (Statcast/pitch f/x data and application of UEFL Rules 6-2-b-a [horizontal bound, "Kulpa Rule"] and 6-2-b-b [vertical strike zone, "Miller Rule"]). Fouls, swinging strikes, balls batted into play, and hit-by-pitches are excluded from the analysis. Pitch plot/graphics are included via the "pfx" link for illustrative purposes only.
Related Post: UEFL f/x vs K-Zone and the Player-Umpire Disconnect (How #s work) (10/4/18).

- 10/12 LAD@MIL Gm 1: Scott Barry: pfx. 110/112 Balls + 43/48 Strikes = 153/160 = 95.6%. +1 MIL.

- 10/13 LAD@MIL Gm 2: Alan Porter: pfx. 101/101 Balls + 45/48 Strikes = 146/149 = 98.0%. +1 LAD.
- 10/13 HOU@BOS Gm 1: James Hoye: pfx. 136/137 Balls + 61/67 Strikes = 197/204 = 96.6%. +3 HOU.

- 10/14 HOU@BOS Gm 2: Vic Carapazza: pfx. 107/108 Balls + 43/47 Strikes = 150/155 = 96.8%. +3 HOU.

- 10/15 MIL@LAD Gm 3: Gerry Davis: pfx. 87/91 Balls + 47/50 Strikes = 134/141 = 95.0%. +1 MIL.

- 10/16 BOS@HOU Gm 3: Joe West: pfx. 105/105 Balls + 54/55 Strikes = 159/160 = 99.4%. +1 BOS.
- 10/16 MIL@LAD Gm 4: Hunter Wendelstedt: pfx. 130/131 Balls + 57/62 Strikes = 187/193 = 96.9%. +0 Nu.

- 10/17 MIL@LAD Gm 5: Jim Wolf: pfx. 83/84 Balls + 45/48 Strikes = 128/132 = 97.0%. +0 Nu.
- 10/17 BOS@HOU Gm 4: Mark Carlson: pfx. 130/130 Balls + 58/61 Strikes = 188/191 = 98.4%. +1 BOS.

- 10/18 BOS@HOU Gm 5: Chris Guccione: pfx. 84/85 Balls + 43/47 Strikes = 127/132 = 96.2%. +1 BOS.
Series Complete (ALCS BOS Over HOU 4-1): 821/842 = 97.5%. Net Skew +3 HOU.

- 10/19 LAD@MIL Gm 6: Brian Gorman: pfx. 110/111 Balls + 44/51 Strikes = 154/162 = 95.1%. +0 Nu.
- 10/20 LAD@MIL Gm 7*: Greg Gibson: pfx. 87/87 Balls + 54/55 Strikes = 141/142 = 99.3%. +1 LA.
Series Complete (NLCS LAD Over MIL 4-3): 1043/1079 = 96.7%. Net Skew +0 Neutral.

Note: The highest plate score during the 2017 AL/NLCS was Chad Fairchild's 97.4% (ALCS Gm 1).
The highest plate score during the 2017 Postseason was Chad Fairchild's 97.4% (ALCS Gm 1).
The highest plate score during the 2018 Postseason, thus far, was Jim Wolf's 98.8% (AL WC Gm).

Live Blog: Join the CCS Crew LIVE for postseason discussion and analysis (requires Java):

Froemming - Machado Should Have Been Ejected

Former 37-year MLB umpire Bruce Froemming, who has officiated the third-most postseason games behind Gerry Davis (NLCS) and Joe West (ALCS), admitted he was "disappointed" that Davis' crew failed to eject Dodgers shortstop Manny Machado Tuesday night for kicking Brewers first baseman Jesus Aguilar, or otherwise impose on-field discipline or communication as to address Machado's unsporting conduct.
Related Post: A Kick Too Far? Manny Machado's History of Misconduct (10/17/18).

Froemming said he would have tossed Manny.

Froemming would know—he and Jerry Crawford are tied for the most National League Championship Series appearances of all-time with 10 NLCS assignments. He, West, and Klem are also the only three Major League umpires with more than 5,000 games of regular season experience (Froemming worked 5,163).

In an interview with Milwaukee's WTMJ-4, Froemming said, "I was disappointed to be honest about it...you didn't see anything done," and told the local news outlet that if he had been on the field, Machado would have been ejected, but, ever-true to the educational role associated with a name that once shared a place with Joe Brinkman atop the "Brinkman-Froemming Umpire School" name, turned his condemnation and dismay into a teachable moment:

It was flagrant and as an official, it's your job to protect the other players and what he did with Aguilar was uncalled for...For trying to hurt another individual you could eject them, absolutely. 

After his retirement from on-field officiating, Froemming joined MLB's Umpiring Department in 2008 as a Special Assistant to the Vice President (at the time, VP of Umpiring Mike Port, until that position was eliminated). Froemming's last season in the position was 2016 and the present VPs of record that oversee umpires are Peter Woodfork (Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations) and, naturally, Chief Baseball Officer Joe Torre (formerly Executive Vice President of Baseball Operations). More on the umpiring department's current supervisory structure and the former role held by then-disciplinarian Joe Garagiola at the following link.
Related Post: CC Meta Game - Is Open Season on Umpires MLB Ploy? (10/10/18).

MLB opted to fine Machado $10,000 for his actions. With Machado earning $16 million in 2018, this $10,000 fine represents 0.0625% of Machado's yearly wage (prior to endorsements). In other words, for a person earning a $50,000 annual income, a 0.0625% fine corresponds to a financial penalty of $31.25.

As we've stated several times, fines alone are fairly meaningless to players already drawing exorbitant salaries. As Carlos Gomez said last month, "If they want to fine me, it's fine. I'm rich."
Related Post: Fined - Carlos Gomez to Appeal Financial Penalty (9/25/18).

Plate Meeting Podcast 6M - A Postseason with Bob D

In this sixth episode of The Plate Meeting, a LF Umpire Podcast from Close Call Sports, Bob Davidson joins us for a postseason discussion about umpire Joe West's historic ALCS plate, Angel Hernandez's bounce-back ALDS Game 4 after three overturned calls during Game 3, Brian Knight's untimely foot injury, and, of course, a few umpiring stories along the way.

Click the below "play" button to hear Episode 6 - West Nears Perfection and Postseason Musings with Bob Davidson, or visit the show online at https://anchor.fm/the-plate-meeting to subscribe. The Plate Meeting is also available through the iTunes store's podcasts section (The Plate Meeting on iTunes), Google Podcasts, TuneIn, and other podcast providers listed on the Anchor.fm page.

Additional Links, Videos, and Other Media:
The following section contains relevant links, footnotes, or additional commentary relative to subjects discussed on the show. Click the following links for this episode to access the relevant videos.

The Plate Meeting is brought to you by OSIP, where Outstanding Sportsmanship Is Paramount.

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Related Link: Joe West Sets % Record in Near-Perfect Game in ALCS (10/16/18).

West's Upheld Fan Interference Call is Growth Opportunity

MLB's problem Wednesday night was not that RF Umpire Joe West ruled Astros batter Jose Altuve out for spectator interference against Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts, it's that replay couldn't produce ample video evidence with which to review the call with any meaningful level of conclusiveness. West's call stood, and, right or not, it speaks to a technological shortcoming to one extreme puts all of baseball's video engineers on notice, while, to the other extreme, begs the question, "why even have replay at all?"

Did a fan interfere with Betts in Houston?

The Play: With one out and one on (R1), Astros batter Altuve hit a 2-1 fastball from Red Sox pitcher Rick Porcello to deep right field, where Boston' Betts jumped at the wall in an attempt to catch Altuve's fly ball, and, in doing so, made contact with fans similarly attempting to catch the batted ball.

The Call: RF Umpire West ruled the play not simply spectator interference, but specifically interference with a fielder whose opportunity to catch a batted ball was prevented. Accordingly, West enforced the prescribed penalty of nullifying the act by declaring Altuve out and placing baserunner Springer back at first base. Upon Replay Review, West's call stood; instead of a potential two-run home run, Houston did not score a single run during the inning. Naturally, Houston lost the game by two runs.

SIDEBAR: This isn't West's first fan interference out rodeo. On September 4, 2011, West ejected Phillies Manager Charlie Manuel for arguing an instant replay ruling that resulted in a fan interference out call in right field when Florida fans similarly interfered with the fielder's ability to catch a live ball.
Related Video: West ejects Manuel for arguing fan interference on Pence's fly ball (9/4/11).

The Rule: By now, we all know that "spectator interference occurs when a spectator (or an object thrown by the spectator) hinders a player’s attempt to make a play on a live ball, by going onto the playing field, or reaching out of the stands and over the playing field" (and 6.01(e)'s approved ruling, "If spectator interference clearly prevents a fielder from catching a fly ball, the umpire shall declare the batter out").

Diagram depicting where a fan may legally be.

Precedent: And from our repository of fan interference discussions, we know that the playing field area is considered everything from the base of the padding on the outfield wall extended vertically upward. If the fan remains on the spectator side of this plane, there is no interference. if the fan breaches this plane—even by a fingernail—and subsequently hinder's a player's attempt to make a play on a live ball, then this illegal act qualifies as interference.

Now, I'd like to point out one key piece of information, regardless of West's call. Notice the annotated interference diagram, taken from a Padres-Rockies game earlier this season. Notice anything interesting, as compared to what we saw in Houston Wednesday night?

Is this really a useful angle for this play?

All About The Angle: In Colorado, during the regular season, we were treated to a camera angle fairly perpendicular to the relative boundary plane for this play. We're essentially looking "down the line" so to speak such that we can better determine whether the fan was on the legal (right) or illegal (left) side of the boundary plane.

In Houston, during the penultimate round of the postseason, we had absolutely no broadcast footage of a camera along the fence-line. Instead, we're treated to competing views taken from across the playing field such that judging depth becomes a most improbable task.

In comparing Wednesday's Houston play to 2011's Florida play, the biggest help to West in 2011 was that the fans reached below the height of the wall. Had the fans remained above the height of the wall, a similar angle confoundment may have occurred.

How far is this fan reaching past the wall?

Physically and visually, the higher atop the wall the fans reach, the more difficult it is to discern whether or not their arms or hands have broken the boundary plane. It goes without saying that the plane extends vertically upward an infinite distance; if a stadium was so designed, a fan sitting in the front row of the second deck could potentially commit spectator interference. And speaking of stadium design...why even have fans in a position to interfere at all? But that's another topic for another day.

For an example of this version of parallax, consider this August 2017 play from AT&T Park where a fan reached to catch a batted ball.

The fan's arm overhangs the green roof.

Ground rules aside (in San Francisco, the rule is "home run" if the ball lands on any fair part of the green metal roof, making right field at AT&T Park one of the easiest situations to officiate as fan interference is highly unlikely to occur except as it relates to fair/foul), the spectator is clearly reaching above the green metal roof, and by at least a half-arm's length. It's difficult to tell, and not at all clear nor convincing from the first angle taken from what looks to be foul territory behind home plate or first base.

The only predictable part about this play, given the replays provided, was that it resulted in a "call stands" outcome. There is absolutely no way that Replay Official James Hoye could realistically, conclusively, or convincingly find enough evidence to confirm or overturn West's on-field ruling based on the poor angles given.

In the postseason, if baseball wants replay to work, the sport has to do better. Otherwise, get rid of it.

SIDEBAR: Houston last fell prey to a spectator interference air out after Replay Review on July 25, 2018, at Coors Field.
Related Post: Fact Check - Bregman's Fan Interference Out (7/26/18).

Video as follows: