In the bottom of the fifth inning in ALCS Game 4 on Thursday night, the Texas Rangers trailed the Houston Astros 7-3 but had a slight recovery underway. Leody Taveras and Marcus Semien singled to start the inning, bringing superstar shortstop Corey Seager to the plate. Seager, who had hit a home run in his last at-bat, got his turn this time. And it ended up being a double play after the replay review negated the first call of safety at first base when Semien slid back to first base to avoid Jose Abreu’s tag.
Abreu tagged Semien. Somehow. It seems pretty clear that he left the batting glove hanging out of Semien’s back pocket, and that was it. Regard:
We’ve seen players awarded first base when just their jersey was hit by a pitch, but we also know that MLB clarified in an audit that the strings hanging from a defender’s glove don’t count and the actual Glove must touch the player for it to be a successful day. Where does a batting glove that hangs out of the pocket fall?
Apparently it counts as a runner’s mark. Otherwise the call would not have been canceled.
“You want to go back to a liner,” Semien said after the game. “I got caught leaning forward a little bit and tried to come back. Just bad luck.”
Here are two definitions from the official MLB rule book that come closest to answering this question.
A TAG is the action of a fielder touching a base with his body while holding the ball securely and firmly in his hand or glove; or touching a runner with the ball or with the hand or glove holding the ball (without hanging laces alone) while holding the ball securely and firmly in the hand or glove. However, it is not a tag if the fielder drops the ball at the same time or immediately after touching a base or runner. To determine the validity of the tag, the fielder must hold the ball long enough to demonstrate complete control of the ball. If the fielder has made a hit and drops the ball while making a throw after the hit, the hit is deemed to have been made. For the purposes of this definition, any jewelry worn by a player (e.g. necklaces, bracelets, etc.) must not represent any part of the player’s body.
TOUCH. Touching a player or referee means touching any part of the body or any uniform or equipment worn by the player (but not any jewelry (e.g. necklaces, bracelets, etc.) worn by a player). (Contact) Comment: Equipment is deemed to be worn by a player or referee if it comes into contact with the intended location on his or her person.
Note that the bracket indicating that the laces on the glove do not count. This addition was made in 2016 due to some controversial iterations. We see that jewelry doesn’t count, but a batting glove is not jewelry. It’s not his uniform either. It’s a piece of equipment, but when it’s in his pocket, it’s not worn.
This is where things get tricky and MLB probably needs to clarify: Note the last comment in the “Touch” section. Specifically: Equipment is deemed to be worn by a player or referee when it comes into contact with the intended location on his or her person.
This was a batting glove and the intended place on a player’s body is his hands. If not on his hands, isn’t he wearing a batting glove? I think the argument against this would be that Semien wanted to put the batting gloves in his back pocket, so are they technically worn?
We will certainly hear from Major League Baseball on this issue, and while it may seem minor, you can bet there will be consequences. Players won’t be as generous with batting gloves hanging out of their pockets in big spots, you can be sure of that.