Kevin Pillar gets hugged during this weird play

Near the end of the Toronto Blue Jays-Tampa Bay Rays game on Sunday, there was a bizarre rundown that ended in a hug between the Jays’ Kevin Pillar and the Rays’ Ryan Webb. But it shouldn’t have ended that way.

There were two outs in the top of the ninth inning, and Pillar was on first with Ryan Webb on the mound for the Rays. Webb turned and threw to first to pick off Pillar, who was too far off the base and got caught in a rundown.

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Most of the rundown play was pretty normal. Webb threw it to Logan Morrison at first base, and when Pillar started to run, Morrison threw it to shortstop Brad Miller. Then Pillar careened back toward first, so Miller threw it to Webb, who had come in to cover first. Pillar spun his wheels toward second again with Webb hot on his heels. Webb threw it to second baseman Logan Forsythe, so Pillar changed direction once again.

It’s the last change of direction that initiated the weirdness. Webb was so close behind Pillar that when Pillar changed directions toward first, he ran directly into Webb, who hadn’t had a chance to get out of the way yet. But instead of trying to move away from the play in action, Webb locked Pillar in a makeshift embrace while continuing to move toward Forsythe, who of course had the ball. Forsythe took advantage and tagged PIllar out, ending the inning.

The umpire called Pillar out almost immediately, which was weird considering this was clearly an obstructed play. Let’s look at the official rules:

OBSTRUCTION is the act of a fielder who, while not in possession of the ball and not in the act of fielding the ball, impedes the progress of any runner.

Webb had thrown the ball to Forsythe when he ran into Pillar, so he was no longer in possession of the ball, nor was he in the act of fielding anymore. He was obligated to get out of the way as soon as he let go of the ball. It doesn’t seem that Webb and Pillar colliding was intentional, especially considering the speed with which everything happened. But once they did run into each other, Webb decided to take advantage of the situation so Forsythe could tag Pillar out, which is absolutely against the rules.

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Why was Pillar called out when a pitcher was obstructing his path to first base? Well, as with many, many rules, it’s up to the umpire to judge what’s happening. From the official rules:

It is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire as to whether a fielder is in the act of fielding a ball.

Maybe the umpire thought that Webb was still in the act of fielding the ball, somehow. That would have to be the umpire’s judgment, because if Webb was in Pillar’s path for any other reason (to stop him from running or even by accident), that’s obstruction.

The bizarre non-call didn’t hurt the Blue Jays in the end. Just three outs after Ryan Webb’s obstructive hug, they won the game 5-1. Though no harm was done, perhaps a few umpires should brush up on the rules of obstruction.

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