Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto caught the home plate umpire napping by drawing a walk on ball three during Sunday's game against Washington.
It happened in the bottom of the seventh with one out and the Reds holding a 3-2 lead over the Nationals. The video clearly shows that Votto was given a free pass to first on ball three by home plate umpire Paul Emmel. The ESPN pitch-by-pitch recap of the Nationals-Reds game seems to confirm that Votto never saw ball four:
It is a bit disturbing that Emmel lost count of balls and strikes, which is his most important job, although we would expect an occasional lapse on rare occasions. What is more disturbing, however, is that no one on the field caught the slip-up, as play continued without a single player or coach on either team realizing what had happened. The Reds went on to score five more runs in the bottom of the seventh on the way to an 8-2 win.
We could use some answers from everyone involved, because this is something that should never happen.
[MLB, ESPN]
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
