Leonys Martin: Six Umpires Blow This Trap Call

Leonys Martin made this “catch” for the final out of the seventh inning in tonight’s Rangers/Rays Wild Card tiebreaker in Texas. The missed call cost the Rays a chance to pad their lead for starter David Price in their eventual 5-2 victory. Price pitched a complete game and the Rays advance to play the Indians Wednesday night.

With two outs and Wil Myers on second, Delmon Young hit this sinking liner to Martin in center. It clearly hits the ground before his glove, but the umpires ruled it a catch. We move on. Replay — in some form — will be available for baseball starting in 2014 so in theory Rays manager Joe Maddon would be able to challenge this 365 days from now.

A couple more things to digest here.

Replay or no, six sets of eyes missed this call. That’s a fairly impressive usage of the dreaded “human element.” (If the outfield umpires don’t make this call correctly, why are they used in the first place?)

Second, although this feels like a playoff game, it still falls under regular season rules. The rosters are expanded, yet why are there six umpires? Confusing.