Last week Howie Kendrick of the Angels hit an inside the park home run, or so he thought. That home run was taken away Friday and ruled an error on Kansas City right fielder Jose Guillen.
The MLB deserves credit for overruling the official scorer. It was a play that should have been made.
Guillen had a long way to go to get to the ball but got there in time and should have made the play.
Instead, Guillen dropped the ball and it rolled to wall. Kendrick crossed home plate standing up for the "home run."
Official scorers are giving hits out like candy on Halloween these days and it needs to stop. I don't care how much you like a player, if he misses a play he should have made, it is an error.
If a ball is hit close to a fielder and he doesn't make the play, that's an error. No questions asked.
If a guy can't play defense, he shouldn't be in the big leagues. This is professional baseball. These guys are paid a ton of money; these plays need to made.
I for one am sick of seeing the shortstop moving to his left and let a playable ball go under his glove only to have the pitcher have to suck it up and take the hit.
No wonder pitchers are so obsessed with strikeouts. They are afraid of throwing groundballs because they turn into hits, even if it is a play that should have been made.
Defense is just as important as offense and the best defensive players deserve recognition.
The cheap hits need to stop. Official scorers need to start giving errors where they're deserved and not worry about what the hitter thinks of it.
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