Addison Barger has done nothing but contribute positively for the Toronto Blue Jays all season long. In fact, he is currently boasting an OPS of 1.009 in this year's postseason, and he scored one run for Toronto on Friday night in Game 6 of the World Series to at least put some pressure on Yoshinobu Yamamoto. And then in the ninth inning, Barger appeared to have yet another magical October moment, as he hit a fly ball to deep left field with one runner on and no outs.
The ball Barger hit looked like it had a chance to get out of the park. But it did not carry that far to tie the game. Instead, it wedged straight underneath the padding on the outfield wall. As a result, the Dodgers called for a dead ball, and the umpires ruled it as such (correctly so), limiting Barger to a ground-rule double and stranding lead runner Myles Straw at third in the process.
Fans on social media were up in arms; Blue Jays fans, in particular, are wondering why in the world the ball was ruled dead when it was right there to be fielded. But the rulebook states that balls such as the one Barger hit are, indeed, ground-rule doubles.
“Was able to get the ball out just fine after he stopped waving his hands,” X user @DamnItdale88 wrote.
“The luck that Dodgers have had is crazy. Even God wants them to win. Nothing to do when God isn't on your side I guess…” @swarnadc added.
“Why not just have the bottom of the wall be a strip of plastic or something with no give so balls don't get lodged,” @Space__Pug furthered.
“He played the ball while Barger was still running the bases and crossed home, should that not negate the “lodged” rule? The ball was clearly playable and he should’ve just left it entirely for the umps to decide but, it was playable. Umpires just saved LA,” @jhart9243 expressed.
Blue Jays lose on Addison Barger's baserunning gaffe
In Game 3, the Blue Jays couldn't take advantage of plenty of chances to take the lead, as their aggressive baserunning got punished by heads-up fielding from the Dodgers.
In Game 6, Barger's resilience and mental fortitude will be tested. To end the game, he was caught out on second base after Kike Hernandez threw a bullet to Miguel Rojas with Barger straying too far away from the base. The Blue Jays vets have to reel the 25-year-old outfielder in and tell him to just shrug off a blunder of that magnitude, as they still have a Game 7 to play.
