Holliday Never Touched the Plate

As the Rockies get set to take on the Red Sox in the World Series, the key replay of the play that got Colorado into the post season remains missing. The “reverse angle replay” of the Rockies’ Matt Holliday’s slide into home vs. the Padres is still missing despite the fact that it could potentially provide a one viewpoint conclusive proof of the fact that Holliday never touched the plate. In a show of sympathy, Dairies across America have placed pictures of the missing replay on milk containers everywhere.

If you have any information about the whereabouts of this replay you are urged to contact this website.

Or, if you just want to know more about this play, then please check out the rest of the site.

Tags: Conspiracy?, MLB, TBS by admin
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In an interview with me today, Jim Evans, the man behind the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring, discussed the topic of obstruction as it applied to Matt Holliday’s slide into home and Michael Barrett’s attempt to block the plate in the recent Rockies vs. Padres one game playoff. At the core of the conversation were baseball’s Rule 7.06(b) and the definition of obstruction under Rule 2.0.

If you google 7.06(b) today, you will find that many of the references listed are from discussion forums, or even websites such as this one, where the rule is cited by armchair umpires across America. In attempt to present an authoritative voice on the topic, I decided to contact Mr. Evans who was gracious enough to spend a few minutes of his time discussing the topic with me. According to MLB.com, the Jim Evans Academy of Professional Umpiring is one of “only two umpiring schools approved by The Professional Baseball Umpire Corp. (PBUC), which oversees all professional baseball umpires.” It should therefore go without saying that Mr. Evans is an expert on this subject and that his opinion is a well informed one, to say the least.

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See the play this interview refers to below (with added commentary)

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I informed Mr. Evans in advance that I had no intention of asking him to comment directly on if Matt Holliday was safe or out. It’s not that I wasn’t curious about his thoughts on the play, but I felt that asking him to specifically comment on the disputed safe call would be inappropriate. My intention for this interview was to explore only the issue of obstruction and so I limited my questions solely to that area. As such, Mr. Evans interview here should NOT been seen as an endorsement of this site’s position that Holliday missed the plate. The interview went on for about 10 minutes but, due to space considerations, I will only present the pertinent excerpts here. However, I hope to make the entire audio file available if I can figure out how to do that.

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Holliday Never Touched the Plate . COM: What’s happened is with this play there’s a lot of people on the web who have called (the play) into question, and are searching the major league rules and are citing the rules that apply to the play. And, when you look for the comments on the web via search engine, its really hard to get to the truth and I’m wondering if you could tell me what you think the applicable rules were on that play. I’m assuming of course that you are familiar with it (the play.)

Jim Evans: Yes. The catcher was totally within his rights in what he did. There’s totally no obstruction. Anybody who says that there’s obstruction has no experience in enforcing official baseball rules. Unquestionably no obstruction. The catcher was in the act of fielding the ball . And in section 2 he’s given full right to occupy that position if he’s in the act of fielding the ball. And so he had a right to be there. The fact that he did not have the ball at the time of the contact is ridiculous because he cannot vaporize, if the ball had left his possession and he continued to lie there and block the plate now you have obstruction. But as long as the aftermath is immediate like that, its nowhere near obstruction. There’s a reference in the rule book to obstruction when the example they give is when a ball is hit by the first baseman, and he dives for it, and loses it, and then continues to lie on the ground and impedes the progress of the runner from first, then you have obstruction. But the key to it is if he continues to lie on the ground. So the play at the plate wasn’t even , obstruction wasn’t even considered. You have hundreds of those plays a season happen, and there’s no obstruction.

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Holliday Never Touched the Plate . COM: I just want to thank you for taking the time to clear this up because it is a topic that is receiving a lot of discussion on the web…

Jim Evans: I’ve been in baseball for over thirty years, teaching and I’ve got the Academy and everything… Anybody that thinks that’s obstruction doesn’t know much about the professional enforcement (of the baseball rules). There may be some rule somewhere that I’m not even aware of in high school or college, and I know there’s some safety rules involved and must slide rules, you’ve got to slide directly into the base, and all kinds of different things. And so, you know I don’t claim to know or be an expert on high school, college, federation, or youth baseball rules, but if you’re enforcing the official baseball rule book, that is not, definitely not obstruction. He’s in the act of fielding the ball. He has a right to be there.

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After reading this I hope you can see that all arguments along the lines of “Holliday was safe because Barrett obstructed the plate” have just been fully and totally negated. Really. I don’t think that you will be able to find a more credible source anywhere than the man who is responsible for running one of the only two camps that trains MLB’s umpires. That I am the one who had to seek out Mr. Evans as a source to comment on obstruction as it relates to Holliday’s slide and Barrett’s block is further evidence of the lack of coverage that the media has afforded this disputed call.

If you still want to claim that Barrett obstructed Holliday, you are essentially saying that you know more about professional baseball rules and their enforcement than Mr. Evans does, in which case you are urged to use this site’s contact form to set up an interview.

Henceforward, all comments about blocking and obstruction of the plate as they relate to Matt Holliday’s slide and Michael Barrett’s block should be referred to this page.

ADMIN

http://www.HollidayNeverTouchedThePlate.com

Tags: Baseball Rules, Obstruction by admin
30 Comments »

Here is conclusive video proof that Matt Holliday never touched the plate. Using a reverse angle still frame that surfaced on MLB.com it is now possible to show what was happening from the viewpoint of Tim McClelland. Unfortunately the video that the still frame came from has yet to appear, so until it does, this is clip is 97% the best analysis that can be done. (note: The sound is a bit out of sync at times but I think you’ll be able to follow along.)

If you can watch this video and still think that Holliday touched the plate then you probably think O.J. Simpson is innocent also. Well maybe that’s a little harsh but you get the idea. Holliday’s hand clearly comes out from underneath Michael Barrett’s foot before he could have touched the plate. Barrett’s heel remains flatly on the ground while his foot blocks Holliday’s hand all the way beyond the plate as Holliday continued his slide.If and when the reverse angle video ever does surface (and just where the heck is it right now?) it could potentially be the only “single shot” proof that Holliday missed the plate. Until then, the best that can be done is this multiple angle, cross referenced, replay that clearly shows, Matt Holliday never touched the plate.

Tags: HNTTP's Videos, McClelland, Video posts by admin
35 Comments »

On Friday October 12th, MLB Advanced Media filed multiple copyright infringement complaints with YouTube that brought down the links to three of Holliday Never Touched the Plate’s (HNTTP) videos.  The complaints were filed despite the fact that no copyright infringement took place (since the use of the original source media was permissible under normal copyright law given the context of said use.) Basically this means that, according to MLB Advanced Media, if this site wants to examine the question of if Matt Holliday missed the plate, it must somehow do so without using the original video of the slide or any related source material. Maybe I should hire a sketch artist?

In all likelihood, these copyright complaints were not filed in an episode of targeted enforcement to curb discussion of the issue on this site, but rather the complaints were almost certainly filed as part of a broader effort to scrub illegal MLB content from YouTube. I can imagine some intern having the job of searching through every video that incorporates MLB footage and simply sending copyright infringement notices to YouTube on all of them without even bothering to evaluate the context of the use of said footage. Of course the vast majority of baseball highlights that are posted on YouTube are in fact in violation of copyright regulations and MLB Advanced Media is entirely within their rights to ask that they be taken down. However by including this site’s video in the complaint, MLB Advanced Media has cast an overly broad net.

Some may wonder why this site’s videos are hosted on YouTube and not on the site server. While there are several reasons for this arrangement, two stand out. The first is that it’s cheaper. This is a non-commercial site. There are no products being sold, no paid referral links, not even google adwords. This means that the site has no income stream. Without the ability to raise cash, this site would be unable to afford the bandwidth costs that the viewing of large media files would incur. The second reason relates to usability factors. Because they are so easy to use for viewers and content posters alike, third party sites such as YouTube offer a viable alternative to self hosting video on a dedicated server.

The following affected videos are now hosted on Google as of Sunday October 14th.
Matt Holliday Never Touched the Plate
Multi-angle: Matt Holliday Never Touched the Plate
and
Matt Holliday Never Touched The Plate - Three Camera angles

I will continue to try and keep these videos up as they are essential for the public discussion of whether or not Matt Holliday touched the plate. Imagine trying to determine the answer to that question without being able to see the replays and you’ll see why they are needed.

Tags: HNTTP's Videos, MLB by admin
2 Comments »

ESPN has the best clip of Holliday’s slide that I’ve been able to find on the web. It’s has good resolution, it is broadcast in slow motion, but more importantly it shows the whole slide. The best clip is shot down the left field line which lets you really see just how much Holliday shifted his direction of travel when he dove to the right to avoid the tag. While you do not get a clear view of the plate from above, you do see the whole slide from one vantage point which establishes a “master shot“. This allows you to select key reference points from the master shot that appear in other camera angles, such as the frame when the dropped baseball hits the ground by Barrett’s knee, so that you can match the clips from other cameras with the master shot footage to show what was happening at the same instant in time from a different angle. These clips were the two main source clips for the first two frame by frame breakdowns that I posted on my the video proof page. Without this view, I don’t think the case could be made that Holliday missed the plate. But with its clear view of the distance between Holliday’s body and the plate, its clear depiction of Barrett’s heel on the ground sweeping around the plate, and its showing of the path that Holliday’s left hand took after the slide, this clip makes the foundation of the case that Holliday missed the plate.

Something I found particularly puzzling was ESPN analyst Tim Kurkjian saying after the slide clips play,

I don’t think he (Holliday) got to the plate either but its inconclusive.

I guess ESPN with all its cameras, and all its producers, and all its underpaid interns, wasn’t able to cobble enough footage from different angles to make a conclusive replay. Or is that what they would like us to believe?

Tags: Video posts by admin
2 Comments »

Matt Holliday never touched the plate. Period. The 2007 National League Wildcard one game playoff between the Padres and the Rockies was decided on a play that will live forever in the minds of baseball fans everywhere. With the score tied at 8, and with no outs in the bottom of the 13th inning, Colorado’s Matt Holliday stood on third while Jamey Carroll stepped to the plate to face the all time saves leader Trevor Hoffman. Carroll hit a short fly to shallow right that the Padres’ Brian Giles fielded on the run before throwing home as Matt Holliday tagged up and lumbered towards the plate. What transpired next was perhaps the most influential blown call in any major sport in recent history. Watch below and judge for yourself.

As the Padres’s catcher Michael Barrett sets up for the throw, he lets Holliday have a clear shot at the plate. But at the last second, while fielding the ball, Barrett swings his foot over to block the plate from Holliday’s outstretched hand. You can clearly see Barrett’s foot go down in advance of the slide and watch as Holliday’s hand is completely blocked from the plate. Holliday slides well past home, deflected away from the baseline by Barrett’s block at an angle that makes it impossible for him to touch home plate.

But, as Barrett tries to field the short hop, the ball pops loose. Barrett scrambles after the ball and begins to crawl/lunge towards Holliday to apply the tag as Holliday just lays on the ground dazed after taking a blow to the chin during his headfirst slide. Meanwhile the Rockies’ on deck batter isn’t jumping up and down in celebration. Why? Because he had a better view of the play than the umpire and knows that Holliday missed the plate.

Then comes the blown call that decided the game. The home plate umpire, Tim McClelland, meekly signals Holliday safe and the game is over. There is no demonstrative pointing at the plate that would signal that McClelland saw Holliday touch the dish. In fact there’s not much of anything in McClelland’s call, no conviction, no emotion, and certainly no accuracy. Its as if he just sort of said “close enough, let’s all go home.” and with that the game was over. Rockies win, Padres lose, thanks for playing. If this situation had played out in the 50’s or 60’s this would have been a different story. With no clear pictures to illustrate the play, the arguments would never be settled, the protagonists would never agree, and if we were lucky we’d get some confession that the runner missed the plate 30 years after the fact. But in 2007, with TV cameras rolling, with frame by frame analysis, and with the video clip spreading across the web, there’s no avoiding the plain simple truth. Matt Holiday never touched the plate.

Tags: Video posts by admin
9 Comments »