The umpires should have known this.
It’s not often you see a player hold a bag with his helmet, but on Thursday, that’s exactly what happened with the Cubs’ Pete Crow-Armstrong against the Mets.
But according to MLB, that bit of ingenuity actually should not have been allowed.
During the sixth inning, Crow-Armstrong extended the Cubs’ lead with an RBI double. And as he prepared to slide into second, he removed his helmet with his right hand and then extended that arm, using the helmet to hold the bag.
Though a tag was applied, the umpires on the field counted the helmet as part of Crow-Armstrong and ruled him safe.
The Mets broadcast thought the play and ruling were odd. So it reached out to MLB for an official explanation, and that’s when it was reported that Crow-Armstrong would have been ruled out if the Mets challenged the play. The reasoning: You can’t use equipment to gain an advantage.
Basically, if the helmet had counted as an extension of the body, players would also be able to slide into bases with their helmet on steal attempts. That specific scenario is not in MLB’s rule book, but we can probably expect to see it added next year.
The Mets were able to get out of that inning without Crow-Armstrong scoring.
Still, MLB fans had plenty of thoughts on the ruling and how the umpires missed a common-sense ruling there. Mets fans also weren’t pleased that a review would have been needed to overturn the call given what happened on Wednesday night.
