Evidence suggests ground-rule double in Vandy-Mizzou game should have been a HR
By David Wasson
Published:
Friday night’s foggy non-finish to the Vanderbilt-Missouri baseball game will be picked up later today (5 pm ET, SEC Network+) after umpires ruled a deep fly ball off the bat of Vandy’s Braden Holcomb in the ninth inning was a ground-rule double instead of a home run.
Statistical evidence on the SEC Network television broadcast suggested that Holcomb’s fly ball traveled 379 feet – plenty long enough to clear the Taylor Stadium fence and count as a three-run homer to give the Commodores a 9-7 lead. But because umpires couldn’t see the ball clear the fence due to the foggy conditions, they re-set Holcomb on second base and delayed the game at that point.
Commodores fan Murray Harris took matters into his own hands after the game suspension, venturing beyond the right-field fence to find what he believed was Holcomb’s home run ball resting at the base of Mizzou’s indoor football facility.
“No doubt,” Harris told Vandy on SI in regard to the idea that Holcomb’s hit was a home run. “I have the ball and took a pic of it at the park. I thought it was gone too. The bullpen said it cleared the fence & Trackman had it going 380 and the fence in that part of the park is 366 feet. I found it at the foot of the indoor football facility out past the right field fence.”
Here’s a photo of the ball:
An APSE national award-winning writer and editor, David Wasson has almost four decades of experience in the print journalism business in Florida and Alabama. His work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times and several national magazines and websites. His Twitter handle: @JustDWasson.
