July 20, 2010

Tigers Outfielder Falls Through Bullpen Door: Cleveland Indians third baseman Jhonny Peralta scored an inside-the-park homer Sunday when outfielder Ryan Raburn fell outside-the-park through a bullpen door trying to catch a deep fly to right center. See the video.

posted by rcade to baseball at 11:29 AM - 8 comments

If A.J. Burnett had been in the bullpen, that incident would have never happened. The door would have already been demolished and replaced with a sheet of plywood.

posted by beaverboard at 12:13 PM on July 20, 2010

This story makes me wonder whether it's fair for the Tigers to pay a price for a mechanical defect in Cleveland's ballpark.

posted by rcade at 12:15 PM on July 20, 2010

This story makes me wonder whether it's fair for the Tigers to pay a price for a mechanical defect in Cleveland's ballpark.

That's what I thought, but I did not see anyone argue for anything. Maybe since the ball went towards left field, everyone figured that the door opening had no effect on the outcome of the play. Cleveland should be fined or something though.

posted by Aardhart at 12:27 PM on July 20, 2010

The description of the video leaves a bit to be desired:

7/18/10: Ryan Raburn can't corral Jhonny Peralta's fly ball to center, resulting in an inside-the-park home run that scores three.

No mention of a door anywhere.

posted by trox at 01:14 PM on July 20, 2010

Ryan Raburn can't corral Jhonny Peralta's fly ball to center, resulting in an inside-the-park home run that scores three.

I don't know. I was a little disappointed. I expected Raburn to fall through the door, the door closes, and then he has to open the door to return to the field. This was more like he hits the door and he kind of falls in the doorway before getting back up.

I guess I expected too much.

posted by justgary at 03:07 PM on July 20, 2010

While having Raburn crash through the wall was extremely frustrating given it led to Peralta making it all the way around the bases at a pace only a bit faster than Bengie Molina speed, it wasn't quite as frustrating as the general lackluster play the Tigers exhibited as they were swept.

posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 05:02 PM on July 20, 2010

Hard for me to tell if the play would have gone a different way if he hadn't fallen through the door. Presumably, he would have sort of bounced off the wall (the way players do every day) and been able to recover the ball more swiftly than the left fielder (?). On the other hand, Raburn hits the wall and falls and he's still going to need to get up to recover the ball.

I don't know - somebody with a better eye than me care to speculate?

posted by Joey Michaels at 05:03 PM on July 20, 2010

I expected Raburn to fall through the door, the door closes, and then he has to open the door to return to the field.

After jiggling the handle, fumbling for his keys, ringing the doorbell, etc.

posted by DrJohnEvans at 08:22 PM on July 21, 2010

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