Dave Martinez Mad Enough About Call to Give Presentation With Visual Aids

The Houston Astros walked off the Washington Nationals last night on a controversial play and Dave Martinez was so incensed by the umpiring crew that he printed out a picture and brought it to his postgame press gaggle.

With the bases loaded and one out, Houston’s Jake Meyer’s drilled one to shortstop CJ Abrams, who fielded it and threw a strike to catcher Keibert Ruiz. Ruiz’s throw to first base arrived at the same time as Meyers and was unable to be corralled by Michael Chavis.

Martinez and the Nationals believed Meyers should have been called for running outside of the baseline and obstructing the play. The visual evidence is pretty damning.

“There it is right there,” Martinez said. “Take a look at it. Is that on the line? I don’t think so. I’m over this play. Seriously. They need to fix the rule. If this is what the umpire sees that he’s running down the line, I’m tired of it. I’m tired of it. Fix it. We lost the game, and he had nothing to say about it because he can’t make the right call. Brutal.”

Washington is 26-40 and 15 games out of first place so one has to credit the skipper for keeping the same energy when a 70-win season might be out of reach. The worst team in the division just made a great point.