Wednesday night, R.A. Dickey threw a one-hitter against the Rays (but not a shutout, because of an unearned run in the ninth inning). Tampa Bay's lone safety came in the first inning, when B.J. Upton hit a high-hopping grounder toward third base.
Here, you can see for yourself what happened. Don't feel like you have to watch too closely the first time; we've got this thing running in an infinity loop ...
That was ruled a base hit by the official scorer. There would not be another.
Now, we saw all this last night. We're seeing it again because, according an Associated Press report, the Mets are going to appeal that ruling to Major League Baseball.
To which a reasonable person might reasonably ask, appeal on what grounds, exactly?
Upton's ball took a high hop. David Wright is a well-trained baseball third baseman. If he thought he could catch the ball with his glove and still have time for an Upton-retiring throw, he would have used his glove. But instead he went for the bare-handed grab, because he figured that was his only chance to throw out Upton.
He didn't snag the baseball. Very few third basemen would have.
This wasn't even close to an error.
It's a shame, because Dickey's incredible five-start run would have been even more incredible if he'd thrown his first no-hitter, and the Mets' second no-hitter, and the Mets' second no-hitter in the last couple of weeks.
But that wasn't an error, and an appeal would look awfully greedy. Because that first Mets no-hitter a couple of weeks ago? It shouldn't have been a no-hitter, because Carlos Beltran's foul ball shouldn't have been a foul ball.
Be careful, Mets. Lest you anger the Baseball Gods.