How do you not touch third base though?
Midland RockHounds center fielder Denzel Clarke had to literally be restrained by both his teammates and coaches following a walk-off home run being called off because, get this: He didn’t step on third base as he was running around the diamond. What was a party for Midland quickly turned into embarrassing pain.
The San Antonio Missions are the Double-A affiliate of the San Diego Padres, while the RockHounds are associated with the Oakland Athletics.
Well, the RockHounds were facing a 4-2 deficit to the Missions in the bottom of the ninth inning, with two outs and two runners on base. Midland’s second baseman Cooper Bowman was up to bat, stepping up as the possible winning run. And on the very first pitch, he knocked one out of the park for the game-winning home run … except, it wasn’t a home run. (RELATED: Phils’ Bryce Harper Comes Up With An Interesting Idea For An In-Season Tournament, But Can Americans Get Down With It?)
As you can imagine, the party was on for the RockHounds. Hell, they even gave Bowman a bath from the water cooler in celebration.
But there was a bit of a problem: Clarke didn’t tag third base. And umpires realized it after San Antonio‘s manager challenged the play, calling off the home run and ruling Clarke out. Neither one of Midland’s runs counted, and as a result, the Missions were given the victory.
From there, all hell nearly broke loose, with an absolutely livid Clarke running over to the umpires to chirp, but from the looks of it, he wanted to do more than just talk.
At one point, Clarke raged and charged at the umpire, which led to several teammates and coaches having to hold him back and calm him down. And although things fortunately didn’t get to the point of violence, it did lead to Clarke being ejected.
WATCH:
In case you missed last night’s wild finish: Cooper Bowman’s walk-off home run was erased because Denzel Clarke of the Midland RockHounds missed third base and was ruled out on appeal, ending the game and reversing the result in favor of San Antonio. @MiLB pic.twitter.com/loHigkYVK6
— San Antonio Missions Baseball (@missionsmilb) June 9, 2024
Just an absolutely wild scene … and who threw the water cooler?
