Kosuke Fukudome just stood there, like he wasn't going to accept the call was ball four.
The pitch from Cubs favorite "Stevie" Eyre was extremely close to the strike zone, if not right in the middle of it. And it was as if Fukudome expected a strike to be called, so he started to jog to first and then stopped and stood there, seemingly in disbelief.
He turned back to the umpire, who signaled four fingers. Fukudome put up four to make sure, while Eyre couldn't believe it wasn't called a strike.
Finally Fukudome took off his shin guard and jogged to first while the tying run jogged across the plate after a bases-loaded walk.
I wonder what an umpire hates more: a player who heads to first prematurely to try to coax a call, or one who doesn't run to first as if he couldn't believe it was ball four.
Leave a comment