Despite nearly 200 years of history and more than 235,000 MLB games played, baseball continues to find ways to surprise fans. One very clear instance of bizarre baseball history was made Tuesday night, during the eighth inning of the Marlins’ 6–4 win at the Mets, when Richard Bleier faced Pete Alonso.
After surrendering a two-out base hit to Jeff McNeil, Bleier was called for three balks against Alonso. As a result, McNeil went all the way from first base to home, scoring a run for the Mets over the course of the truly strange at-bat.
Balks are called when an umpire deems a pitcher makes an illegal move that could deceive a baserunner. Often, it is pretty obvious the pitcher has erred. However, Bleier’s illegal movements were very subtle at best, and the Marlins pitcher—who hadn’t been called for a balk in 303 appearances over seven Major League seasons before Tuesday—was not happy at all about the calls.
