In fairness to Angel Hernandez - an umpire who might not deserve fairness given how bad he is at his job - I've seen outfielders signal for a "lodged" ball (and get the call) for a hit similar to this plenty of times. And the call for it being lodged shouldn't come down to whether the fielder says it's lodged.

OTOH, he was the umpire furthest from the ball at the time of the call, and he has a penchant for being wrong at the most disruptive times, and the outfielder had no difficulty picking up the ball. So there's that.

The big thing for me is that, if the ball were to be worthy of that ruling, there is absolutely no reason to rush that call. Calling it as lodged before the fielder even gets there is pretty bold, esp. for someone so far away. Give it a few seconds, wait to see the fielder try to get the ball, if it takes any amount of delay then make the call. Nothing is lost from a delayed dead-ball call, in pretty much any dead-ball scenario.

I know I'll be the minority opinion on this, but I think Angel made the right call. Or nearly all of the other times I've seen that call in the past 40 years were also wrong. Basically if the ball doesn't deflect off the padding, it's almost always called a lodge ball, even if the fielder can pull it out with no problem.

I don't know if it's part of the written rule but the unwritten rule at Wrigley was always "signal because if you reach into the ivy, it's live." But of course it's the ump's call whether you signal or not.

Here is the rule.

1. Per rule 5.05 (a) (7), a ball is considered lodged if, in the judgment of the umpire, the natural trajectory of the flight of the ball is interrupted long enough to affect further play. A batted ball that sticks in a fence, scoreboard, shrubbery or vines located on the playing field should be considered a lodged ball. Likewise, a ball that goes behind a field tarp or wall padding without leaving the playing field should also be considered to be lodged. Also, a lodged ball occurs anytime the momentum of a rolling ball is stopped abruptly and sticks or is stuck under the fence padding, shrubbery etc. Runners are awarded two bases when it is rules that the ball is lodged.

2. How easily a ball might be retrieved by the fielder should not factor in the decision as to whether or not to declare a ball as “lodged.”

3. The determination of whether a ball is lodged is subject to Replay Review.

And here is a video of a play in which the ump didn't call the ball lodge, but replay confirmed it as lodge.

I know I'll be the minority opinion on this, but I think Angel made the right call. Or nearly all of the other times I've seen that call in the past 40 years were also wrong. Basically if the ball doesn't deflect off the padding, it's almost always called a lodge ball, even if the fielder can pull it out with no problem.

During the telecast Gary Cohen pointed out that the space under the padding is higher than a baseball, so it's physically impossible for it to get lodged there.

momentum of a rolling ball is stopped abruptly

Seems this was the bigger factor in the call, not that it was actually stuck.

Judgment call for sure, but I wouldn't put this in the "evidence that Angel is terrible" file. There are plenty of clips more worthy.

This is an example of a baseball rule that just isn't what people think it is (see e.g. "out of the basepath", "check swing", or god forbid "tie goes to the runner"). It's entirely possible that the call was right. But it is absolutely not the home plate umpire's call, who is stretching the phrase "in the ballpark" to its outer limits.

During the telecast Gary Cohen pointed out that the space under the padding is higher than a baseball, so it's physically impossible for it to get lodged there.

Yes, and there was another ball hit similarly later in the game that wasn't called a lodged ball.

momentum of a rolling ball is stopped abruptly

Seems this was the bigger factor in the call, not that it was actually stuck.

Judgment call for sure, but I wouldn't put this in the "evidence that Angel is terrible" file. There are plenty of clips more worthy.

The momentum has to stop *and* it has to be stuck, according to the rule. This one doesn't appear to have been stuck. Seems to pretty clearly have been the wrong call.

#8 - Upon review, I agree with your assessment. I parsed the rule poorly.