Yadier Molina has played 19 seasons in the big leagues. He knows a balk when he sees one, and apparently, he knows it better than an entire umpiring crew.
The Pittsburgh Pirates were upset on Tuesday when they thought they had Molina picked off at second base for an inning-ending out only to watch Molina to convince the umpires to call a balk. Molina, recognizing that J.T. Brubaker was pitching out of the windup, took off for third base once the Pirates pitcher started his delivery. But Brubaker would pause mid-windup (a clear balk), step off the rubber and throw to second.
Yadi lobbied HARD to get this balk called pic.twitter.com/4wAD9HxVmy
— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) June 14, 2022
Molina had stopped running because he assumed the umpires had called a balk, and he was confused when second base umpire Dan Iassogna initially called him out on the play. But when Molina breaks down basic baseball rules, you’re going to listen. And the message went through to the umpires because they huddled up and ruled the play a balk.
Pirates manager Derek Shelton came out to argue his case even though he knew it was a balk. His beef was that every umpire missed the call and only made the correction after Molina pointed out the mistake.
Still, you have to love how Molina schooled every umpire there. He knew he was right. It was as obvious of a balk as you’ll see in an MLB game.
