Seattle Mariners acting manager Robby Thompson doesn't know his left arm from his right, and because of a bizarre Major League Baseball rule, help cost his team a game on Thursday night.
USA Today reported Friday that Thompson came out of the dugout to replace Mariners closer Tom Wilhelmsen, who had allowed four the first four Boston Red Sox batters to reach base in the ninth inning.
The Mariners entered the inning with a 7-2 lead. With Red Sox hitters Shane Victorino and Dustin Pedroia due up, Thompson came out of the dugout intending to bring in right-hander Yoervis Medina from the bullpen.
According to USA Today, left-hander Oliver Perez also was warming up. As Thompson walked out of the dugout, he inadvertently lifted his left him, which was the signal to the bullpen for Perez. Thompson quickly caught himself and raised his right arm to signal the right-handed Medina.
What Thompson did not know was an obscure MLB rule that states that once a manager comes out of a dugout for a pitching change and both a left-hander and a right-hander are warming up, the arm the manager signals commits the team to that pitcher.
Thompson explained on MLB.com:
"We wanted to go to Medina there and if we had to go to Ollie, he was the next guy," said Thompson, who is filling in while Eric Wedge recovers from a minor stroke. "If there was anything today for me, it was a lesson learned that if you make a motion with either hand, that's it. I didn't realize that.
"I did point to the pen, but I didn't have time to [tap his other arm] for the right-hander," Thompson said. "He'd already turned. That's when I wanted to make sure he knew who I wanted to go to and [crew chief] Gary Darling said it's too late, you raised your left hand up."...
As ridiculous as the rule sounds, it received support from the opposing manager during that instance.
"When you have two guys up at the same time, you've got to be clear on who you ask for first," (Red Sox manager John) Farrell said on MLB.com. "Robby's left arm went up first and he quickly tried to change it, but Gary Darling kept the first call in order and that was to ask for the left-hander. That's what I saw on the field."
Perez allowed singles to Victorino and Pedroia before striking out David Ortiz. Medina finally entered with one out and the winning run on first. He faced three batters and gave up two singles around a walk to allow Boston to rally for an 8-7 win.
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