There was an interesting twist to the final out of Roy Halladay's no-hitter: Brandon Phillips' weak groundball in front of the plate struck his own bat in the field of play.
PHOTO: Brandon Phillips Grounds Out To Complete Roy Halladay No-Hitter
It was surely an accident, as Phillips threw the bat down and sprinted off to first as soon as he made contact. The bat, though, still landed in front of the ball, and the ball rolled forward and hit it before catcher Carlos Ruiz picked it up and threw to first from his knees for the final out.
The official rule in a situation like this is that it’s up to umpire judgment as to whether or not the act was intentional. Had John Hirschbeck decided that Phillips dropped his bat in the ball’s path on purpose, he could’ve called him out right there. It’s better this way, though. This way, there’s no controversy.
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