Today's Cubs-Phillies game featured an almost replay. Darwin Barney was hit by a pitch. The umpire ruled that it was a foul ball. Renteria discussed it with the umpires for about four minutes in old school style, but no replay was forthcoming. I do not know why the replay was not allowed. The broadcasters were equally clueless, and as far as I know no definitive explanation was ever provided.
One possible explanation is that even if it was not ruled a foul ball, the umpire would have ruled Barney swung at the pitch, thus resulting in a strike. Therefore if Renteria challenged it, the replay would have shown that the ball hit barney without striking the bat. This would have been BAD for the Cubs, because the umpire would then call it a strike instead of a foul ball, and Barney would have struck out. Taking this idea one step further, Sandberg should have challenged the call because Barney would have been called out. Instead the call stood and Barney singled on the next pitch.
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