Baseball stadiums SHOULD be weird. Give me the Green Monster, ivy, stupid little corners, short porches.. whatever. But the actual building cannot become a fielder in the ninth inning of a playoff game.
The Padres are down 3-2, man on first, one out. Ty France hits a ball 105 MPH at a 49-degree launch angle, it smacks one of the roof cables at American Family Field and drops into Jackson Chourio’s glove on the warning track. OUT.
And the funniest part is the umpires got it right! Milwaukee’s ground rules say a ball that hits the roof, truss or cable over fair territory stays live and can be caught. That rule is insane.
Maybe Chourio catches it anyway. Maybe France just gave San Diego a 4-3 lead. We never got to find out because the CEILING got involved.
Keep every weird wall in baseball. But if the roof can play defense, get rid of the damn roof or change the rule. We have nine fielders for a reason.
