Watch: Umpire Marty Foster makes the worst call in the history of baseball (Video)
By Josh Hill
The Milwaukee Brewers were victims of what has to be one of the worst calls ever made.
If you were looking for the worst call in baseball history, first base umpire Marty Foster just delivered.
In Wednesday’s game between the Brewers and Marlins, umpire Marty Foster called pitcher Zack Godley for interference (or obstruction, but whatever the call was it was tremendously bad) after he fielded a grounder by Isan Diaz and tossed it to first base. The interference occurred when — well, there wasn’t any clear interference anywhere to be seen.
No, seriously.
Usually we all like to complain about phantom calls being made but this truly was the definition of an umpire seemingly making up a call.
Near the first base bag, Diaz came close to running into Godley, but that was after Daniel Vogelbach had already caught the toss to first. It also is worth pointing out that the reason for any collision would have stemmed from the fact that Diaz was running on infield grass. There was a a good ten steps between Diaz and the first base bag when the ball was caught, and both Godley and Vogelbach were getting ready to walk off the field.
Somehow seeing it in action is even worse than listening to how ridiculous it sounds.
There’s literally nothing here that suggests interference. Even if you took hallucinogenics and watched this clip you still wouldn’t see whatever Foster apparently did to make this call. The only slight argument that exists is that Diaz slowing down on his way down to first suggested to Foster that he was bracing for impact, but that’s flimsier than the rolling paper on the joint that Foster smoked before making the call. If Diaz was slowing down it was because he knew he was out, not because Godley was impeding his path.
Calling this the worst call in the history of a sport that has existed for over 100 years feels like hyperbole only until you watch the play.