Estimated read time: Less than a minute
This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.
THE SANDLOT — A backyard baseball game broke out during Major League Baseball's spring training last week, after the umpires left after the top of the ninth inning.
The Pittsburgh Pirates had technically secured a 7-4 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Feb. 28, negating the need to play the bottom of the ninth. But the Orioles wanted to give right-hander Ofreidy Gómez a chance to pitch, so the teams agreed to play the extra half-inning.
The umpires — who maybe had "dinner reservations," according to the commentator — were ready to call it a day, so they left, leaving the players to call their own balls and strikes.
"This game that doesn't count is already over," the commentator said.
