AL DIVISION SERIES: ASTROS VS WHITE SOX

October 10, 2021

Tom Hallion

Guaranteed Rate Field

Postgame 3 Press Conference

Chicago, 12 - Houston, 6

Q. On that play with Grandal there in the fourth, the ruling on that. Sorry.

TOM HALLION: Okay. So that was the one the ball hit to the first baseman?

Q. Yes.

TOM HALLION: The ball was hit to the first baseman. He got it and was coming to throw the ball to the catcher, and the ball hit off the runner's shoulder, arm, whatever, head. I'm not sure where it actually hit him, but I knew once it hit him, it went toward the third base side of the infield.

Dusty came out and said, that's interference, and we had gotten together as a crew. We went over everything that everybody had, and we kind of broke the play down rule-wise and applying that rule, so we decided that there was no interference because on that play there where the ball hit to the infield and then coming back to the plate, that 45-foot line does not even come into play. The batter established his base path when he came out of the box and started running. He didn't veer off. He didn't throw up his shoulder. He did nothing intentional to get hit with that ball, so we all agreed, and that's why we came out to Dusty and told him that it's not interference. The run will score.

And he said, that's got to be interference, and we said, no, it's -- I explained to him why because the ball was hit to the infielder. It was then thrown back towards home, and it hit the batter runner coming up the first baseline. The batter runner was in fair territory, but that doesn't matter on that play. As long as he is not doing something, the whole key is that he has to do something intentional.

Q. Like throw an elbow out or something in?

TOM HALLION: Yeah. Say Matt is the first baseman and all of a sudden I'm like this and then I go over here like this to do something, and then that's -- but he just kept running straight. I mean, he just ran straight up the baseline or, you know, his baseline.

Q. Okay. Good enough for me. Thank you so much for your time.

TOM HALLION: You're welcome.