Brandon Crawford hits a 2-run homer, not a double, so we think…2-0 Giants lead in the 2nd. #sfgiants pic.twitter.com/jwTaUm9wiw
— SF Giants on NBCS (@NBCSGiants) September 2, 2017
SAN FRANCISCO–Brandon Crawford looked back just to check.
He knew the St. Louis Cardinals couldn’t review it, and he knew the umpires at AT&T Park couldn’t change their call, but after Thursday night, he had to be sure.
A night after Crawford had a home run robbed of him by a replay review that Major League Baseball admitted it botched, Crawford promptly hit a two-run home run in his first plate appearance of Friday’s ballgame.
In an amazing twist of irony, Crawford’s home run on Friday night hit off the top of the right center field wall and bounced into the stands. Had Crawford’s Thursday night blast also hit the top of the wall, it also would have bounced into the stands for a home run. But right before the ball landed atop the brick wall in right field on Thursday, a fan reached out and caught it in the air.
After a lengthy replay review, MLB’s replay review team ordered Crawford to go back to second base. He was not too pleased.
“I would love to see that camera angle, because every single person that was physically at the park tonight felt that was a homer,” Crawford said after the game. “There’s no way there would’ve been conclusive evidence that it wouldn’t have been a home run.”
It’s not hard to blame Crawford for checking over his shoulder on Friday night. After a ridiculous ruling prevented him from rounding the bases against the Cardinals on Thursday, he had to be absolutely certain he was in the clear.