This afternoon the Tigers' Brad Penny carried a no-hitter into the 6th inning against the White Sox. With one out and Penny cruising, throwing one of the best games of his long career, this play happened.
First, go watch the video at MLB.com. We'll wait, we promise.
Brandon Inge made a nice play scooping up the ground ball of the bat of Brent Morel (a play we've seen Inge make seemingly hundreds of times), but Miguel Cabrera couldn't handle the off target throw. The play could go either way, hit or error. What was official scorer Ron Kleinfelter's ruing?
HIT.
Looking somewhat shaken after the call, Penny walked Juan Pierre and went to 2-0 on Alexei Ramírez. After a visit from pitching coach Rick Knapp, Penny got put of the inning unscathed.
Penny's day ended after seven innings, the only hit allowed being the controversial single. His shot at baseball immortality gone with the stroke of a pen.
After the game, there were opposing viewpoints on the controversial call.
Here's what Brandon Inge had to say, via the Twitter stream of WXYZ-TV's Tom Leyden:
#Tigers Brandon Inge with @riger1984: It's not an easy play, but I think I could make it - I should make it.
Again via Twitter, Dave Hogg of the AP relayed what Pierre thought:
Juan Pierre (on-base hitter): That's a hit. There's no way that's a routine play, no matter how many times Inge makes it look routine.
UPDATED QUOTES:
Ron Kelfelter, the official scorer, spoke after the game. Tweeted via Mlive's Chris Iott:
Official scorer Ron Kleinfelter: "My decision is based on my understanding and application of 'ordinary effort.'
More Kleinfelter: "Based on that, I stand by my call. It was a base hit, pure and simple."
Iott also forwarded on Jim Leyland's statement:
"The guy did a great job. I think he put it up there as soon as he looked at the replay. I would certainly agree with it.”
What about the man of the hour, Brad Penny? Once again, via Iott:
Brad Penny: "I still don't think I was getting a no-hitter. I'm sure I would have given up a hit at some point."
Penny on Inge: "He was really upset. I just laughed it off. He takes his job really seriously. … It wasn't an easy play."
I'm going to leave it up to the BYB community. You make the call.