# Has A Postseason Baseball Game Ever Been Forfeited? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 20, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167 "2004-10-20T03:43:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![asterion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@asterion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/asterion)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/1 "2004-10-20T03:43:31Z")
Due to fans continually throwing crap on the field in these last couple of innings of Game 6 of the ALCS, security and the MLB have deployed the NYPD in riot gear down both lines. I would imagine that MLB would hate to have the Yankees forfeit due to the fans, but I bet they would if the fans do much more now that the cops are there. Has there ever been a postseason game forfeited, either because of the fans or for other reasons? ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/2 "2004-10-20T03:49:12Z")
Slight hijack but pertinent to the OP. What is the rule on runner interference that was applied to call Rodriguez out? What was the difference between that play and a runner intentionally bowling over a defensive player in an attempt to jar the ball loose? ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/3 "2004-10-20T04:09:55Z")
You don’t see a difference between smacking the glove out of a players hand while he’s trying to tag you and sliding hard into second? If he had stayed in the base path and ran him over without deviating from his normal stride and the ball came lose…well then I guess the baby would have been safe. But that would be playing by the rules, something that seems to allude the Yankees. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/4 "2004-10-20T04:28:06Z")
This is General Questions. The questions are supposed to be answered with facts. Try again. ---
**Author:** ![King\_Friday](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@King\_Friday](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Friday)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/5 "2004-10-20T04:30:08Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > This is General Questions. The questions are supposed to be answered with facts. Try again. I was answering your inane question, and that’s a fact. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/6 "2004-10-20T04:31:44Z")
No you didn’t. You just offered an opinion. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/7 "2004-10-20T04:32:39Z")
No there has never been a postseason game forfeited in MLB history. The last MLB game forfeited was on August 10, 1995 when the Cardinals beat the Dodgers 2-1. The Cardinals were leading in the 9th inning when fans at Dodger Stadium threw souvenir balls on to the field to protest a series of unfavorable calls by home plate umpire Bob Davidson. After a warning, the balls continued to be thrown and Davidson ordered the forfeit. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/8 "2004-10-20T04:34:31Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > Slight hijack but pertinent to the OP. What is the rule on runner interference that was applied to call Rodriguez out? What was the difference between that play and a runner intentionally bowling over a defensive player in an attempt to jar the ball loose? You can run into him on your way to the base. You can’t deviate (too much) from the base path to run into him. If your normal running stride happens to hit the glove and the ball pops out, it’s not interference. If you purposefully slap the ball out of the glove, it is. Whether or not it is interference boils down to a judgment call by the umpires but in tonight’s case the call was easy. Haj ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/9 "2004-10-20T04:37:18Z")
If the umpire rules that the runner (i.e. Rodriguez) deliberately interfered with a fielder (to wit, Arroyo) attempting to make a play on a batted ball, then the runner is out. All other runners (in this case Jeter) have to return to their original base. ---
**Author:** ![CBEscapee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b19c9b/32.png) [@CBEscapee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CBEscapee)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/10 "2004-10-20T04:44:54Z")
Again I’d like to see how the rules differentiates between the 2 scenarios. In both cases the deliberate intent of the runner is to seperate the ball from the fielder. In tonight’s game Rodriguez was well within the baseline. But when a runner clearly intends to knock the ball loose from a catcher with a violent collision a la Pete Rose, it isn’t called. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/11 "2004-10-20T04:57:55Z")
> [@CBEscapee](#): > > Again I’d like to see how the rules differentiates between the 2 scenarios. In both cases the deliberate intent of the runner is to seperate the ball from the fielder. In tonight’s game Rodriguez was well within the baseline. But when a runner clearly intends to knock the ball loose from a catcher with a violent collision a la Pete Rose, it isn’t called. [Here are the rules](http://mlb.mlb.com/NASApp/mlb/mlb/official_info/official_rules/runner_7.jsp) Sections 7.08 and 7.09 cover interference. However, in a quick look through I did not see anything that specifically covered this situation, that is, knocking free a ball in the possession of a fielder. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2004, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-a-postseason-baseball-game-ever-been-forfeited/270167/12 "2004-10-20T05:06:22Z")
The OP has been answered. **CBEscapee** and **King Friday**. You guys wanna duke this one out…take it somewhere else. NOT GQ. **samclem** GQ moderator