WASHINGTON — On Sunday against the Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto took a 2-2 pitch for a ball, then trotted to first base. Nobody on either team — nor the umpire crew — seemed to notice, and Votto took a walk on just three balls.
Votto later scored, as part of a six-run seventh inning, pushing the score to 6-2 in a game Cincinnati would eventually win 8-2. And while the game ended up being a blowout, the oddity of a three-ball walk stood out afterward.
It’s understandable to wonder how such an error could occur in front of tens of thousands of fans in a nationally televised baseball game. One could be forgiven for thinking that such a thing never happens.
Well, it does. In fact, it’s been less than four years since it has happened in a Major League game.
On July 2, 2011, then-Seattle Mariners (and now, Washington Nationals) pitcher Doug Fister squared off with then-San Diego Padres outfielder Cameron Maybin at Safeco Field. After falling behind 0-2, Maybin alternated between fouling pitches off and taking balls to work the count to 2-2. He then took ball three high, and trotted to first.
It’s particularly humorous that nobody seems to remember this three-ball walk, as Maybin’s one-out base on balls turned into the lone run of a 1-0 win, looming far larger than Votto’s. He advanced to second on a groundout, then scored with two outs on an infield single to shortstop that Brendan Ryan could not corral. Fister took the complete game loss in a snappy 2 hours and 9 minutes.
