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Baffling obstruction call in Marlins-Brewers game goes viral

By Zac Wassink | Last updated Apr 28, 2021 4:09 PM ET

Being an MLB umpire undoubtedly comes with challenges, and even the best in the business make mistakes. Nobody's perfect, after all.

Still, it's difficult to defend what occurred in the top of the second inning of Wednesday's game between the Miami Marlins and Milwaukee Brewers.

Miami second baseman Isan Diaz hit a ground ball near the first base line that was quickly collected by Milwaukee pitcher Zack Godley, who threw to first for the force out as a runner touched home plate for the contest's opening run.

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Most bizarre “error” of the year pic.twitter.com/oFB81HNMkl
— MLB Errors (@mlberrors) April 28, 2021

However, umpire Marty Foster ruled Diaz safe after he said Godley was guilty of obstruction on the play even though slow-motion replays showed that everybody involved did everything right. Diaz did not venture so close to Godley that he should've been called out. Godley never flirted with entering Diaz's path before throwing to first.

Per Mike DePrisco of NBC Sports Washington, that play was not subject to a video review, and the call stood after the umpires discussed the situation.

The Marlins went on to score a second run in the top half of the inning.

It's safe to say Michael Conforto of the New York Mets is no longer the beneficiary of the worst umpiring decision, to date, of the 2021 MLB season.

Zac Wassink

Zac Wassink is a longtime sports news writer and PFWA member who began his career in 2006 and has had his work featured on Yardbarker, MSN, Yahoo Sports and Bleacher Report. He is also a football and futbol aficionado who is probably yelling about Tottenham Hotspur at the moment and who chanted for Matt Harvey to start the ninth inning of Game 5 of the 2015 World Series at Citi Field. You can find him on X at @ZacWassink

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