Red Sox Notebook/by Jeff Horrigan
Sunday, May 5, 2002
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - No one will ever know for sure, but from most angles it appeared that Shea Hillenbrand's game-winning, pinch-hit grand slam with two outs in the ninth inning last night would have cleared the outfield wall had it not struck one of Tropicana Field's infamous catwalks.
Hillenbrand's high fly ball hit the C-ring catwalk, which is approximately 120 feet above deep left field and was immediately declared a home run due to the dome's quirky ground rules. Any ball that hits the lower two catwalks in fair territory is determined to be a homer. Anything that hits the top two catwalks is considered in play (unless it remains there, in which case it is a double).
``There's nothing you can do about it because everyone plays by the same rules,'' Sox pitcher Derek Lowe said. ``That could have been an out. Basically, it's a poorly designed stadium. They shouldn't be playing baseball in here.''
Tampa Bay left fielder Jason Tyner was stationed on the warning track, seemingly preparing to catch the ball, which gave the impression that the ball wouldn't have landed in the seats. Not so, he said.
``There's no doubt it was going to be a home run,'' Tyner said. ``I lost it, that's why it looked like I might catch it. I saw it just before it hit the scaffolding. It was going out.''
Carlos Baerga was on second base at the time and he agreed.
``That ball was going out of any ballpark,'' he said.
With the bases loaded and a 3-and-1 count, Hillenbrand knew that he would be getting a fastball and intentionally tried to put lift on the ball.
``Once I got ahead in the count 3-and-0, I knew he had to come at me and I was in the driver's seat,'' Hillenbrand said. ``I didn't try to swing too hard. I just saw it and reacted. I'd been hitting only line drives the last couple of games, so I'm happy I was able to put some lift on it.''