A protested game occurs in

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding tea ...

when a

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activities o ...

believes that an

umpire An umpire is an official in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The term derives from the Old French nonper, ''non'', "not" and ''per'', ...

's decision is in violation of the official rules. In such cases, the manager can raise a protest by informing the umpires, and the game continues to be played "under protest." Protests were allowed in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...

(MLB) through the 2019 season, after which they were abolished.

Rules

(MLB), protests are governed by Rule 7.04, "Protesting Games". Through the season, managers could initiate a protest "because of alleged misapplication of the rules", provided they notified the umpires "at the time the play under protest occurs and before the next pitch, play or attempted play" (in the case of a game-ending play, a protest could be filed with the league office by noon of the next day). A protested game was reviewed and adjudicated by the league president, or the executive vice president of baseball operations, who could order a game resumed (replayed from the point of the protested decision) only if finding the umpire's decision was in violation of the rules the decision "adversely affected the protesting team’s chances of winning the game." A well-known example of a protested game in MLB was the

Pine Tar Incident The Pine Tar Incident (also known as the Pine Tar Game) was a controversial incident in during an American League baseball game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium in New York City on Sunday, July 24, 198 ...

in 1983, which was the only time that a protested game in the

American League The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the American League (AL), is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league ...

was ordered replayed from the point-of-protest. An umpire's judgment call (such as balls and strikes, safe or out, fair or foul) could not be protested. In , the provision to protest a game was removed, as Rule 7.04 now reads:

Protesting a game shall never be permitted, regardless of whether such complaint is based on judgment decisions by the umpire or an allegation that an umpire misapplied these rules or otherwise rendered a decision in violation of these rules.

Upheld protests in MLB

Upheld protests are a rare event; the below tables list upheld protests in MLB.

Resumed games

Through 2019, the last season during which protests were allowed in MLB, there were only 15 known occurrences of a protest being upheld and the game being resumed from the point at which the protest was raised. The protesting team in a protested game has gone 9–6 when the game was resumed. Only three teams have protested a game that they did not lose, with two of the games ending tied and one game being called off.

Non-resumed games

There have been other instances of a protest being upheld, with the game ''not'' resumed from the point at which the protest was raised. Examples include:

Rules

Upheld protests in MLB

Resumed games

Non-resumed games

Notes

References

Further reading