HOUSTON \u2014 Umpires confiscated a bat used by Astros outfielder Taylor Trammell in the ninth inning of Thursday night\u2019s game against the New York Yankees amid questions about its legality.<\/p>\n
Yankees manager Aaron Boone said his club, which won 8-4, noticed \u201cdiscolorations on the label\u201d of Trammell\u2019s bat. Boone said he inquired with Major League Baseball on Thursday, and the league told him \u201cthat looks like an illegal bat.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know if it was just natural. I don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t want to accuse Taylor. I\u2019m not saying anything untoward,\u201d Boone said. \u201cWe noticed it, though, on video while we were here, and we actually mentioned it to the league, and they said, \u2018No, that looks like an illegal bat.\u2019 That was it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trammell, who played five games for the Yankees last season, said he received word that the Yankees believed his bat \u201cwas shaved down too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Rule 3.02(a) states bats used in major-league games must \u201cbe a smooth, round stick not more than 2.61 inches in diameter at the thickest part and not more than 42 inches in length.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTo be honest, I have no idea how you shave down a bat. I don\u2019t know what it is,\u201d said Trammell, who appeared frustrated during a two-minute postgame interview.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy biggest problem is, I feel kind of defensive right now, more so (it is) testing my character of, like, I\u2019m going to willingly do that. I\u2019m kind of lost on that thing. I think if anybody knows me, knows that I\u2019m never going to cheat any turns or anything like that. I have no idea. That\u2019s baffling to me that it was even checked. They didn\u2019t like it. Sorry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trammell began his interview saying, \u201cI don\u2019t even know what we\u2019re doing to be honest. It\u2019s actually ridiculous. I have no idea what really happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old, who was traded to the Astros for cash considerations in November, said, \u201cI\u2019ve had that bat for probably about, since I\u2019ve been here.<\/p>\n
\ufeff<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve had it for a long time. Usually take BP with it. Use it in games, (used) it in (Triple-A Sugar Land), use it every time. The only thing, I just don\u2019t have a gloss finish on my bat. It\u2019s matte. Paint wears down. That\u2019s what happens.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trammell said he used the bat during both of his at-bats Thursday. He struck out as a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, but laced a double off Yankees closer David Bednar in the ninth. Immediately after the ball landed, Boone emerged from the dugout and asked crew chief Adrian Johnson to examine the bat.<\/p>\n
Johnson grabbed the bat and gathered with the three other umpires in his crew. Astros manager Joe Espada stood nearby while they conversed. Johnson then had a lengthy discussion with MLB\u2019s replay office in New York before handing the bat to an authenticator sitting near the Yankees dugout.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe bat was worn out a little bit. He uses that bat all the time, and I guess they thought it was an illegal bat,\u201d Espada said. \u201cThe league wants to take a look at the bat.\u201d<\/p>\n
MLB did not have an immediate comment late Thursday night.<\/p>\n
Trammell was allowed to remain at second base under Rule 3.02(c), which states \u201cif the umpire discovers that the bat does not conform \u2026 until a time during or after which the bat has been used in play, it shall not be grounds for declaring the batter out or ejected from the game.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just something we noticed this series and asked the league about,\u201d Boone said. \u201cYou\u2019re not allowed to do anything to your bat. I\u2019m not saying he was. We noticed it, and the league thought maybe it was illegal, too. I wanted to at least ask about it.\u201d<\/p>\n
Trammell called it \u201csurprising\u201d that the Yankees, an organization with which he spent most of last season, would ask for a review of his equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy time over there, I had a lot of respect for Boonie. He was straight up with me,\u201d Trammell said. \u201cIn that situation, I really don\u2019t understand it. I don\u2019t understand it.\u201d<\/p>\n
(Photo: Alex Slitz \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HOUSTON \u2014 Umpires confiscated a bat used by Astros outfielder Taylor Trammell in the ninth inning of Thursday…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":201558,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[2382,1266,2228,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-201557","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mlb","8":"tag-houston-astros","9":"tag-mlb","10":"tag-new-york-yankees","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-united-states","13":"tag-unitedstates","14":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115150183691348283","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201557","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201557"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201557\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/201558"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201557"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201557"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201557"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}