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Error on Tampa Bay Rays lineup card forces pitcher to hit

One of the hazards that comes with the Designated hitter rule. From AP-

An error on the Tampa Bay Rays’ official lineup card forced starting pitcher Andy Sonnanstine to bat in Sunday’s game against Cleveland.

The Rays listed Ben Zobrist and Evan Longoria as the third baseman on the card given to the umpires before the start of the game. Longoria was supposed to be the designated hitter.

After the top of the first, in which Zobrist played third, the game was delayed 13 minutes as the umpires discussed the matter among themselves and individually with Tampa Bay manager Joe Maddon and Cleveland manager Eric Wedge.

The umpires pulled the Indians off the field midway through the delay.

The Rays lost their DH position due to the error, meaning Sonnanstine replaced Longoria in the third spot of the lineup. Longoria was available to come off the bench.

Once in high school, our coach deliberately tried to re-use a player who had left the game. The other team wasn’t fooled, after one pitch the batter was declared out and the game was over. We were only one run down and the tying run was in scoring position.

 
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