Conversely, there was an instance - and I only have sketchy memories of this, but I think it was in the 80s - where a batter took ball four but stayed at the plate. The pitcher/catcher/ump/batter all lost count. He ended up hitting a double.

I am surprised they didn't follow the precedent set in Cleveland the other day and make Pujols finish his at bat 3 innings later.

Brick,

I did read a suggestion that batters be allowed to refuse a walk. It would be something like, the ball count would reset to zero but the strike count would remain the same. If he gets another four balls, he walks, but he might get a hit or make an out in between.

in 2004, i remember watching an astros batter, mike lamb, i think, not take first on ball 4 and he made an out on the next pitch. i was at the ballpark, was charting pitches, and noted that the scoreboard had the count wrong.

Saw the ESPN telecast on MLB.TV, where they reran the entire sequence. At least the announcers got a laugh out of it.

Reminded me of an NFL game I saw a long time ago when the refs lost track of the downs. They talked about it forever. I thought they were going to ask the players. And I think there was another NFL game even further back where a crew got suspended because they incorrectly kept track of the downs. It was an important game - maybe a playoff game or a late-season game. As I recall, nobody on the field noticed the screwup at the time.

I was at the game, keeping score (pitch-by-pitch). I was very puzzled and assumed I had just screwed up. But the scoreboard--and I--had it correct.

One time in a Teener League game (not school, older than Little League), I drew ball four and started to go to first. The umpire said it was Ball 3. I was really good at walking, and always kept track, so I was sure it was Ball 4. I gave up arguing and struck out on high cheese. I'm still mad about that.

Casey- you may be thinking of this game, in which colorado state was given 5 downs at the goal line due to an officiating crew error... they definitely realized their error on the field, and still let the play stand.

Regarding this at bat, I think suppan was just glad to get pujols out of the batters box and on to first base, where the ineffective "cardinals lineup not named pujols or duncan" would safely leave him. Or in this case, get him thrown out at second on a meekly hit ground ball.

The opposite happened last September in New York. Alexi Casilla pinch hit for the Twins in his first major league plate appearance. After the fourth ball, he started walking to first, and Tim Welke told him that was only ball three. He ended up walking anyway, but you'd think one of the other umpires would have known the correct count. Of course, it seems like the last thing most umpires want to do is contradict another umpire, even if they know he blew a call.

SleepyCA - Not to be a stickler but that wasn't Colorado State, it was Colorado. Colorado went on to win the National Championship in large part because of that play and I do believe that entire officiating crew was fired and deservedly so.