No. 1981.05.27 · Free Agency Era
Randle Blows It Foul
Lenny Randle dropped to the Kingdome turf and blew a slow roller across the foul line. The umpire called it foul, then changed the call after the Royals protested.
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May 27, 1981, the Kingdome. Amos Otis of the Kansas City Royals tapped a ball toward third that kept rolling on the artificial turf. Mariners third baseman Lenny Randle went to his hands and knees and blew on it until it crossed the foul line. Home-plate umpire Larry McCoy called the ball foul.
Royals manager Jim Frey protested. McCoy reversed himself and sent Otis to first. Randle's explanation was that he had been talking to the ball. "I said, 'Please go foul, go foul,'" he told reporters. "I did not blow on it. I just used the power of suggestion." The film does not support the second sentence.
The Royals won the game, 8–5. That score is not why the play is here. A fielder tried to move a live ball with his breath, an umpire allowed it, and then the same umpire took it back. The rulebook had no provision for either half.