ESPN’s Eduardo Pérez curiously questions ‘clear path’ in Mets-Red Sox game

It’s not uncommon for an announcer to see something incorrectly at a sporting event. Usually, when a replay is shown, the announcer will acknowledge the mistake and everyone will move on. But on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball game between the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox, color commentator Eduardo Pérez just couldn’t seem to be convinced.

The play in question came in the bottom of the first inning. Boston’s Jarren Duran tried to score from third on an overthrow but was thrown out by Mark Canha. Catcher Omar Narváez tagged Duran well before he crossed the plate.

Pérez, though, wondered if perhaps Navarez had given Duran a clear path. It was a completely reasonable thing to question. That said, the replay showed that Navarez was well out of Duran’s path. In fact, because Canha was making the throw from foul territory, both of Navarez’s feet were planted firmly on the outside of the baseline. Duran had the entire line and anything inside of it as a clear path to the base.

But even after seeing the replay, Pérez continued to wonder, even asking if Boston manager Alex Cora would contest the play.

"Does he give him a lane, or not, before he even has the ball?"

Omar Narvaez gave Jarren Duran literally the entire baseline. Which, according to Eduardo Pérez, may or may not be enough of a clear path. pic.twitter.com/4sYzk4jxzH

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) July 23, 2023

Cora did not challenge the play.

While the “Buster Posey rule” did generate a lot of controversy when it was first implemented in 2014, those issues largely dissipated in subsequent seasons as catchers got more used to it. The controversy was revisited earlier in the 2023 season, but never in a situation like that.

[Photo Credit: ESPN]