For every normal fan watching extra innings of today’s game between the Pirates and Tigers, it looked like Detroit won 11-10 in the 10th on a walk-off hit by JaCoby Jones, which scored Nicholas Castellanos on a thrilling play at the plate. The Tigers rushed out of the dugout and onto the field to celebrate, but had to delay their emotions for just a bit, because of the formality of an expected, no-risk Pirates challenge.
After four agonizing minutes, though—long enough to assume that the replay review was not indisputable—the game was back on, because Castellanos was judged to have been just barely grazed by Francisco Cervelli’s glove. Nick was out, and extra innings would continue.
And so what would have been a thrilling and euphoric end to the Tigers’ season opener was instead transformed into an agonizing and unsatisfying epistemological exercise. Replay sucks.