In a parallel universe, not so far away…

Joe Buck: Here’s the 0-1. That’s in the air to left center. That ball iiiiis…down. And it gets passed to the wall! Gordon is gonna dig for third. A mistake in the outfield…and Gordon is being waved home! There’s gonna be a play at the plate…the relay from Crawford…Posey takes it on a hop. Gordon topples over Posey aaaand…

…SAFE! HE’S SAFE!! Down to their final out, the Royals have tied it up on one of the most spectacular, improbable and, well, sloppy plays you will ever see!

Harold Reynolds: Mercy.

JB: This crowd is in a frenzy! Twenty-five years after the ’89 Earthquake series, and the Giants once again are surrounded by a stadium being shaken to its foundation.

HR: Mercy.

JB: Alex Gordon is collapsed in the dirt and is being helped to his feet by his teammates, Perez and Moustakas. Posey is pounding the dirt in frustra- wait, no…I think Posey is hurt. He has been on the ground since he collided with Gordon. He’s in obvious pain. This does not look good. I don’t know if Posey will be able to continue.

HR: Mercy.

JB: Bruce Bochy and members of the Giants’ training staff are huddling over Posey and have rolled him over so he can sit up. The trainers are taking a close look at his lower left leg. They’re lifting him up now. A trainer under each arm. Posey is not putting any weight on his leg. Posey is broken. His game finished. His season finished. Andrew Susac checks in now in his place as we resume with a tie score in the bottom of the ninth in game seven of the World Series here on Fox.

HR: Mercy.

JB: Hold on a moment, partner. Bochy is now taking something up with the home plate umpire, Jeff Nelson. They appear to be discussing the last play aaaand…well, now crew chief, Jeff Kellogg is getting involved in the conversation. Lost for a moment in the excitement of that last play and the tangle of bodies around home plate is the fact that this play will undoubtedly go up for video review. Fitting, that in the year of its inception, the fate of the World Series hinges on the use of instant replay.

HR: Mercy.

JB: Alright, it looks like Gordon tags home riiiiiight…here. And Posey’s tag is applied…well…shoot…right at the same time. Wait…can we back it up a couple frames? Ok, yes, from this angle it looks like the tag might actually be a split second before Gordon tags home. But it’s incredibly close. Too close. I don’t know that you can overturn that call.

HR: Mer –

JB: Mercy. Yes, Harold, we know. Mercy.
Alright, Nelson and Kellog are still listening through the headsets. Folks, in addition to what we just showed you of Gordon’s tag of home and Posey’s tag of Gordon, they also have to consider the new “Posey Rule” that went into effect this year regarding plays at the plate. Did Posey provide a lane for Gordon to slide? Well, that’s unclear because, quite frankly, the rule is unclear. Did Gordon initiate contact or was he forced to go through Posey? In slow motion it looks like both players could have done a better job of avoiding one another, buuuuut as we watch it in full speed…it seems impossible that either of them would have been able to manipulate their bodies in any other way. Please, Harold, help me make some sense of all this, partner. Is he out or safe?

HR: Well Joseph, a metaphysical debate of the very nature of out and safe is manifesting itself before our eyes. Baseball is but a game, a microcosm of all that is irreducibly simple and stunningly complex in our world. Who is the final arbiter of what constitutes ones “outness” when the very atoms and molecules that comprise our bodies have, at one time, also comprised the bodies of our opponents, of the earth beneath our feet, of the very ball we attempt to hit, throw and catch? Life is but a series of fragile memories, existing only within the electrical impulses that steadily traverse the synapses of our grey matter, awaiting the inevitable deterioration and decomposition of our corporal bodies, so can we ever be truly “safe”?

JB: Mercy.

HR: Huh? I just zoned out for a minute. What happened?

JB: OK, it looks like Commissioner Bud Selig has now joined the umpires. Meanwhile, Madison Bumgartner is looking very agitated on the mound. The rest of the Giants are milling about the field. They’re not sure if they should stay and play or if they just won the World Series.

…

The Royals, have long since stopped celebrating altogether and are now very aware of the situation. At least, as much as the rest of us are.

…

Ned Yost hasn’t moved from his perch in the dugout. For some reason he continues to stare blankly out towards the second base area.

…

The feeling at the stadium is eerie. Just minutes ago this crowd was raucous and now they sit in total silence awaiting word from the huddle of men on the field.
…

JB: The Commissioner is motioning to both managers.

…

JB: Yost and Bochy are now conferring with Commissioner Selig, Kellogg, Nelson, the rest of the umpiring crew and what appears to be several MLB officials.
…

JB: Commissioner Selig has done all the talking. For all intents and purposes, this will likely be the final meaningful decision Bud Selig makes as the top official of Major League Baseball, and it could very well determine the World Series Champion… OK, a verdict appears to have been rendered as everyone else is slightly nodding their heads in sullen agreement.
…

JB: And now one of the officials is on a walkie talkie. Neither umpire has made a signal yet. Both managers are returning to their respective dug- wait, it sounds like the public address announcer has something.

PA: …entlemen, it has been decided that the game will end in a tie.

JB/HR: MERCY!