The Windup Newsletter ⚾ | This is The Athletic’s MLB newsletter. Sign up here to receive The Windup directly in your inbox.What’s worse: A bad call or an absurd excuse for it? Plus: Ken Rosenthal on the relationship between two Red Sox managers, Tarik Skubal is (already) close to returning and the AL is (still) bad. I’m Levi Weaver — welcome to The Windup!Nonsense: A bad call made worseI’m not sure which was more egregious: the call or the attempts to justify it. I’ll let you decide.The call: In the sixth inning of yesterday’s Orioles-Blue Jays game, Baltimore had a chance at an inning-ending double play. Here, it’ll be faster just to watch it.Running out of the base line is an oft-misunderstood rule in baseball. The base line can technically be anywhere, as long as you’re not avoiding a tag.This was definitely avoiding a tag. Even if Gunnar Henderson’s attempt seems feeble, it’s because Ernie Clement was so obviously altering his path to the base that it wasn’t worth putting in the effort to make it obvious to the umpire (Henderson later confirmed that’s what he was thinking).Clement was called safe. The Blue Jays went on to score five runs in the inning, winning 6-4.The justification: After the game, umpires Nic Lentz and Hunter Wendelstedt had this to say, from Mitch Bannon’s story:“It actually is a very gentlemanly thing to do,” Wendelstedt said. “(Clement) was getting out of the way to allow the fielder to make the play towards first base. It just so happened that, you know, then they tried to spin it to get two (outs).”This is nonsensical. The implication is that Henderson, presented with an opportunity to turn an inning-ending double play, instead thought, “Boy, I wish that runner would get out of the way to allow me to make the play toward first base.”It’s insulting to the pool reporter, insulting to the game and insulting to anyone reading the quote. Back to Bannon’s story:The reason Clement was safe despite appearing to dodge Henderson’s tag, the umpires said, was because Clement had already established his basepath to second base while Henderson attempted to field the ball. By the time Henderson attempted to tag Clement, they said, the Jays infielder had already established his basepath and didn’t veer more than three feet from it.Go back, watch the GIF above and look at where the ball is when Clement begins to veer. Further, he didn’t even establish a path to the base; he had to crawl there after sliding!Look, I don’t think one call cost Baltimore the game. We all make mistakes. (An error by Henderson allowed Clement to reach in the first place!)But responding to an obvious mistake by making excuses is just unacceptable, regardless of profession. You are allowed to admit mistakes!More adventures in base running: I’m pretty sure you shouldn’t throw your equipment at the catcher just before you slide. But Josh Naylor is no stranger to creative-but-unfortunately-illegal base-running strategies. (Coincidence: The fielder in that play last October? Ernie Clement.)