[andyfox]

Watch the catcher next time on such plays. If it's a bunt, or swinging bunt, out in front of the plate, the catcher will go towards the pitcher's mound before making the throw, so as to throw it around the runner. If it's not a close play, on a passed ball or wild pitch, the catcher will throw it from behind the plate, which give a good angle to not hit the runner.

But in this case, the ball squirted out to a place such that Molina had no angle, and, since Cano is relatively fast, no time to adjust. So he did the best he could. It's very rare for an umpire to make that call when Cano was just, if anything, a few inches inside the line in fair territory. Cano should have run right into Erstad because Erstad was set up in foul territory. Like I said, if it's a veteran, say, Jeter, who had run the same route, I don't think the call is made. (Same thing with the error on Cano the other night when he took his foot off the bag ahead of A-Rod's throw.)

Sometimes you see a play and a guy is flagrantly in fair territory and you know if the throw hits him he's going to be called out. You rarely see this play called by the ump unless the throw hits the runner because if it doesn't hit him, where's he's running usually doesn't interfere with the throw.

People are also forgetting that no run would have scored on the play. The Yankees would have had bases loaded with two out and Williams, who wasn't swinging the bat very well, coming up. Obviously they'd love to have had the opportunity. What killed the inning was Sheffield and Matsui not being able to do anything after the first two guys got on base.