Phillies Rookie Otto Kemp Experiences Rare Walk-Off Catcher's Interference

In a rare twist of fate, the Philadelphia Phillies secured a 3-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Monday night, concluding the game with a walk-off catcher's interference. This occurrence is so uncommon in Major League Baseball that prior to this event, only one such instance had been recorded since 1920.

That singular event took place on August 1, 1971, when Willie Crawford reached first base due to a catcher's interference call against Johnny Bench, leading the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 5-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Before the Phillies' recent game, the rarity of a walk-off catcher's interference was comparable to the extraordinary feat of scoring 30 runs in a single game—an achievement that has only happened once in MLB history.

For Otto Kemp, however, this was not an entirely new experience. Just ten months prior, while playing for Double-A Reading, he found himself in a similar situation. The Fightin' Phils were locked in a 5-5 tie during the bottom of the ninth inning when Kemp faced Erie Seawolves pitcher Joel Peguero.

Reflecting on that moment, Kemp recalled, "I was gonna guess I was in a two-strike count," chuckling as he recounted the unusual circumstances. "I can almost tell you how it went over without even remembering it."

During that at-bat, Kemp faced a series of pitches: a ball followed by two strikes. With one out and the game tied, his focus was solely on survival at the plate. "Nowadays with two strikes, I feel like everyone tries to get you to chase out of the zone," he noted. "You're really just trying to see the ball as long as you can without putting the ball in play."

After fouling off a pitch on a 1-2 count and taking another ball inside, the count reached 2-2 when an unexpected turn of events unfolded. The pitch, which was low and inside, would have been strike three had Kemp not swung. Instead, he made contact, sending the ball foul into the dugout.

"You're just trying to see it deep," Kemp explained. "It's like a late reaction. I think I had one of those, and it ended up hitting his bat. I was like 'Wait, that might do it.'

As he glanced at home-plate umpire Nelson Fraley, Kemp sensed something significant had occurred. "I think everyone in the Fightin' Phils dugout heard it and they saw it," he recalled. "Because it was a little bit more than like that small touch of the glove. I do remember that."

With Fraley ruling catcher's interference, Kemp walked to first base as his teammate scored from third. The celebration that followed was filled with confusion and excitement. "It was an awkward pause. We were like 'wait, did that just happen?' Then we were like 'Oh, that did just happen!'" Kemp said, smiling at the memory.

Upon reaching first base, he received the customary congratulations for winning a game—despite the unusual circumstances surrounding it. Initially unaware of how the play would be recorded in the box score, Kemp believed he had only one RBI from an earlier sacrifice fly in the eighth inning. "If I had two RBIs, then it must have counted, right?" he joked.

Adding to the peculiarity of that game for Kemp was his role as designated hitter—a position he doesn't often occupy. "DH that night," he remarked while reviewing the box score. "That's rare."

In other news from the Phillies' camp, prior to their matchup against the Red Sox on Tuesday night, reliever Joe Ross was placed on the 15-day injured list retroactive to July 21, prompting the team to recall Alan Rangel from Triple-A Lehigh Valley.