5 times weird MLB rules led to crazy walk-offs

Every once in a while, odd MLB rules factor into a game in its most crucial moments. That was true in Wednesday night's inter-league matchup, which saw the Los Angeles Angels walk off the Los Angeles Dodgers on a dropped third strike.

Among goofy rules, the dropped third strike is the creme de la creme. Former Baseball Prospectus editor-in-chief Sam Miller successfully argued that it makes very little sense to reward a batter who just embarrassed himself by swinging at a ball in the dirt.

That's far from being the only odd rule in baseball, though, and certainly not the only one that's come into play at the conclusion of a game. Let's take a look at some of the oddest finishes in recent memory:

The ground-rule double

We'll start here because it has a little taste of everything.

First, St. Louis Cardinals devil magic. Second, it's recent enough to be in the review era, but Cincinnati Reds manager Bryan Price didn't request it quickly enough. That wasn't all Price's fault, though, as the umpiring crew left the field faster than a Scooter Gennett waiver claim.

Lastly, the ground-rule double rule is weird. If a runner can go first-to-home on a double, shouldn't they be allowed to? Not if it hits the sign above the outfield wall and bounces back into the field, safely in play. Oh, OK, rules are rules.

The guy never touches home plate

Pretty bold of a YouTube-verified MLB team account to call a moment that shouldn't have happened one of the "Great Moments in Rockies History."

Luckily, this rule has been rectified in many different ways. Managers are allowed to review calls like these, and catchers aren't allowed to block the runner's path anymore.

Regardless of whether revisionist history would take it away, though, the Colorado Rockies did advance to the 2007 NLDS on the 13-inning walk-off, with Matt Holliday scoring the third run of the frame, after the San Diego Padres had scored a pair to take an 8-6 lead.

The runner obstruction

For the first few moments of this highlight, you think you're watching one of the greatest plays Dustin Pedroia has ever pulled off.

Psych! It's all spoiled by Will Middlebrooks sticking his legs up so the already leisurely paced Allen Craig can't advance home. Of course, the umpires make an astute call on Middlebrooks' obstruction - something that's very difficult to notice in real time.

Would Craig really have scored without Middlebrooks' legs in the way? We'll never know, but the 2013 World Series champion Boston Red Sox likely don't care.

The balk

The pound-for-pound contender with the dropped third strike among perplexing rules that get called with regularity is the balk.

If you're unfamiliar with the rules of the balk, look no further than the definition Jon Bois put together for SB Nation:

BALK RULES! IMPORTANT!
1. You can't just be up there and just doin' a balk like that.
1a. A balk is when you
1b. Okay well listen. A balk is when you balk the
1c. Let me start over
1c-a. The pitcher is not allowed to do a motion to the, uh, batter, that prohibits the batter from doing, you know, just trying to hit the ball. You can't do that.
1c-b. Once the pitcher is in the stretch, he can't be over here and say to the runner, like, "I'm gonna get ya! I'm gonna tag you out! You better watch your butt!" and then just be like he didn't even do that.
1c-b(1). Like, if you're about to pitch and then don't pitch, you have to still pitch. You cannot not pitch. Does that make any sense?
1c-b(2). You gotta be, throwing motion of the ball, and then, until you just throw it.
1c-b(2)-a. Okay, well, you can have the ball up here, like this, but then there's the balk you gotta think about.
1c-b(2)-b. Fairuza Balk hasn't been in any movies in forever. I hope she wasn't typecast as that racist lady in American History X.
1c-b(2)-b(i). Oh wait, she was in The Waterboy too! That would be even worse.
1c-b(2)-b(ii). "get in mah bellah" -- Adam Water, "The Waterboy." Haha, classic...
1c-b(3). Okay seriously though. A balk is when the pitcher makes a movement that, as determined by, when you do a move involving the baseball and field of
2. Do not do a balk please.

The catcher interference

This is it. This takes the cake.

Angelo Encarnacion safely blocks the pitch in the dirt, takes off his mask to make sure he has clear sight of the bouncing ball, then appears to use his glove to feed the ball into his catcher helmet.

Apparently, that's a no-no. In baseball, you can only use equipment for its original purpose. Unless you're Paul O'Neill kicking a ball into the infield. In that case, hacky sack it up, my friend.