Mother Nature is a fickle mistress. At one point, you could be enjoying your day without a care in the world. But suddenly, out of nowhere….she could sick a torrential rainstorm upon you, or a twisting vortex capable of uprooting your entire life and tossing it three towns over.

She is a crazy individual. But apparently…..she also has a weird sense of humor, as seen in a recent Minor League match-up between the Jacksonville Jumbo Shrimp and the Norfolk Tides.

A lightning induced balk brought home a run in this MiLB game! pic.twitter.com/jJ7iematK7

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) July 9, 2025

What. A. Moment! In the bottom of the first inning in Jacksonville, Norfolk P Roansy Contreras was startled by a massive strike of lightning in the distance that caused him to (sort of) stumble off the mound. It was a normal reaction for a human being to make, with every single fan behind home plate jumping in fear with him. But HP Umpire Derek Thomas was all business in that moment.

It didn’t matter that it was an “extenuating circumstance.” It didn’t matter that ‘Mother Nature’ basically clapped her hands at the exact moment Contreras was starting his wind-up. Thomas believed in the book, and went by the book; allowing the runner on third to score via a balk.

That…..that seemed like a bit of a stretch by the ump, if you ask me. I mean sure; you can make the argument that it was indeed a “balk.” But if you look up the meaning of the word on Google, you will see that it is defined as;

“An illegal motion made by a pitcher that may deceive a base runner.”

It is a maneuver that can give the pitcher/catcher an advantage in getting a base runner out. But the thing is; I’m not sure how stumbling off of a mound, while looking an umpire DEAD IN THE FACE, could be considered as an “advantage.” If Contreras was intentionally trying to react like that at the exact moment the lightning struck in order to force the runner on third to the plate…..then he deserves an Oscar, and a visit from the FBI. That’s some alien-like behavior right there!

If anything…..the ump really just needed to read the room (or the park) at that moment. Not a damn person in Jacksonville, or watching the game at home, thought the pitcher was doing something nefarious. He was just freaked out by the storm. No harm, no foul, no run. It’s that simple.

But in the end, as always…..what do I know? I’m just a guy from the Midwest, with a beer and a laptop, trying to make sense of this world.