It took nearly a week, but baseball finally captured speedy Howie Kendrick(notes) in its big wet blanket.

Upon further review, MLB's five-person appeals board overturned the inside-the-park home run that Kendrick thought he hit last Friday against the Royals, ruling it a four-base error on Kansas City outfielder Jose Guillen(notes) instead.

The negation, of course, didn't change the outcome of the game — the Angels still won 4-1 and no fireworks were returned to their canisters — but it cut Kendrick's 2009 homer total by 25 percent to three and probably caused someone, somewhere to lose their head-to-head fantasy matchup for the season.

(If that's you, Andy Behrens at Roto Arcade has already set up a support group for the afflicted.)

But before you think that allowing Kendrick's round-tripper to stand would have been a victimless crime, know this: The play was only challenged because the Royals weren't happy with the ruling. The adjustment took two earned runs off Gil Meche's(notes) total, dropping his ERA to 4.01. 

Said Meche last Friday: "If you want to call it an inside-the-parker, go ahead. I'd rather not comment on that one." For his part, Guillen said he didn't make the play because he closed his glove too soon while approaching the right field line and the ball appeared to glance off his mitt before rolling toward the wall. 

Seems like an accurate reversal, but you can watch the video here and judge for yourself. I'd be curious to know your thoughts on this one. Was the play just an overzealous ruling by an official scorer caught up in the moment of 41,019 fans cheering Kendrick around the bases?

Or should Kendrick (and his fantasy owners) be mourning the loss of a deserved home run?

A big BLS head nod to 6-4-2 for the redirect.