Posted on 10/14/2005 7:57:37 AM PDT by nikos1121
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- The world will have to end, I assume, before baseball finds a way to stop embarrassing itself. It should be ashamed, in October, to employ an umpire who turned what should be a clear, conclusive process into a vague, confusing guessing game of arm mechanics. It should be ashamed the same umpire, Doug Eddings, didn't provide some sort of verbal cue -- "No catch!'' -- allowing the Angels to make a fair play on future international spy Anthony John Pierzynski.
It should be ashamed, on the very day an iPod with video capabilities was hatched, that it doesn't have devices implanted in and around home plate that could answer many questions, including whether the ball brushes the dirt or not. And it should be ashamed, in sum, that the umps didn't administer the play properly even if Eddings was absolutely certain -- as he claims, though not under oath -- that the ball was trapped by catcher Josh Paul, sure to be grand marshal if Buffalo Grove has a White Sox parade.
But I refuse to buy a developing theory that Eddings was spotted the other night in a smoky Chicago backroom, cutting deals with a gel-haired Venezuelan manager and a 70-year-old owner wearing a black leather biker jacket with "SOX'' across the back. The South Side ballclub has a history of misdeeds that warrant apologies, such as the 1919 fix, yet this is not one of them. Commissioner Bud Selig should be apologizing for another Mr. Magoo moment, for allowing a critical playoff game to be decided so chaotically. The supervisor of American League umpires, one Rich Rieker, should be apologizing for contradicting himself and suggesting TV replays were "inconclusive'' while adding, "The ball changes direction, so I don't see how [the media] can say it's clearly a caught ball.'' Eddings should be apologizing for not separating his "third-strike mechanic'' gesture from a more definitive out call.
The Sox? They have nothing to apologize for, even if comments from some of the Angels insist they got away with murder. For once, they benefit from someone else's incompetence instead of tripping over their own.
Ozzie should just keep quiet
Not that Ozzie Guillen didn't do his best Thursday to throw a match on the flickering ashes. In remarks that probably won't be taken seriously by the Angels, in that he also praised manager Mike Scioscia for handling the Wednesday night episode with class, the Blizzard of Oz targeted Paul for blame. This came after Guillen tried to spin things by saying firmly, "The ball hit the dirt,'' when he really has no idea. Shouldn't Ozzie have kept his trap shut after getting away with the crime of the current baseball century?
"I think Josh Paul made everything confused,'' Guillen said. "Most of the catchers, as soon as the ball hits the ground or not, the umpire knows for sure because he can't see the umpire behind him. He didn't know if he was calling safe or out. Most of the guys tag the [runner], just for insurance. Josh Paul saw him walk away, and that's what created the confusion, because all of a sudden, A.J. don't feel when he touch him. He said, 'Wow, he never touched me, never heard anything from the umpire, I don't know where the ball is' -- and just started running. Josh created a little confusion there with the umpire.''
Yeah, and Paris Hilton is a misunderstood angel up there on the Sunset Strip. Rather than politic, the Blizzard should be thankful the Sox weren't the victimized party, whereupon he would have stormed around U.S. Cellular Field like the Tasmanian Devil. Whether the baseball actually hit the dirt or not will be debated for years, with no one entirely sure about the truth -- after 24 hours of replays -- except maybe Paul, who says he caught the ball cleanly but speaks with obvious bias.
"It was the wrong call,'' said Paul, whose distinction as a former Sox catcher and boyhood fan only adds intrigue. "When you know you catch the ball, you just roll it back to the mound and walk off the field. It's not my fault. I take no responsibility for that whatsoever.''
Now make use of huge break
Actually, Guillen is right about Paul in one respect. How many times do catchers unnecessarily tag batters after a third strike, simply to be safe instead of sorry? At such an important juncture -- Game 2, AL Championship Series, bottom of the ninth, 1-1 game -- I'm tagging out a batter on a third-out third strike as a precaution.
But that's Ozzie, always making news. He isn't happy that media and fans are jazzed by this story, figuring we should be applauding Mark Buehrle for his complete-game gem and the Sox for manufacturing their own charm. "Don't forget what we did to win the game,'' Guillen said. "I don't want to concentrate on the calls.'' He even shooed away his sons as they watched the replays in his office.
All Pierzynski's romp did, remember, was give the Sox a runner at first with two out. Joe Crede still had to deliver the game-winning double, which had nothing to do with the umps and everything with getting to Kelvim Escobar. The Sox should smile, shrug and give extra thanks to their personal gods, then prepare themselves the best they can to take full advantage of the gift and win this series. If they go on to lose now, after receiving a break of historic magnitude, they might never win a World Series.
"I feel sorry for the ump. I feel sorry for Josh. I feel sorry for me. I feel sorry for Crede. I feel sorry for everybody,'' Pierzynski said. "I feel sorry it happened. And I feel sorry it's turned into such a national story, because there are so many other good things that came out of the game that people should be talking about. Instead they're talking about a weird play that never happens.''
Sox lucky they're not down 0-2
Other than Buehrle, you can't say the Sox deserved to win Game 2. There were too many baserunning blunders, too many missed opportunities by Jermaine Dye, Paul Konerko and a lineup that has managed four runs in two games against starting pitchers running on fumes. The Sox looked tight and restless at the plate and are fortunate not to be down 0-2 heading into Angel Stadium, a park that traditionally treats them rudely.
A.J.'s punking of the ump isn't unlike steroids and other issues in Selig's domain. Just once, I'd like to see Bud and his people proactively stomp out a problem -- even an umpire's arm mechanics -- before it infects the big picture. Shouldn't an official or umpiring supervisor be teaching the distinction between a fist-clench/arm-pump and a verbal out call? Baseball is complicated enough to leave a significant decision so vague when the world is watching so closely.
Naturally, one of Bud's guys was in a defense mode Thursday. Said vice president of umpiring Mike Port: "Doug Eddings, all things considered, did nothing wrong.''
Baseball, all things considered, laid a rotten egg atop a compelling series.
I played catcher from sixth grade through JV in HS...you are absolutely correct.
Speaking from experience, whoever invented the "cup" deserves the Nobel Prize. My wife and three kids would second that nomination.
The umpire said that he goes by the expressions or movements of the batter, if you can believe that. I mean, how could he even tell from where he stands if the ball was caught or not?
Thank YOU, that seems to be overlooked in this brouhaha.
I was taught that in 1960 (or was it '59?) when I first put on "the tools of ignorance".
Can I still be bitter about the blown interference call against Bennie Barnes in Super Bowl XIII?
I saw the replay over and over. The webbing of the catcher's mitt was face down into the ground, a partial trapping of the ball. As one poster said, why not tag the batter for good measure. This was the catcher's mistake.
On a somewhat related note, the day MLB institutes instant-reply will be the day I forswear baseball forever.
Not to mention the infamous "tuck rule" that went against the Raiders a couple of years ago.
The players will kick this to the curb where it belongs and play game 3 tonight. It's the media that won't let it go.
The Pats got a break but were handed NOTHING. It still took a Vinatieri field goal of 40+ yards in a snow storm to tie the game and it required the Raiders to showcase their non defense in OT to allow Vinatieri the game winning field goal.
Same here, sure AJ and the Sox got a break with the call but it still took Escobar to serve up the the big hit to Crede win the game for the Sox.
Sports are all full of woulda, shoulda, could haves and the great teams battle through the bad bounces and questionable calls to still win.
Regardless of the umps call, the Angels had more than their fair share of opportunities to win the game.
I agree.
Actually, Mike Scoscia, (God, how do you spell his name?) was very classy with his reponse. He said his team didn't play well enough to win anyway.
The game was still in play with the next batter hitting a home run after Osuma stole second. If Osuma doesn't steal the game is still tied.
And how about the runner? I see plenty of major league players rarely running to first on a drop third strike. The worst is Cory Patterson of the wayward Cubs.
Great point! I think the human aspect (only umps no replay) of baseball is what keeps it pure. You win some you lose some.
Correct. If you ran to first base on every close call it may get you a couple extra runs a season. And a couple of extra runs a season can be the difference between getting into the playoffs or not.
I don't know if it is inconclusive. I mean, would you bet $10,000 that it didn't bounce up?
Let's say the umpire couldn't tell from his position, you would think after conferring for 4 minutes the other umpires would have reversed it. They didn't.
White Sox to win in 6 games...
I've stopped reading this idiot Mariotti. He's mediocre at best. The best thing would be if he were to move to Boston and let him write the same articles about the Red Sox. They'd lynch him.
INcidentally, can you imagine what Red Sox fans would do if this same call went against the REd Sox in game three against the White Sox?
You're right on the third strike, but if the umpire calls you out, then you're out and you can't advance. It sure looked to me like the umpire made two distinct the motions: the first to call the third strike, the second to call him out.
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