Remember this one?
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.
But the Pats should never have gotten the ball back in the first place.
No flak from me.
It's a game played by humans officiated by humans.
Let it stay that way. I'll look for technological improvements elsewhere.
Just say NO! to instant replay. In any sport.
I imagine that he'll receive a whole bunch of hand signals and verbal clues.
"You can't take the human error factor our of your teams play. As I've grown older, I have come to the point that I don't think you should attempt to remove the human factor from the officiating either.
I'm sure I'll get a lot of flack for holding this view. There are certainly reasons to disagree."
This is a good post. I agree. Teaching young people to accept rulings or how the ball bounces is part of life. That's why baseball is the purest sport, team sport that is. Golf is probably more pure.
I think the umpires today do a great job. What I hate are these instant replays where they slow down the action to frame by frame. Why not judge the reply and normal speed, the same that the referees see it at. Then you would reverse only the obvious missed calls.
Remember this one?
It's scored K, E-2, and the man takes the base.
"peaking from experience, whoever invented the "cup" deserves the Nobel Prize. My wife and three kids would second that nomination."
I agree. I work in an office where I'm the only male, and I never leave home without one.
Sour grapes, indeed.
Oh please. I'm not a Raider fan or a Pats fan, so I had no stake in the outcome of that game. But everyone knows that was a fumble.
Yes, you can.
24 hours of replays? Is this guy nuts. I did not watch the game and saw one replay, rewound about 3 or 4 times on the news the next day. Not having a dog in this fight is nice. I can watch a video with an unbiased eye.
Point 1. The ball hit the dirt and the ricochet into the glove was quite obvious and dramatic. The catcher screwed up.
Point 2. The umpire screwed up by trying to justify his arm motions. Most umpires do the little, point the finger, clench the fist and then the arm pull thingy when the third strike is called. Who cares what your style is? The Umps have gotten so slack in their motions that the crowd can't tell half the time whether they called a ball or a strike until the announcer says what the count is. And, by the way... when did the officiating crews start holding press conferences? WTF is that all about?!
Don't even get me started on that one, frog. That play hurts Baltimorons just like Billy Buckners play hurt Bosox fans. LOL. It was the last time my O's were any good (discounting the first quarter of this season).
I think most managers would agree to have an instant reply available only on home runs, nothing else.
Isn't college football doing instant reply from referees in the booth, not called on the field by coaches?
Some questions:
Just how does a team get away with calling themselves the "Angels" in the Peoples Republic of California?
Why do Angels fans sound so much like Algore in 2000?
Isn't it refreshing to have something (the dropped ball) exciting to break up the boredom of professional baseball?
Would they even consider slowing down that game more with instant replay?
Again this tripe from Mariotti... (sigh)
It was an unfortunate situation for the Angels, but human error is part of the game, it's what makes baseball so good. Bottom line, the Angels' catcher Josh Paul is the one to blame for acting as an umpire for his team and not taking the responsibility to tag out Pierzynski. Sure, the umpire gave the fist, but did not give a verbal signal at any time.
Whether the call was right or not, it's inconclusive. I've seen it several times on TV and some more on the net and I'm still not sure. It did look as if Paul caught it but like Reiker said, there was definitely a change in the direction.
Either way, people need to stop blowing this stuff around so much. The game will go on regardless.
I'm a White Sox fan an actually printed the story because we have this reporter in Chicago who is blatantly anti-white sox.
I agree with you that the media and fans are making a bigger deal about it than the players. If anything, it shows that if you're a catcher you make it a habit to tag the runner when in doubt.
Dunno. I am simply observing that if MLB does anything to slow down the game, I'm done.
I believe their full name is "The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim"...whatever that means...
Calls are missed and that's part of the game. The real blackeye on Baseball are steroids and lack of a salary cap.
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