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.
And here I thought the only problem with Baseball was that Arrested Development won't be on again until it is over.
I agree 100% with what you said and said as much in my initial response to this thread. My point was it all evens out in the end and the players move on a whole lot faster then the weenie media does.
I agree with you about the steroids but a lack of a SALARY CAP is a black eye???
Sure, why not? I'm still bitter over the "Immaculate Reception" back in the 70's. I still get somewhat nauseous every time I see that clip of Franco Harris grabbing the ball.
There is NO WAY the Steelers receiver didn't touch the ball.
Yep as much as the Yankees are a living argument against it, there is no way they should have an $85 million payroll advantage over every team in the league.
Along with the Salary Cap there needs to be a minimum payroll rules to keep small market teams competitive.
I'd like to see the Yankees operate on $140 million. It would be like watching F-Troop.
Sorry, missed you initial response.
Yea, if the Angels go on to win the ALCS, this will be history and another example of the sky-is-falling media blowing something out of proportion.
If the Angels dont win the ALCS, well, they will have had up to possibly 5 more games to get it done.
Doug Eddings says he needs to work on his mechanics. Yeah, maybe in Single A ball somewhere, but not the ALCS.
Whichever Molina is catching tonight should throw down to first base after every K just to make a point.
If the umpire calls the batter out, the batter is out.
You watch, tonight the batter is going to get tagged on every third strike below the knees. :-)
I work in a predominantly female office, too. These ladies make "Desperate Housewives" look normal. The viciousness at times is one thing, but the every day pettiness is a real pain.
I have a sign that I keep in my office that says: "Warning! Drama Queen Free Zone".
As if bad or controvertial calls just started a few days ago. The worst!
Wasn't that a kick in the gut? I have to leave the room when that clip is played.
The Anaheim Angels are going down anyhow. F-ck them and their whiny fans. ;-)
Your beef is with the NFL rulebook, my friend. Don't blame the officials for getting the call right, or Belichick for knowing the rules so well he knew to throw the red flag.
Sierra Golf . . .
Sheesh, Clemenza! What did the Angels do lately to incur your wrath?
Most of the pain was taken away when the Raiders won their first Super Bowl against the Vikings.
I need to get a copy of that HBO documentary on Oakland in the early 70s, which focused on the A's & Raiders. I lived near Oakland during those years, and it really captured the collective mindset of the East Bay.
I have "fond" memories of Black Panthers getting on my bus to work, selling their newspapers. I always bought one, because I knew I'd get extra credit in Civics class for bringing it in (our teacher was a tie-dyed liberal, but I liked him and he was a good teacher).
I was born a cranky native New Yorker. I see the Angels as a morphed version of my current boss: an overgrown crybaby.
That's the same problem with College Football, too :).
Okay.
I lived in Orange County on and off since 1982, and they've never appeared to me that way. Especially under Mike Scioscia and Arte Moreno.
But, I can understand the cranky native New Yorker part. :-)
The ump says he did not call the batter out.
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