Wrong... the umpire clearly called him "OUT" by raising his fist in front of his chest. He first called the "STRIKE" by raising his right hand up and then, in a second motion, pulled his hand in front of him, closed his fist and shook it signifying an out. At that point the play is over (or at least should have been).
The correct procedure for a third strike that is not caught by the catcher is to call the strike with your right hand raised, and then make a verbal call "no catch, no catch, no catch"... This is taught to umpires as far down as High School.
So, the bad call (the ball clearly hit the webbing of the mitt and rolled into the pocket - watch the replays, no dirt flew up as it would have if the ball had hit the ground first) was bad enough... but where the umpire really blew it was in his hand signals and in giving no verbal clues. That umpire is going to have fun with the fans in right field at Anaheim Stadim tonight.
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.
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 imagine that he'll receive a whole bunch of hand signals and verbal clues.