[commish]

The bottom line on this was something I always tell my kids when coaching any sport, especially baseball and football -- ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS play the play through completely. Had the Angel catcher just hesitated one second he would have heard the call as Pierzynski clearly did, but instead he instantly rolled the ball away and headed off the field.

The ump called the strike and then immediately pointed toward first, and then called the strike again. He apparently also said something because pierzynski started to head across the plate and then immediately spun around and ran toward first. Unfortunately for the Angels the catcher had already exited stage right.

On the replay the ball clearly bounces before entering the webbing of the mitt. However there is no telltale puff of dirt leading me to assume he got the mitt under it.

[Petronski]

And following your example, Pierzynski played completely through the play.

[GraniteStateConservative]

Had the Angel catcher just hesitated one second he would have heard the call as Pierzynski clearly did, but instead he instantly rolled the ball away and headed off the field.

The ump rung him up. The play is dead. The inning is over. Period.