Posted on 10/12/2005 8:24:45 PM PDT by navysealdad
Game 2 of the ACLS left Chicago celebrating a 2-1 victory. Controversial strikeout didn't end the ninth..
(Excerpt) Read more at espn.go.com ...
***NOTE
Also look at 20 seconds in, and you will see the Home PLate Umpire tell the Angels player what I think is:
"I didn't call him out"
He has to verbally call him out, and he did not. In the presser, the players admitted he did not verbally hear him called out.
Sonar..I did it...I took the challenge....it doesn't bounce. It's the tip of his glove and goes into webbing.
Most definitely doesn't bounce on the dirt. I would say it "bounces" once it's in the leather and thus the change of direction, but the leather is on the ground and the ball hits the leather.
Again, why would a major league catcher who has done this for years not just toss it to first or tag him out if he thought it was even close.
Bad call, very unfortunate.
78% of America right now says BLOWN CALL per ESPN.com
PS.....don't even think about questioning my integrity.
2. The White Sox did exactly the right thing. And, as someone else noted, the batter is free to run to first, even if he starts towards the dugout. The rules about baselines only apply once you are in them.
3. The umpire's signals were misleading. It looks to me like his hand signal indicates an "out" versus a "strike 3" call. When they call "out", it's over. I teach my catchers to look back at the ump when they are unsure, and if he is signalling "out" with his hand, then it is an out. This is important if you have runners on and you don't want to have to throw down to first base and risk a bad throw.
4. The catcher was too nonchalant about whether the play was over. Whenever there is a doubt, especially with 2 out and no one on, either make the tag or hold the ball until you are sure, and if you are unsure, throw down to first.
So, there was plenty of blame to go around. It was a combination of unfortunate circumstances, but the blame should be shared by the catcher and the ump.
My guess is now even when a ball right down the middle is caught for strike 3, the catcher will tag the guy...it's going to come to that which is rather ludicrous.
It's an unfortunate call. That game deserved to go into extra innings, shame it ended that way.
Rule Numero Uno: Whether it is caught or bounces is a judgment call to be made by the ump. Guess what, sometimes they are wrong. If they say it bounced, it did. At least, if you want to win.
Exactly right. Think of it as a line drive to the 2nd baseman. Trapped, he has to throw to first. If caught, player out. For all the whining Angels fans out there, yes it was a bad call, but the catcher did not even check to see if the ump called it an out. Mental error by the catcher on a close play.
Scioscia isn't being a gentleman, he's being a good manager: he isn't going to embarass the officials even more than they already should by piling on.
Obviously, the crucial thing no one here has (I assume) is audio or transcript of what was or was not said. We can look at the hand signals 'til the cows come home, but they might be moot if the ump said anything that either reinforced Paul's belief the inning was over or clued AJ in that it might not be. Or, if anything he said contradicted what he did physically with the arm and hand gestures.
But, if speculation is the rule of the day:
IMO, and it's only that, I think AJ accepted the out and began to walk when it suddenly occurred to him that a) it was a low pitch and close to being in the dirt, and that b) Paul never tagged him. When he realized that, I think he turns around and realizes the opportunity. If he's going on any act or word of the ump's, it must have contradicted something else the ump said or did.
I say this because, in my thinking, Paul is a veteran enough guy (don't know him at all as a fan, but he's been arond and the Fox crew mentioned he's writing a book on calling pitches) that he wouldn't have missed a simple thing like tagging on a dropped 3rd strike or ball in the dirt if he had had any reason to believe the play hadn't ended. Yes, a "brain fart" is possible and he simply didn't do it, but he seemed to be doing it pretty routinely all night, so I would think that if he at all thought this was a situation warranting a tag, he would've done it.
Perhaps he should've done it anyway, "just to be safe", but at that point I think you're almost arguing that a catcher in the majors should just be tagging every single strikeout victim regardless, no matter where the ball's located, "just to be sure."
Maybe you do that for Little Leagues, but I'd think that at the MLB level the officiating should be quality enough that catchers (and batters) shouldn't have to deal with a play like this, where it appears neither player knew exactly what was happening (however AJ figured out there was a chance to run, his postgame comments sounded to me like he acted on some sort of gut instinct, fuelled by a previous incident where he'd been the victim, rather than from any direct indication from Eddings that the play was still on).
Also, I believe Paul (or whomever it was) who stated that it is custom for the officials to indicate (for both the catcher's and batter's sake) if there was no catch on the third strike.
And finally, to me Eddings' postconf comments struck me as weasel-like. When the one reporter brought up the fact that Paul could have avoided all this by simply making the tag, you could almost see Eddings' eyes light up like "yes, oh g*d yes, that's it that's it, that's my story, not my fault, don't blame me!"
My completely speculative guess is that the ump made a half-(censored) call - whether he meant to call it a third strike and out, or a dropped third strike, he either was incomplete or what he motioned and what he said were contradictory, and in the confusion AJ was simply able to capitalize on it, and then the ump did what he thought would cover it up and not look like the idiot he might have actually been at that crucial moment.
As I said, all pure speculation. I guess I have no "dog" or "horse" in the race persay, as my teams are the Pirates and Red Sox, but I am rooting for the Angels' Darin Erstad (as he's a former Husker) and Orlando Cabrera (former Red Sox who Theo shouldn't have dropped in favor of Renteria).
Not unless they want to get thrown out of the game for showing up the umpire.
Pertinent Rules to this play:
1) Did the Unpire call time suspending play?
5.02
After the umpire calls "Play" the ball is alive and in play and remains alive and in play until for legal cause, or at the umpire's call of "Time" suspending play, the ball becomes dead. While the ball is dead no player may be put out, no bases may be run and no runs may be scored, except that runners may advance one or more bases as the result of acts which occurred while the ball was alive (such as, but not limited to a balk, an overthrow, interference, or a home run or other fair ball hit out of the playing field). Should a ball come partially apart in a game, it is in play until the play is completed.
5.10
The ball becomes dead when an umpire calls "Time.
2) When is hi stime at bat legally completed?
6.04
A batter has legally completed his time at bat when he is put out or becomes a runner.
3) Now for the UNINFORMED here, I present this rule about when a runner is out on 3rd strike:
6.09
The batter becomes a runner when_ (a) He hits a fair ball; (b) The third strike called by the umpire is not caught, providing (1) first base is unoccupied, or (2) first base is occupied with two out; When a batter becomes a base runner on a third strike not caught by the catcher and starts for the dugout, or his position, and then realizes his situation and attempts then to reach first base, he is not out unless he or first base is tagged before he reaches first base. If, however, he actually reaches the dugout or dugout steps, he may not then attempt to go to first base and shall be out.
So, step up and admit you were wrong folks. It's right there in the rules of major league baseball.
And furthermore:
APPROVED RULING OF 7.08 (a). APPROVED RULING: When a batter becomes a runner on third strike not caught, and starts for his bench or position, he may advance to first base at any time before he enters the bench. To put him out, the defense must tag him or first base before he touches first base.
9.02
(a) Any umpire's decision which involves judgment, such as, but not limited to, whether a batted ball is fair or foul, whether a pitch is a strike or a ball, or whether a runner is safe or out, is final.
Just so we know what we are talking about here.
Regards,
Joe
Me goin'to da bat-room wit da wife.
Regarding that last bit, on the ump's judgment being final, unless I misunderstand, it can be reversed, as I seem to recall in last year's ALCS that the Red Sox had a home run that initially wasn't ruled right but after the crew met up they reversed the call.
At least, I think that's how it went...
Depends on the situation, and not when a pitch is called a strike.
Only if there is a umpires decision that is in conflict with the rules.
A little discussed item about umpiring is the no-see call. You go by the appearance or the feel of the play. An example: the swipe tag where the back of the glove is toward you and between you and the runner. You try to get the angle, but don't always have it.
This bounce was the same thing. Now the umpire's actions and calls after the swing are critical. And sometimes the actions of the catcher can "sell" the play to the umpire. If there was no call the catcher has to tag or throw to first even in the bigs.
Suggestions from our house:
1. After every third strike called against the Angels, no matter the location, run to first base anyway.
2. After every third strike called against the Sox, no matter the location, either tag them out or throw it down to first.
3. Show that play to the crowd every chance you get, with Prince's old song "Controversy" playing in the background.
4. Have David Courtney, the Angels' PA announcer, slowly and deliberately announce each umpire's name, giving fans such as yourself full opportunity to exercise their 1st Amendment rights.
5. Draw a road map to first base, and have it sent to Chone Figgins and Vladimir Guerrero (since they have very clearly forgotten how to get there)
6. Tell Garret Anderson to wake up...they're making Bengie Molina look like Babe Ruth...
7. Have fun!
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