We was robbed!! Sox 2 Angels 1

ESPN ^

[navysealdad]

Game 2 of the ACLS left Chicago celebrating a 2-1 victory. Controversial strikeout didn't end the ninth..

[Christian4Bush]

In a low scoring game there's usually enough blame to go around.

I agree. All I'm saying is that they've got a leadoff hitter and a cleanup/#3 hitter that right now couldn't hit the floor if they fell on it, and need a roadmap to first base. I'm willing to give Guerrero a slight pass, since he hasn't been this far before. Figgins has--he won it all with the team in 2002.

Personally, I think it's a miracle that the Angels are tied at 1 game in the ALCS, with their main contributors being Bengie Molina, Orlando Cabrera, Ervin Santana, Paul Byrd (not MLB stolen base leader Figgins, not reigning MVP Guerrero, not former MVP Anderson, until recently; no contribution from Colon (though not totally his fault)... but they are two separate things.

Umpire makes the right call, then both teams can stand or fall on their accomplishments/lack of the same. Umpire makes the call of last night, and the integrity of the game is called into question, by baseball's equivalent of the Supreme Court. That's part of my frustration.

[giobruno]

Because you are watching a replay, in slo-mo, with zoom lens, and from another angle entirely--and the ball was still very, very close. The ump is behind the glove and often has to go by the sound of dirt, probably made by the glove. Anything down along the ground like that and the catcher should always tag him, I mean the hitter is just standing there, it's standard procedure.

[bigsigh]

If the umps were perfect someone would still lose the game. The point is the play was difficult or impossible to see. I think the ump signalled out and apparently didn't say anything. If he didn't say anything the catcher has to do something to ensure the out. He did not.

[wordsofearnest]

If McCarver thought he caught the ball, he must have missed it.

[bigsigh]

uh, ok

[Al Simmons]

You're mistaken. If the ball hits the dirt BEFORE it winds up in the catcher's mitt, the ball is in play.

[Al Simmons]

Exactly as I initially said - they ran the close-up replay while the announcers continued on saying what a missed call it was, and I almost screamed at the TV: "Run it again! It clearly bounced!!"

[mrexitement]

What would be accomplished by the ump admitting he made a mistake? The game is over the call is made, and you want some sort of apology to make it all better? The ump didn't steal second or hit an RBI double to drive in the run did he?

There is no crying in baseball.

[hole_n_one]

lol!

[AuH2ORepublican]

"I am assuming the batter did not offer at the ball at all so it could not be called a swinging strike."

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The batter did offer at the ball, which is why it was called strike three. The controversy stems as to whether the ball hit the ground (which would mean that the ctahcer would need to tag or throw out the batter to complete the putout) or was caught cleanly (which would complete the putout), but there is no doubt that the pitch was so low that it could never be a called strike.

I think the ball hit the ground, by the way.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"I wonder if he nonchalantly rolled the ball toward the mound the way he did in order to say, "No, the ball didn't hit the ground", when in fact he knew it had."

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That's impossible. There's no reason for Paul not to have tagged the batter (had he tagged the batter, he would have been out even if the pitch bounced). It's not like he had anything to gain by pretending that he caught the ball on the fly.

BTW, I saw it hit the ground. But even if it hadn't, Paul should have just tagged Pierzinski.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"We "was" robbed?"

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You're right, he misspelled it. He should have spelled it "We wuz robbed." That's how the famous line is usually attributed.

[AuH2ORepublican]

"The batter cannot run around foul territory going to first.

Going to first one has to go in the base line."

---

Check out post #235. The rules allow a batter to run to first after a dropped (or bounced) third strike so long as he didn't enter the dugout after leaving the home plate area. Pierzynski could have walked to the on-deck circle and then turned around and ran home and followed the baseline to first.

[antceecee]

"How much money did the ump have on the White Sox?"

That was my first thought....

[antceecee]

I agree with you. AJ's behaviour in my eyes was cheating. He faked out the catcher and he faked out the ump. The ump called him safe because he was not sure if his out call had been correct. Since the Angels had taken his out call seriously and started leaving the field, the honest thing to do would have been to call him out end the inning and let them go on to the next inning. What were the Sox afraid of? Everything was tied up. They just showed kids around the country it's okay to cheat if you can get away with it.

[antceecee]

Mike Scoscia (sp?) did say something to the effect of
"We didn't play a good enough game to absorb this call". Now that's a class act. He recognises that things like this can happen so his team had better be doing a lot better than scoring one run.

[TankerKC]

...witness that little rat weasel Lenny Dykstra running way out of the line to avoid the tag of Nolan Ryan late in the 1986 series that cost the Astros a win....

Dude, let it go! ;)

[TankerKC]

Small pic, but the ball is in the glove...the runner is nowhere near the bag...the ump calls safe.

[The Drowning Witch]

Quit Whining. I'm a Braves fan, so we've been on the wrong side of bush league calls too; who can forget Kent Hrbek's mugging of Ronnie Gant at first in Game 6 of the 91 World Series?....BUT, THERE IS NO INSTANT REPLAY IN BASEBALL. The Halos got raped, big effing deal. SHUT UP AND GO WIN GAME 3.

[Brandon]

It is important to remember that a manager cannot lodge a formal protest over an umpire's judgement. Formal protests are only permitted when a manager is questioning an umpire's application of the rules.

Which is an important point: If the Angels really thought that the batter had been called out, and then was allowed to take first, that would be a misapplication of the rules, and grounds for a protest. The fact that 24 hours later no protest has been filed, suggests that the Angels know they don't have a leg to stand on.