[Lancey Howard]

I figure the batter suddenly changed his mind and took off toward first for some reason. I believe that the reason is that the umpire did not say something that the batter expected to hear, namely, "Out!"

The thing is, the batter reacted and the Angels watched him run all the way to first base without reacting at all. Very puzzling.

Disclaimer: I have no horse in this race - - I like both teams, and in fact my parents are friends with some elder Soscia relatives. I do not think anybody cheated, but I do wonder if the umpire got caught off guard and froze when the batter took off toward first base and then was too embarrassed to say, "Uh, no... you were out swinging."

[beezdotcom]

but I do wonder if the umpire got caught off guard and froze when the batter took off toward first base and then was too embarrassedexcited to keep the Sox alive to say, "Uh, no... you were out swinging."

You misspelled some words...I fixed them.

[tallhappy]

The thing is, the batter reacted and the Angels watched him run all the way to first base without reacting at all. Very puzzling.

Not really. After the third out is made and called the players all leave the field.

The batter in this play himself had done it. He started to his dugout the other way.

The whole thing in ludicrous. He would be out for running outside the base line if this really were a dropped third strike.