So, did the Angels get jobbed last night or not...........I say they did.

[WeRQ4U]

Eddings called him out, and for some reason, decided to change that call when AJ ran to first base.

And now they try to change their story after the game about how the ball "changed direction" and that it was a foul tip. And that matters because..............? The guy called him out. We all saw it. Nice try though.

Too bad for Angels fans. That's a tough one to swallow.

[cssmall]

1. There's only one thing that needs to be done from now on.

Everytime there is a strikeout on the last out of the inning, you tag the guy. It doesn't matter if the ball bounced or not. Just tag him. Then, he cannot even advance. That's the only mistake Paul made. Otherwise, it was a bad call.

[Initech]

2. My jaw literally hit the floor last night while watching the game.

I couldnt believe that the umpires reversed the call. What douchebags. By all rights, Eddings should be reduced to below the AA league. Hell, he's not even fit to call little league games.

[WeRQ4U]

4. You just knew that the inning wasn't going to turn out well after that...

For some reason I just knew that after that call, the game was over. There was just too much controversy surrounding it for it NOT to have that effect.

[Initech]

7. It's Steve Bartman all over again.

I just hope now that the Angels dont lose the series because of a bullshit call.

[WeRQ4U]

9. I jsut posted the same sentiment in post #8.

LOL. Wierd.

[JVS]

3. That's life. Learn to deal with it or die.

[WeRQ4U]

6. No, that's horeshit luck it what it is.

Your tune would be different if it had happened on the other side and your team was heading to Aneheim down 0-2.

That call was HUGH!!!!

[GOPisEvil]

5. It was a bad call, but you gotta move on - get the next guy out.

[WeRQ4U]

8. Very true.

But we all saw what happens when strange things mess up the flow of the game when Mr. Bartman had his infamous debacle and Cubs meltdown.

The same thing happened here. The pitcher was pitching masterfully until this happened, and then he gives up a rocket shot to deep left.

[cssmall]

10. But, that's the Cubs. I think the Angels will be all right.

At least, I hope. I just like to watch good baseball and being impartial to either team, I was just not satisfied with the call.
The Angels just have to be bigger than that and move on to the first inning of the next game. Like I said eariler, if I were Scosicha, I would tell my catchers to tag every last strikeout victim.

[WeRQ4U]

13. I would advise them to do the same.

I am admittedly biased here. I'm a Twins fan, so I hate the Sox by nature. But that call just blew me away.

I think the Angels are still going to win the series though.

[Initech]

11. It sucks for Escobar.

He's one of the Angels' ace relievers. And Josh Paul isnt usually the catcher (Bengie Molina is).

[nini]

12. tsk tsk... not when that was the 3rd out of the 9th inning

A bad call in a critical moment of the game like that.. no. Especially since it just wasn't a judgment call as in did the ball get to first base before the runner. It was a bogus and the umps route of feeding their egos instead of overturning the bad call is the worst of it. They must be Repukes.


:P

[GOPisEvil]

16. That is true...but after the bad call, you've GOT to get the next guy out.

Bear down and concentrate instead of leaving a meatball in the middle of the plate.

Of course, I'm still complaining about a call in the 1985 World Series so who am I to talk? :D

[nini]

19. I know what you mean but it was the nature of the call

that is the issue to me, not the result. (does that make sense?)

You're right in that you have to move beyond it. BUT why should the Angels have been put in that place considering the nature of the call? That's my issue.

Like I said it wasn't a fraction of a second play to determine if a guy was out or not. I can forgive those.. Not something like this.

[WeRQ4U]

20. The worst part about it, to me, is that there has been no "Mea Culpa"...

We all saw the tape. We all saw the blown up photos. We all know that it was a cleanly caught ball. We all saw him extend his arm signaling a swing and pump his fist signaling an out. So why is it that the officials think we're stupid enough to buy into THEIR interpretation of a video to justify the call. It's BS. Just say it was a bad call and take your lumps. It's even more infuriating.

[nini]

31. exactly.....

Like I said I can give them a pass on a judgment call but the way this played out was ridiculous. These guys don't deserve to ump.

[GOPisEvil]

21. True...they shouldn't have been in that position.

That was an outright awful call.

[nini]

32. So, that call would be ok if you were blowing out the other team?

:evilgrin:

[Initech]

17. I was thinking the same thing last night!

They even said so on the radio - the umpires try to get the manager's mind off the call by forcing them to argue about stupid shit!

That's every election from the last 25 years!

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

29. That might be true, but in baseball, like no other sport,

once you have something like that happen, your team is toast. Your head is just out of it. You need focus more than anything to play baseball. I knew as soon as the Bartman thing happened that the Cubs were going to lose. The same was true of the Buckner incident. It's incredibly rare for a team to go on to win after such a critical, braindead error.

[MN ChimpH8R]

14. Terrible, awful, Bushlike call

Paul caught the ball cleanly - no question about it. He should have tagged AJ just to make sure, but that call was horrendously bad. AJ was originally called out because he was OUT.

I don't think it's going to mess up the Angels. Scioscia didn't make a huge deal about it after the game, and he's a pretty level headed manager. Go Halos!

[Democrats_win]

34. First time there was f*****g BEFORE someone got to first base?

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

15. Honestly, the onus was on Paul to tag him out.

You see it all the time. Catchers (having been one myself for 16 years) are taught when the play is anywhere near in question to tag him out just in case. Paul didn't do that. Bad call aside, there still should not have been a problem.

[WeRQ4U]

18. I disagree..........

When the umpire puts his hand out signaling swing and then pumps his fist signaling "out", why the hell would the catcher, who obviously cleanly caught the ball, have any reason to think he needs to tag the batter.

On any other call, I would agree with you. But the Umpire made the call. He changed it after AJ ran to first. You can't do that. And the catcher shouldn't be held responsible for it.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

23. First of all...

Paul, being the catcher, had his BACK TO THE UMPIRE. There is no way in hell he would've SEEN the fist being pumped. That's why umpires SAY the official call. And a lot of umps use the same motion for all strikes. Is it confusing? Yep, and it should be changed, but that doesn't change the fact that standard protocol was followed.

[WeRQ4U]

25. Have you watched the video of the play?

He does the exact same thing that he does the entire game. They played 4 or 5 different examples throughout the game, and he does the same thing every time.

Why shoudl it be different this final time just because AJ ran to first?

And second, the ENTIRE ANGELS TEAM was running off the field becasue they DID see his fist pump. Watch Darrin Erstad. He's arguing that very thing right away.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

27. Again, it's the verbal clue, not the visual.

The catcher should've been suspiciously immediately when he didn't hear "out" from the ump, whether or not the rest of the team is running off the field. It's a really, REALLY small thing that the catcher, whom is a third stringer probably because of reasons like this, should have picked up on and tagged AJ out just to make sure. This is taught in high school JV baseball.

[WeRQ4U]

28. That's a good point.

He dicked up the throw to second on the steal as well. ALthough I think Soscia should have pitched out there like he had twice before.

[Nicholas D Wolfwood]

30. Like I said somewhere else...

Once something like this happens, it's damn near impossible to get back focused on baseball so quickly. I think you can count on one hand how many times something like this happens and the affected team pulls it together to win anyway. Everyone loses their focus, and that more than anything is what you need in baseball. Not excusing it, of course, because they're supposedly professionals, but I can understand it.

[WeRQ4U]

33. I said the same thing in a different post.

It's Bartman all over again. I do, however, think the Angels will pull this one out anyway. The Sox bats just don't seem to be working in this series.

[underpants]

22. Since I don't care who wins let me say this

I think he caught the ball. I have seen the replay and watched it frame by frame and I don't see the ball hitting the ground.

Bad Call but hey that is human nature.

Oh and let me add ON EDIT-that only got him to first, the Sox got him home.

[XNASA]

24. Eddings called a terrible game, for both sides.

It happens.

You know, if Eddings had been calling a descent game, AJ wouldn't have had to swing at ball 4 and would have been on 1st anyway.

But that's Baseball.

[WeRQ4U]

26. That's a good point.

There was a really low, questionable strike call on Iguchi too. He was calling low ball strikes all night.


But at least in THAT regard he was being consistent. His strike zone remained the same thoughout the game...shitty. And that's what makes his final call so freakin' strange. He changed his own protocol ONLY for that last strikeout. Every other time the extended arm and fist pump = OUT.