Game 101: Umpires 1 Braves 3 Pirates 3
The Pirates and Braves played for 18 1/3 innings, and then the umpire got bored and decided the game was over. I'm pissed at Clint Hurdle for his stupid bunting shenanigans and refusing to use Joel Hanrahan in the 19th, but the game was literally ended because the home plate umpire decided he didn't want to keep umpiring. Travesty.
Baseball should be embarassed. I'm embarrassed to be a fan of a sport that just let that happen.
First posted by @TravHaney on Twitter. For more pictures and TV angles, check Sports Grid. For now, at least. I have a feeling MLBAM isn't going to like any of this being posted.
I saw an even better view, more from the Ump's view than this one, over at http://bizofbaseball.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=5355:you-be-the-judge-worst-call-at-home-plate-ever-at-end-of-pirates-braves-game&catid=30:mlb-news&Itemid=42 ...and wow, I'm left wondering how he could miss that call. I think you're right... he was tired & wanted to go home. He was barely in the batters box & he was clearly touched for a moment, or at least he clearly appeared to be.
Maybe Mr. Selig just wants his Brewers to win the division. I think MLB should be renamed WWE. There is no other excuse. In the video capture above the umpire is in proper position and the tag is clearly made. There is also at least five feet from Lugo to home plate. Strikes, AstroTurf, Yankee/Red Sox out spending everyone else and all of the other problems have all been overcome by baseball. I think this may be the final straw. Enjoy the rest of the season. I will be wanting the Pirates to win it all but I will not be making any direct financial contributions to MLB.
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To Whom it May Concern, As a long time fan of baseball and the Pittsburgh Pirates I have admittedly had a difficult last 18 years in accordance to watching baseball. The Pirates have mired in the basement of the league since I was a middle schooler. I am now an adult and as an adult would like my voice and opinion to be heard and not fall on deaf ears. Today - July 26-27th I listened to the Pirates play the Atlanta Braves all the way in South Korea. It was an amazing game of slow moving strategy and skill. I felt the pain of the players and the managers. I could sense the tension between the home fans and the umpires. It was definitely a great game. That was until the end. Great until the end. What happened to the end the game is a disgrace. Shame on the MLB for allowing this sort of thing to happen. I cannot wholly fault the umpire, for it is the system that is broken. Until accountability and/or review is enforced/implemented similar calls will effect the outcomes of equally great games. As a Pirate fan I feel the blow even harder, because of how long I've tasted losing. 19 innings of good baseball ending with a purely terrible call. Steroids, lockouts, losing seasons, bloated salaries, high ticket prices, I've waded through all of it. Please don't continue to make it difficult for me to care. I love baseball, but I do not love what happened in game 101 of the Pittsburgh Pirates season. Shame on you MLB. A true fan (for how long?),
@Kidspud It was tough not sounding like a drunken yinzer, but I think I accomplished it. Now I can start slinging back shots of Mr. Beam.
Cross-posting this from Pensblog: I'm going to email and call the Commissioner's office, but instead of complaining about the blown call, I'm going to ask him to vote against any debt deal that has cuts for Social Security or Medicare.
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In Pat's own words...
"People love to argue that the "human element" is part of baseball, but why does that include umpiring? Plenty of players drop pop-ups, throw to the wrong base, run through stop signs and get thrown out, forget to tag up, drop throws, or do any of the million little things that humans do that cost teams games (trust me, I've seen 'em all as a Pirate fan) without involving the umpires. The players are the human element. If you were wrongly accused of a crime and sentenced to prison because the jury misread misleading evidence, would that be OK because it involved the human element? The umpires are separate from the games, trying their hardest to make sure that the game can be decided by the human element on the field and not the human element in navy blue slacks standing next to it. We have the technology to help them do that. Isn't it time we started?"
http://whygavs.com/201006031094/pittsburgh-pirates/june-2010/being-an-umpire-is-the-worst.html
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the commissioner's office: 212-931-7800
MLB president and chief operating officer
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Executive vice president of MLB
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@Skeezix Sent an e-mail to all three. Make sure you threaten to withdraw financial support (cancel MLB.TV or Extra Innings or whatever)...it's the only thing they'll listen to.
@stealing1stbase @Skeezix This is very true. I bloody forgot to include that in my email.....son of a....
@Skeezix I am working on an epic email. When I finish I will paste. I attached @Savage_Beast 's pictures.
@Skeezix Selig wouldn't care about this, however if Pete Rose had been the umpire, he would have had him fired by now
I don't believe that baseball needs replay, I feel that instead that the umpires should be held accountable for their mistakes.
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Dear Bud,
I watched this game for seven hours, then one of your employees blew a call and ended the game prematurely. If your sport allowed replay for these calls, the game would still be going on. However, we can't have replay for these situations because many people say it would slow down the game. My response is that "I watched this game for seven hours." Baseball can't get any slower. Hell, you allow a catcher to visit the mound, then after he leaves the pitching coach comes out, then after he leaves the manager comes out to make a pitching change all because they were stalling for time so the reliever could warm up. It's a slow game. We get it. We're actually OK with it. And taking an extra minute or two to overturn such an obvious blown call wouldn't disrupt the fabric of the game or the space-time continuum. Actually it would allow me more time to grab another beer.
P.S.
Fuck that umpire.
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@miniplen Right there with your last sentence, you sold everyone on the idea of instant replay. More ad time, more concessions sales, more moneymaking.
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That's it. An 8 year old Korean just ruled by the pictures that Lugo was indeed out. I told him he was called safe and he didn't believe me and said I am crazy.
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I'm puttin on my Cutch jersey as soon as I get home and then going out for beers. Aaaarrgghhh.
Look on the bright side, everyone! They finally have a replacement for that stock footage of Sid Bream!
@Dapper_Dan_Man I've moved past the raging stage. It's not worth it. This was such a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad call that I can't look at it as anything but comedy gold.
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@Dapper_Dan_Man I'm so glad I wasn't there--based on my reaction, I would have needed to be restrained. (Which fortunately, because I never work out, wouldn't take a whole lot.)
Where is Meals umping tomorrow night? A line drive straight at him might come close to making up for this.
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tell ya what, I would love to hear what Hurdle was saying to the ump. And also what he will tell the players.
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@Savage_Beast Let's hope this brings the players even closer together. Let's destroy the Braves tomorrow night.
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I say they come out at noon tomorrow and just play on from the 19th, assuming he was out.
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@Savage_Beast Agreed and use Meals as the backstop with nothing but a clown suit on.
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@Savage_Beast Yeah this one is clearly an out. The first one has a shadow under the glove it almost looks like.
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@Savage_Beast I dunno, you can't really see--his foot might be touching the one corner of the plate blocked by McKenry.
