Via BBTF, Allen Barra questions the last call of the perfect game:
All I want to know is: was the last pitch Philip Humber threw to Brendan Ryan actually a strike?
I’m not asking whether the ball was outside the strike zone — anyone could see that it was. I’m not asking if the batter is supposed to be guarding the strike zone a little more carefully in those situations, on a full count with two outs – clearly he is. I won’t even ask the question as to whether umpire Brian Runge should have been giving Humber the benefit of the doubt with a perfect game on the line. (The answer to that question is an emphatic No! The umpire is supposed to treat all pitches the same under all circumstances.)
I won’t even ask – though I have to admit I’m just a tad suspicious on this one – why Runge didn’t look down to the first base umpire to confirm if Ryan had checked his swing or gone too far. (Isn’t that what you see done about 3-4 times during an average game?)
What I want to know is this: why didn’t Fox Sports show us Ryan’s half swing from the traditional above-the-plate camera so we could decide for ourselves? I’ll say this: from the angle I saw and the angle ESPN was replaying it last night, there’s no way it looks like Ryan broke the plane of the plate.
It was a pretty weak swing attempt, and when it happened I thought it was ball four. Check swings are one of the most subjective judgement calls in the game, however. I’ll also point out that the home plate umpire does not ask a base umpire unless there is an appeal, and the appeal is never made on a strike call. It’s made when the ump calls a ball, and the pitcher or catcher thought the batter swung.
Maybe it was a bad call, but I’ll take it to make up for the Armando Galarraga game.
Allen Barra doesn’t seem to know much about baseball. On a dropped third strike it’s the homeumps call.
And a simple google search would have given him a better angle: http://didbrendanryanswing.com/
It’s close enough that there’s really no need for a silly outrage column.
Luke » Thanks, Luke.
In real-time I thought it was a poor call by the Runge. But Fox did show the centerfield angle replay and that alone looked like a swing to me. While the bat head was somewhat behind the plate, Ryan’s wrists were far enough forward that the call seemed fair. In agreement with Luke that this column’s outrage is overdone.
Why is he asking whether the bat broke the plane of the plate? He should know that is not the definition of a ‘checked swing’.