Pierzynski strikes out, and Paul runs off the field. Pierzynski runs to first and is called safe. The replay shows Paul caught the ball. What bothers me is that the umpire made what looked like an out call on the play.
Update: Ozuna is pinch running. He steals second.
Update: Crede lines an 0-2 pitch off the left field wall to score Ozuna and give the White Sox a 2-1 win. The first call against the Angels in the post season leads to a defeat.
Update: The broadcast crew notices the out call after the strike out, too.
Update: Pierzynski says he didn’t hear the umpire call out.
Update: One of the commenters made the point that what appears to be an out call is Eddings’ strike call. However, he stuck his right arm out first, then brought it in for the fist pump. That looked to me like he called the strike with the arm out, then pumped the first to call him out. I’d like to hear what the catcher Paul has to say about it.
Update: The Baseball Tonight crew makes a good point. Pierzynski headed to first because he didn’t hear an out call. Paul had been in long enough and caught enough strike outs to know how Eddings called a strike out. A.J. didn’t hear what he should have heard, so he headed to first. So what did Paul hear or not hear?
Update: Eddings just had a news conference. He says he never verbally called the batter out. The supervisor said a batter is not called out if he starts toward the dugout. He’s not out until he reaches the dugout steps.
According to one of the questions, Paul says umpires usually say, “No catch!” when the ball hits the ground. Eddings didn’t do that. From that, I take it that Eddings didn’t say, “out,” either.
The umps are also claiming that from the replays they saw, the ball changed direction. As Harold Reynolds pointed out, it can change direction and still be in the glove.
One reporter pointed out that Eddings’ strike call looks like an out call, and if anyone had pointed that out to him before. He said no, he never had a problem with it until now.
Has anyone seen an interview with Paul?
Update: They’re interviewing Paul next on Sports Center.
Update: That was a useless interview. They didn’t ask him what he heard from the ump!
Update: Good work by Drew in the comments. He writes:
Eddings contradicts himself….. on the batter before AJ, Aaron Rowand, when the ball got loose after he swung at strike 3, Eddings points to the ball, and ONLY RINGS HIM UP AFTER PAUL TAGS HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ringing him up IS NOT his normal strike 3 mechanics, as proved by the very batter before.
I just watched it on Tivo. Rowand swings and misses. Eddings right arm goes out straight. Paul tags Rowand, and Eddings pumps his fist!
I definately agree. He made the out call. I hope it doesnt cost the Angels the game.
wow. thats a fiasco in the making
My goodness.
Hate to see that.
This is messy.
What is there even to say. What a shame.
I just want to let you Angels fans to know I only rigged the ALDS for you. I’m fixing the ALCS for Chicago.
this is so bad. i’m not a fan of either team, and i’m pretty upset.
MLB should be embarassed… The guy calls it twice an out…
I had been arguing against the need for instant replay in baseball for a long time. No longer. That was a bullshit call, a bullcrap win. That was a totaly embarrasment for baseball, maybe acceptable during the regular season, but totally and utterly an absolute debacle in the playoffs. Baseball needs instant replay in a bad way, I now realize.
The home plate ump clearly made an “out” sign.
Unfortunate that this is how we’ll remember what was an entertaining, well-played, and well-pitched game.
Fox did a close-up slow-mo replay in which the ball clearly moves up before it hits the back of the glove. Only thing I can’t tell is whether the up movement is due to hitting dirt, or hitting the bottom edge of the glove. Anyway, catcher should have tagged or thrown to 1st to be sure.
I was watching the Cards/Astros game. Why did the first base umpire call him safe???
Replay would not have matter if the ump did not confuse the call. He pumped his fist out. He was out. Then I dont know what happend. Looked like a brain freeze.
To those who say the catcher should of tagged or thrown to 1st base… Why if the umpire had already called him out?
This is one of the worst things I’ve seen in the playoffs. I’m not a fan of either team, but we were just robbed of a potentially great game.
IIRC what y’all are calling an “out” sign was what the home plate ump was using to signal “strike” all night long.
What’s more problematic than whether Paul caught the ball or not is that the umpire signaled the out call. What a farce.
The ball was in the glove. More importantly, the ump called him out, depriving the Angels of the ability to throw the batter out. Once the out call is made the play is dead, right or wrong.
Could the Angels have finished the game under protest? What are the rules regarding that, anyway? They have a legitimate gripe.
Again, why does the first base umpire calling him safe mean anything if the home plate umpire made the out call??? If it’s an out (and not a strike that bounced in the dirt), then the ball is dead. . . . isn’t it?
I wonder if these are all moot. What can the MLB do to rectify the matter other than reprimand the umpires or admit that the umpires made a mistake?
IIRC what y’all are calling an “out” sign was what the home plate ump was using to signal “strike” all night long.
No, you are wrong. The ump first made the “strike” motion, but then clearly made the out sign – the pump of the fist – and he made the out sign twice.
That is a bullshit call, and a terrible way to end a game.
As for the protest…it is a judgment call, and I am pretty sure you cannot argue a judgment call. If the ump made a wrong decision on a clear rule violation, that would be different. But I am pretty sure you cannot argue a judgment call.
MLB should replace him for the rest of the series. Making a bad call is part of the game, but there is nothing I can think of to explain away the fact that he called him OUT before he was called safe.
Maybe this is karma…the LAAngels had quite a few nice calls against the Yanks…Just off the top of my head, Cano pulled of second, Arod throw to first-safe, and Cano called out of the baseline…
I just did a rewind on my Tivo, and Jason is right. The signal the umpire made after Pierzynski swung at strike 3 is actually his signal for calling a strike.
Maybe he should think about changing that. It looks a little too similar to an out signal.
As the old baseball saying goes, “You never make a fool of yourself when you hustle”. It was a bad call, I thought, but the catcher should have seen the hitter run to first and thrown the ball, just to make sure.
Adam: I would hardly say we were robbed of a great game. Those first 9 innings weren’t great enough for you?
But if he was legitimately out, AJ can run around the bases all he wants, but it doesn’t matter. The home plate umpire making the out call means the game’s going into extra innings, doesn’t it?
Shouldn’t they make the two teams play extra innings when the series moves back to Chicago after these next three games (if it matters)?
The signal the umpire made after Pierzynski swung at strike 3 is actually his signal for calling a strike.
Are you referring to the clear out signal? The slight move of the arm while pumping the fist?
I have always seen that as a clear signal meaning “out”.
It was a bad call, I thought, but the catcher should have seen the hitter run to first and thrown the ball, just to make sure.
Come on…he had already tossed the ball back to the mound before the batter started running.
Jeremy: Pierzynski had already turned toward the dugout, and was about to toss the bat, before he started for first. By that point, the ball was on the infield and Paul was on his way into the dugout. Escobar, on the other hand, was standing a few feet from where the ball landed.
Maybe Pierzynski should have been ruled out of the baseline, too. 🙂
This ump’s strike call does look like an out call, but he definitely pumped the fist afterward. And Paul did catch the ball.
Clearly the call that the pitch hit the dirt is a judgment call, but is it possible to protest or appeal the awarding of first base after the batter is called out and the catcher relies on the umpire’s call? Why is that ‘judgment’ rather than ‘rule’?
Anyway, very upsetting (and I’m not an Angels fan either).
Ozzie just said he’s not going to watch the replay.
While a judgement call can not be protested, can reversing a call? The umpire clearly called the out and then reversed himself. That is not a judgement call, but a reversal of a call.
Dave Pinto…do you the rules on protesting a game?
Not only did the umpire clearly make an out signal, the other umpires apparently weren’t watching because they didn’t see the play and reverse the call. Josh Paul immediately flipped it because he knew he caught it. How can the umpires miss that call.
Also, when AJ makes a movement toward the dugout isn’t he out anyway?
It didn’t look like he moved to the dugout, he looked like he was avoiding an expected tag.
Geez, that’s right. Once Pierzynski steps out of the batter’s box away from first, he ought to be called out if (and only if) the ball is in play.
I love how the umpires are blaming Josh Paul for not tagging Pierzynski. Can they rectify this problem?
The irony (I guess) is that if Paul really had trapped the ball, he certainly would have slapped a tag on Pierzynski. So he loses the game because he did make the play.
Why was Paul playing, anyway? Oh, DaVanon ran for Molina?
As a Giants fan who could never root for the Angels…they were screwed by chickens–t umps who were probably afraid of a noisy South Side crowd if they told AJ to go back to the dugout.
I never liked AJ, but he knows how to manipulate many aspects of the game..I think he’s lying if he says he never heard the ump call out.
The game was over…I hope the Sox don’t pull out the series because it would be a farce to see them in the WS based on that game.
Terry: That rationale is absurd. If the Sox make it to the World Series, it’s because they won three other games. Calls go both ways. What happens if the umpires make the right call on Cano? Maybe the Angels aren’t in this position to play for a shot at the Series anyway. Saying it would be a farce for the team with the best pitching in the AL and the best record in the AL to be in the World Series is a bit of a stretch in this situation.
This is the second worst call in ALCS history. It’s tucked in there between Jeffery Meyer’s catch in 1996 and the phantoms tag in 1998.
Eddings contradicts himself….. on the batter before AJ, Aaron Rowand, when the ball got loose after he swung at strike 3, Eddings points to the ball, and ONLY RINGS HIM UP AFTER PAUL TAGS HIM!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ringing him up IS NOT his normal strike 3 mechanics, as proved by the very batter before.
The Angels were cheated by the worst call I’ve ever seen in an important baseball game.
So what I’m hearing is that if Pierzynski gets rung up, the Angels undoubtedly win the game (and the Series).
I like that Edding indicated during his press conference that he ‘sometimes’ bases his calls on the reactions of others. Why does he change his out call when one person starts running to first after heading to the dugout, rather than the 9 Angels running off the field after they saw him call the third out?
I don’t care what his “normal” mechanics are. This is a perfect example of umps considering themselves above the game. Just like when they got their noses all out of joint about being told what the strike zone is!
Umps should never get to decide that they can impose their own personal version of the strike zone. And they should never, ever be able to decide what will be the signal for safe or out, strike or ball. If players have to rely on the damn signals as play proceeds, is it asking too much that they use clearly understood signals?! What kind of insanity is it to expect players to have to remember each ump’s idiosyncracy for signalling his calls.
Outfielder makes play on liner. Catch or hit? Baserunners and fielders need to know and right now. Ump twitches his fingers. Uh, let’s see, when this ump twitches his fingers it means … uh, damn, used to know what that means, hmm…..
Only a commissioner too stupid to understand that all-star games can go into extra innings would allow this garbage.
If you are upset as I am, call the League. Their number is 212-931-7800. Selig does not have the balls to have his extension listed, but you can leave a general message. It is also interesting that the bastards can’t even bother with an 800 number. I guess we fans don’t pay enough at the park.
Scott – the game would have gone into extra innings, since AJ was the third out of the bottom of the ninth, and who knows what might have happened?
The league needs to fix this, I think by having an extra innings matchup when the series goes back to Chicago after 3 in Anaheim. Sometimes umpires make bad judgement calls.
But this goes beyond bad judgement, if I understand the rules correctly. If the home plate ump really did signal out, then the inning was over. The first base ump signalling AJ safe doesn’t matter at that point. No?