…you don’t actually have to tag a runner for him to be called out.
It’s a new rule. You just haven’t heard about it before.
→ July 16, 2008
→ By
→ By
The collected thoughts of sportswriter, bookworm, & food critic Keith Law
Copyright © 2011 Curtail Theme on the Genesis Framework
As an official umpire in a European Amateur baseball league, where we use the MLB rulebook, I can safely say I hadn’t heard of that rule before Tejada’s play either. In all seriousness though, it’s a tough call to make from the B position for the ump since the SS is blocking the way and Tejada did only miss by about 4 inches. Not excusing the bad call, just apologizing.
Catchers are slow, they obviously couldn’t score from second on a single. Particularly catchers from crappy franchises.
Aside from the fact that both runners were safe, I feel like they should have been called safe just so the game would end before it’s called a tie. The ball beat the runners both times at least.
Isn’t that how it goes in every game ever? They’re particularly off the bag at second *all the time*. No excuse of course, particularly in a game this much in the spotlight, but isn’t it a little bit like complaining about DWade or Kobe or LeBron getting a few phantom calls? It’s symptomatic of a greater disease, not one crappy umpire.
I’ll second Fran here – the call at second base was not a good call, but it is an extremely difficult angle for the umpire to see – even if he wasn’t partially blocked by Tejada, he still is not at an angle where he can see if there’s any space between the glove and the runner’s leg.
As for the play at the plate, that’s called an out 99% of the time for three reasons – 1) the fielders made a great play, which often gets a little benefit of the doubt; 2) the ball beat the runner by a healthy margin; and 3) the tag was down and Martin’s foot was in front of the plate. Frankly, I think the replays that we saw were inconclusive – watching it again on MLB.com, to me it looks like he’s safe from the first two replays but out from the third (and in the umpire’s defense, he definitely looks out watching it live).
By the way, Keith, I haven’t had a chance to see Uggla before – are his hands really that bad, or did he just get nervous tonight?
How about that Marlins middle infield, eh? Uggla looked like a third-string high school jv right fielder forced to play the infield. And that swing on Soria’s curveball…not a good night.
Did it bother anybody else that Joe Buck and Tim McCarver decided to make Dan Uggla the goat of last nights game – which I remind you was an exhibition game. I understand that he played poorly, fine, but anybody who was watching the game could figure that out yourself – there is no need for these two announcers to remind everyone who is still watching the game (who were likely well versed baseball fans considering how late the game started) just how poorly Uggla was playing.
The thing that ticked me off was after the second error. McCarver et al say. (1) he hits into a double play. (2) he makes an error. (3) he makes another error. (4) you know his father always dreamed that he woulg get to see his son play in yankees stadium, but Uggla was hurt two years ago when the Marlins were here and his dad has since passed away (5) but he wouldn’t want to see him play like this.
WTF
why even go there, it has no value what so ever, and essentially dumps on a guy on national TV while also reminding him that his father isnt around anymore.
I dont think Dan Uggla’s dad is dead.
http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/jul/14/fate-deals-uggla-winning-hand/
Why does Fox Sports still insist on having Tim on air? Just look at his announcing…last night, Derek Jeter steals a base, and then Bradley (I believe) steals another and McCarver states that it was the first stolen base for the American league…plus, the guy spits out nothing but non-sense. Is it just because he was a a great catcher?
Jesse:
Thank you. I guesss i misunderstood that and really that was the biggest thing that bothered me. not that i think Tim and Joe should be little the guy, but I am no longer as filled with rage. Thanks for correcting me there.
The umpiring struck me as pretty lousy throughout. It occurred to me at some point that I really have very little confidence in an umpire to actually get a close play at really any base right these days when compared to a slow-motion replay from several angles. To some degree I just don’t think we can be surprised by this; it’s not like umpires have gotten worse on this count, it’s just that the technology to call them out for it has gotten so much better.
With that said, strike zones have been criminal this year and last night was no exception. And that’s something that shouldn’t be as problematic as trying to make a bang-bang stolen base call from a bad angle.
My bigger issue is the mentality that “everyone has to play.” This isn’t AYSO soccer, people, it’s the big leagues. Now, when the game DOES mean something (and whether it should is a different argument) you have to do whatever you can to WIN the game. Come on now, look at the hitting lineup the NL was trotting out there at the end of the game. Are you kidding me? On the AL squad at least 6 or 7 batters were dangerous, while the NL lineup looked like a bunch of rejects.
Can we PLEASE play the guys that give us the best chance to win? The NL does NOT have the superstar depth that the AL does, and it was telling in the later innings and extras. Ugh.