Quote:
Originally posted by CaramonLS@Oct 23 2005, 10:48 PM
the AJP play was one of the worst calls in history... Instant replay wasn't the issue there (but it would have helped) the ump was 100% at fault for that.
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It wasn't the umpire's fault at all. You are taught as a catcher that, when in doubt, tag the guy. There's nothing to be lost if you tag the batter when you didn't need to. But there is everything to lose if you don't tag him and he gets to first. AJ Pierzynski is a catcher and knows this and the third string guy for Anaheim botched the play. It is 100% his fault.
Ball in the dirt, tag the guy. Ball low, caught with glove against the ground, tag the guy. Don't put the umpire in a difficult situation needlessly.
I was a catcher for 13 years and am the umpire-in-chief of the local park. I know both sides of the story. In this case it was the catcher's fault.
As for instant replay, I am vehemently against it. It takes away from the human element of the game. Plus I just don't think it is needed. There are really not a lot of disputes in the game. Out/Safe, Ball/Strike and Fair/Foul are about it, and all three are pretty easy to discern.
As for the hit batter tonight, you probably wouldn't know, but the sound a ball makes hitting bone at 95MPH is almost indistinguishable from the sound of a ball hitting the knob of the bat. The umpire though should have looked at the batter, who obviously wasn't in pain, and realized that it hit the bat and not the hand/wrist.