Howie Kendrick in the 6th.It was already 3-0 at this point, so it likely had no effect on the final outcome, but you cannot say that about the blown call at first with Kendrick in the third. If Mathis leads off the fifth rather than ending the fourth, maybe Hunter doesn't go deep.
Or maybe LAA wins 12-4. Who knows? ... And that's the point. I'd like this series to be decided on the actual events on the field. The embarrassing performance of this crew last night does not bode well for rest of the games.
Crew chief Joe West:
He was in great position on all the plays. ... It didn't appear that any of them were real routine plays, either. Those were all tough plays. They were all bang-bang plays. ... Well, I had my impression. And you see them, you're going to have yours.West said this after saying he watched the replays.
Bucknor was voted Worst Umpire In Baseball in SI players polls in both 2003 and 2006. He ran away with the award both years. ... And he will be behind the plate tonight.
17 comments:
I guess what Schilling said about CB was true.
Shit. I find myself agreeing with blogger!Schilling. This ain't good.
CB has become my least favorite umpire. I can only imagine what he will be like behind the plate tonight - prepare for a dancing strike zone (hopefully in favor of Becks)!
In 2003, Bucknor was voted worst umpire in a SI poll of MLB players, with 20.7%.
In 2006, he was again voted worst ump, with 21%.
There is the potential for a drinking game based on how many times he screws Beckett out of a strike.
That is of course if you're into getting shit-faced drunk by the bottom of the 3rd inning.
We need to score runs before we can complain genuinely about the umps.
But, CB is a dick.
The worst thing about this is that up until reading this, I thought his name was Buckner, and seeing him at first base was a particularly painful kick in the nuts.
A slightly different version of this is at BBA, with one of the Schilling quotes I posted in the game thread last night.
Truly, Buckner is among the worst. However, do we know for a fact that the same shortcomings in correctly judging the order of events will translate to shortcomings in strike zone judgment?
There are many ways for umpires to fail, so while CBB's performance at 1B was abysmal, I want to know what his history has been behind the plate. I don't really think the two skills are related.
On the other hand, his failings might also stem from an overall attitude and stubbornness issue, which would of course affect him across the entire umpiring skillset.
Now, is he the one that does the Leslie Nielson-esque strike out move?
Well, West wasn't exactly doin' his very best behind the plate last night either.
Not to mention, if this CB guy is one of the worst umpires in the game, what the hell is he doing umping a frickin' ALDS??
Both those blown calls last night were pathetic. I usually like Joe West, but I don't see how he could have watched the replay and said either of those plays were up for interpretation. They were no doubters.
I'm not terribly happy to hear that CB's behind the plate tonight... I'm leaving for Angels Stadium in 30 minutes, making the 5+ hour drive from Phoenix to Anaheim for the game. 2nd row, third deck! CB better not blow it again...
Yeah, he's shit. Yeah, he blew the call. Yeah, he will probably be shit tonight.
But as Joe Grav said, we need to score runs first. His piss-poor calls are not the reason for us losing game 1.
There were easily 2 missed *out* calls at first, both concerning Hendrick. Between those calls and the bad home plate ump...Ugh. please not a repeat tonight.
bwsmith25: I may have to play that game tonight!
I thought his name was Buckner, and seeing him at first base was a particularly painful kick in the nuts.
I recall he was the plate ump for the first interleague game the Red Sox played against the Mets at Shea. As you can guess, CHB made a big deal about the symbolism.
His piss-poor calls are not the reason for us losing game 1.
I never said they were (but I don't think you were accusing me of that anyway). Also last night, I noted that the Angels got hosed a bit too.
I am not blaming the umps for the loss. I said right up front that I have no way of knowing if anything would have changed. Maybe we win 7-6, maybe we lose 13-0. "Who knows?"
A borderline strike call is one thing; calling a guy safe who was out by three steps is another. All I want is for the umps to be good and not blow obvious calls so the game can be decided by what the players actually do.
It shouldn't be too much to ask.
Lester had to throw more pitches and, if those batters were out it'd be one more out which would push everyone else up, which reduces the likelihood of a three-run bomb by Torii Hunter.
One bad call CAN change the complexion of a game, even if it doesn't look like it did.
Indirect consequences.
Without a doubt.
I hate it when announcers say, if a double follows a caught stealing, that too bad for that team, because the run would have scored. Not necessarily. The entire pitch sequence and pitcher/batter reaction would have been different.
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