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September 23, 2021

Schwarber Leads Red Sox In 12-5 Rout Of Mets; Replay Review Upholds Incorrect Call

In the top of the fifth inning of last night's game, Brandon Nimmo of the Mets hit a little trickler in front of the plate. Chris Sale ran in from the mound, grabbed the ball, and fired a seed to first base, where Kyle Schwarber made a nice catch, but ended up pulling his foot off the bag to avoid a collision. The screen shot above shows the baseball going into Schwarber's glove, with "daylight" between his left foot and the bag.

Umpire Phil Cuzzi called Nimmo out, which was (once NESN got around to showing a proper replay in which viewers could see Schwarber's left foot and its position to the bag) very obviously an incorrect call.

Cuzzi was in poor position to make an accurate call on this play. Even if he had been looking specifically at Schwarber's feet, he likely was far enough out of position to not see the left cleat lose contact with the bag. The ball beat the runner, so he called the runner out.

The Mets asked for a review, which ended up taking much longer than this clear open-and-shut case should have. Finally, the umpires in Fenway Park received the official ruling "from New York".

OUT! They upheld the blown call?!?

What is the point of having replay review if the people running the review give the thumbs up to blown calls?

(Also, Schwarber went 3-for-4, with a double, two home runs (in each of the first two innings), a walk, four RBI and four runs scored.)

More evidence for Robots!!
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3 comments:

  1. JimSeptember 23, 2021 at 7:19 AM

    Take a ball's width all around the border of the strike zone, in and out (about 3 inches). All pitches inside or outside that--any idiot can call. But I recon that probably 50% of those borderline pitches are blown by the plate ump. Take that perspective and the robot is a no- brainer. I simply don't get why this is such a "hard decision".

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  2. FenFanSeptember 23, 2021 at 7:39 AM

    What's most interesting from the tweets you shared is not only that there were several incorrect calls made, but how many runs it added in favor of one team versus the other. That's the impact some people don't see or get.

    The easiest example is the following: it's the ninth inning, the bases are loaded with two outs in a one-run game, and the umpire calls a strike on a 3-2 pitch that is outside the zone. Over the course of 162 games, it may not seem like much of a big deal, but if those teams finish one and two for the division crown... or if it's the postseason and the difference between a 3-1 series lead and a 2-2 draw...

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  3. Paul HickmanSeptember 23, 2021 at 1:30 PM

    On the Radio they claimed he was out for running inside the base line ? So Schwarber was "under the rules" entitled to take his foot off the bag to avoid a collision ? Indeed I remember Joe Castiglione saying that the Umpires should have a microphone, like in the NFL, to explain their decision ?

    Obviously, living in faraway Australia, I could well be wrong & have no idea what happened after the game ? Was the decision explained - I don't even think the Umpires talk to the Media ?

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