No kidding about AJ. I have never seen a game really and truely, without a doubt, ruined because of umpire interference before, but I guess those guys can do anything.

AJ's a poop. Pure and simple.

Thanks for the Gaetti link, BG. I think I know someone who's gonna like it a lot.

You know you still love A.J., Beege.

Ever since A.J. hit the home run in the first game of the BoSox series, I realized I want Chicago to win the whole shebang. I didn't expect it to be this way, but there it is. I'm rooting for A.J., all the way.

First - Congratulations to Twig - for his many years of baseball - what a treat he was for the game.

Secondly - what a horrible - horrible call and a cheap - cheap way to win (yes I would have thought the same thing if the situation were reversed)
It stinks and I hope the Sox know they wont be getting any more calls like that the rest of the series
Figures that the devil's spawn was pitching - and they win - well in all the stories I've ever read between angels and the devil - the Angels usually come out on top -
I wonder if a more tenured manager were arguing the call - they would have reversed it - say like Torre- LaRussa or Bobby Cox??

At least the Cardinals won - and it sucks that both teams played on the same night -

Wonder Woman

A.J. is so my NSMC, it's just not funny. I'm almost tempted to openly root for the Bitch Sox just because of him.

that call was complete crap. and to make that crap call in a 1-1 tie? unaccaptable. I am thoroughly disgusted.

Somewhere there is an NFL team missing a goal post-smacking field goal kicker going by the name of Josh Paul. How hard would have it been for him to tag AJ just to be sure? Answer, not effing hard at all. Live and learn. Hard way to go down but everyone is taught to go by the ruling on the field. And clearly the ump had only called a third strike, not the third out.

Still, (expanding upon what frightwig wrote) I would have preferred the Witch Sox to win in extras.

Clearly the ump had not called the third out? Baseball Tonight showed two other more conventional swinging strikeouts, and both times the ump made the exact same motions as he did on AJ's strikeout. He did absolutely nothing different on AJ's strikeout, yet in AJ's strikeout, he supposedly wasn't out at the time of the signal, and in the other strikeouts the batters were out at the time of the signals.

If the ump wouldn't have signalled like he had on every other strikeout, the missed call wouldn't have been so bad. The pitcher could have picked up the rolling ball, tossed it to the first baseman who would have been on first, and AJ would have been out by 30 feet.

All in all, it was a bad call, an amazingly poor job of umpiring, and a horrible job of the umps trying to cover up their mistake after the game. It's a shame that horribly blown call ended up playing a large part in deciding that game.

Criminals. Nothing but a buncha criminals.

When the call was made I immediately said Don Deckinger. That was the only worse post-season call I have seen--and yes, I still consider the 1985 KC Royals title tainted. If the Bitch Sox win this year--it will be tainted by the phony dropped third strike--and yes the ump called AJ out. And AJ knew--lost respect for him to.

Congrats to Twig for 57 years in baseball.

I can't believe they replayed that one on mlb.com! The Sox should be embarassed by that win.

But, best wishes for a happy retirement, Twig!

Dear Bat-Girl,

Speaking of ex-Twins, you probably do not check the Washington Post for news on baseball, but the Post's staff writer covering the ALCS included an interesting ex-Twin, post-game text message:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/13/AR2005101300021.html

Enjoy.

Dear Ms. Just Beth,

Neither the Sox nor their fans are embarrassed by playoff wins. They are too few and far between to treasure.

Mind you, the Twins have gone to 3 World Series in the last 40 years. Your cup overflows.

Dear Mr. Will,

The ball definitely bounced, the replays definitively show that (watch the 1st base line angle - you can see the ball and shadow meet at the ground before it goes into Paul's mitt). And if you look at Escobar's strikeout of Konerko in the dirt in to end the of the 8th, Eddings extends his right hand (no contact), then makes a fist (strike), and then punches Konerko out (you are out) - a three-part mechanism rather than the two for AJ.

No one has said they heard give the official, required "out" verbal call.

-Shoeless Joe

Shoeless -

IF that ball 'bounced' - then my uncle really is a monkey - and next year David Eckstein and LNP will lead the their respective leagues in homeruns next year.

WW

I wanted extra innings.

The call was absolute crap, and Doug Eddings is, well, going to be the Infamous Doug F'ing Eddings from now on, but I'm not faulting AJ. First, he was my boyfriend, and I still adore him, so I tend to get illogical around him, and secondly, it's just smart (maybe smart-ass) baseball to give the ump that chance to have second thoughts. Ump shoulda known better.

I tuned into the game just as AJ was stepping into the batter's box. I proceeded to shake my head for 10 minutes in unision with Mike Scoscia. Paul caught that ball and the home plate ump blew it. The whole stadium knew AJ was out...except for the ump! Sad. Very sad.

p.s. I too have always appricated AJ's grit and sass. If it weren't for something known as the Chairman plus the acquisition of Nathan, Liriano, and Bonser I might just be bitter about losing AJ. Instead, I guess I just have to cringe that he's with the Bitch Sox.

An awful way to end any game, nevermind a playoff game tied in the ninth inning.

That said (and I'm definitely pulling for the Angels in this series), the key to me is whether the plate umpire VERBALLY called the batter "out" or not.

Whether the ball bounced or not (one replay I saw made me think it might have), it was definitely very close. The catcher and hitter have their backs to the umpire so any "signal" is of no consequence to their actions at that point.

If there was no verbal "out" call, then everyone who's ever played the game knows what to do next. If you're the hitter and you don't hear yourself called out on a low pitch, you take off for first base. AJ did exactly what every player is taught to do because you don't KNOW if it hit the ground or not and you aren't out until you're called out.

The catcher screwed up. Period. If he doesn't hear "out", he tags the hitter. Plain and simple. I lay much more of the blame for that loss on the catcher than I do on the umpire.

Oh and thanks "Shoeless Joe" for the link to the Post. For the rest of you who may not have read it, you have to love the last couple of paragraphs. As the writer's interview of AJ after the game is being concluded,

"He paused. There was a text message on his cell phone. It was Doug Mientkiewicz, his teammate when both were with the Minnesota Twins, who famously caught the last out of the Boston Red Sox' World Series sweep, then kept the ball.

'Even when you strike out u cause problems,' came the message.

Pierzynski chuckled. Then came another: 'Go keep the base, you'll make bank off that photo.'"

I mean... is that classic or what?

I live in Chicago and work in an office full of White Sox fans. Not one of them thinks that ball bounced, to their credit, and though they are happy about it, they would all tell you they got lucky and the call was bad. The umpire screwed up. Plain and simple.

Of course the ball didn't bounce. That's like back in '91, when each and every one of us (those of us who were alive and paying attention) insisted that Ron Gant must have just kind of bumped Kent Hrbek off that base.

And the thing about "how hard would it be for Josh Paul to tag him just to be sure"--this is the one and only time I have ever agreed with Tim McCarver on anything. If anybody knows for SURE that the ball didn't bounce, it's Paul. Why even think of tagging him when you caught an ordinary ol' strike three in the air? This was Eddings' fault, completely (and really, really stupidly). He should be fired. Today.

In every replay I watched, the ball was clearly caught. I'll have to look for a "1st base line angle" replay I guess. Maybe someone in the stands was filming with their camcorder and we'll get a Zapruder-like angle......"back and to the left". I do like that Scioscia didn't whine too much like some managers would have and placed more of the blame on his own team not playing well enough (Wake up Vlad!). I will cheer even more for the Angels now!

Oh yeah, and Eddings saying, "I'm watching Josh Paul, seeing what he's going to do." is a joke because if he is watching the catcher, then he knows that the ball was caught.

Dearest Cathy,

Do you work in an office full of White Sox fans, or in an office with 70% former (and, undoubtedly, future) Cubs fans and 30% White Sox fans? How's the bandwagon?

Just curious.

-SJ

The umpire really messed up, but there's a reason guys are 3rd string catchers. If he would have tagged AJ, it's all over.

AJ -- my all-time favorite Twin -- is going to be booed like crazy in Anaheim. And he'll thrive on it.

An "ordinary ol' strike 3 in the air"? Hardly. If you're a catcher and your GLOVE has to go to the ground to get the ball, there's always a chance the umpire that's standing behind you isn't going to be able to tell whether you caught the ball before it hits the dirt. I still maintain that one replay showed the ball changing direction but regardless, if you put your glove in the dirt to catch the ball, and you don't hear the batter called out, you TAG him. Maybe a third string catcher has a brain cramp in that situation, but he's still a major league catcher and it's something you're taught from the time you're 10 years old (at least I taught my 10 year olds the same lesson when I coached that level).

I have fond memories of Gary Gaetti, even if he did wind up on the Cubs after he left the Cardinals. And even if we kind of stunk while he was on the team.

A.J. was out, no question. I find it interesting that the ump claims on the replay you "clearly" see the ball change direction (indicating it bounced). Because I think most of us saw no such thing.

Anyone, even an Angels fan, who "blames" AJ simply doesn't know anything about baseball. You aren't out until you're called out. He did nothing except what he's supposed to do.

I agree though that he'll eat it up when the fans lay in to him. Probably be tagging every hitter on every third strike, too.

[AHEM. --BG]

Congrats on a great career Twiggi and it was fun to see so many pictures of the G-man. Those were the days, hopefully our boys can give new Twins fans fond memories like we all have from 87 and 91.

Bad call or not, this will forever cement my love for AJ. I think he totally baited the ump into second-guessing himself.

Dear Mr/Ms Readers,

BG agrees. AJ created that win by his sheer AJ-ness.

Thanks to Mr. Joe for the fab link.

My darlings, disagree with the call, but you must be respectful of other posters.

Sincerely,
BG

JimCrikket--here's the thing. That's fine to coach a team of ten year olds, but as a Major League catcher you don't bother tagging him, because there's simply no reason to (and none of them would, as one of the Molina brothers pointed out). There's nothing to make sure of, because as I said, if anyone on the planet knows whether or not the ball hit the ground, it's you. And it's not like there's any reason for Paul to pretend in that situation, because AJ was right there for the tagging. The catcher's immediate reaction to the situation tells you everything you need to know in that situation, and the fact that the umpire might think the ball hit the ground because of his (utter lack of) perspective isn't reason for Paul to tag him, but rather, it's reason for the umpire not to contravene the catcher's judgment on it. It was the umpire that had the brain cramp there.

AJ is smart. If he were on the Red Sox would they call it "AJ being AJ"? And if the Twins were the Angels in this scenario, who would be J. Paul? Matt LeCroy or Corky Miller? And would he have tagged AJ?

I miss AJ. I have made it my duty to cheer for the bitcy little sox in the post season, just for AJ's sake.

Oh, I laffed my butt of at the Gaetti link. TOO FUNNY!

I guess I have to learn the rules.
It seems like quoting someone and then replying to it is the surest way to make sure that you don't misrepresent someone elses thoughts.

I guess, I guessed wrong.

The call was wrong. It is difficult for me to see how anyone could think it is otherwise.

Dear Mr. MN,

The nature of the reply is the key, here, not the quote itself. BG just tries very hard to make sure there are no flame wars on BG.com and she believes the tone of your comment was incendiary. Perhaps she was wrong, and if that's true, she apologizes. You have been a terrific addition to BG.com.
Sincerely,
BG

Yep. I'm cheering for the Bitch Sox because AJ is on that team. I'm cheering for AJ. :)

IMO, The catcher blew it. Even if he caught it cleanly, he should have tagged AJ, or thrown it to first. He can't see the ump's fist. Why take a chance?

Bill, we'll just have to agree to disagree I guess and that's fine. I just don't think umpires generally trust any player's demeaner to determine how to make their calls, nor do I think they should. The "easy" call to make would have been for him to just ring AJ up and I'd bet he's wishing like crazy today that he had done just that.

T-Mac, I'm not sure what difference it would make if AJ were on the Red Sox. Heads up play is heads up play. And I guess I would hope to God that if this had been the Twins involved, Gardy wouldn't have had Matty or Corky behind the plate in the 9th inning of a 1-1 playoff game (I suspect forgetting to tag AJ might have been the least of our concerns if they were back there).

BG - my apologies if I've been disrespectful to anyone. Certainly not my intent.

No way Mauer misses that tag. I do blame Paul, unless Eddinger said "out," which I have heard no one allege. He and AJ were close enough to hear any call. Unlike a base runner, a batter is not called out for moving towards his bench. On watching the play live, I thought "He hasn't tagged him!"

Rules, 7.08 Approved Ruling (a)
"APPROVED RULING: When a batter becomes a runner on third strike not caught, and starts for his bench or position, he may advance to first base at any time before he enters the bench. To put him out, the defense must tag him or first base before he touches first base."

I may be biased, though. I think AJ looks like my uncle, who was pitcher/2B in local amateur ball, although he played HS ball with Terry Steinbach.

I have no problem agreeing to disagree, but I just want to stress this part one more time. Of course, an umpire "generally" won't want to, and should absolutely not, trust a player's demeanor, because the player will be acting in his team's interest. They do it all the time in practice--if you act like you got hit by an inside pitch, you'll generally get first base--but that's neither here nor there.

Here, trusting the player's demeanor is the only thing that made sense. Paul had absolutely no interest in pretending to have caught the ball, unless he was somehow incapable of lifting his arm and tagging AJ out. The umpire's thought process should be, "I have no way of telling whether the ball hit the ground. The catcher knows, and is acting as though it didn't. There is no reason to doubt that implicit assertion. Therefore, the ball did not hit the ground." It's only logical, really. Even if he'd been wrong--if there was a chance the ball HAD hit the ground--you wouldn't have heard a thing about it, because it would have been a routine play. I guess the real lesson there is that the thing for the umpire to do would have been to make a clear call one way or the other. Either way; yes, the easy call would have been to ring AJ up, but it would also have been the right call, and for that matter the *obviously* right call.
Okay, done. :)

ChiSox fan here, just wanted to point out a couple of things:

1) Replays earlier in the game showed that the ump consistently made the same call on dropped 3d strikes. The fist for strike 3, and then a distinctly separate "out" call. He also never called out "no catch" in that situation. argue about the quality of his technique, but he was consistent, which is the key

2) All of this is irrelevant, because Josh Paul could not have seen the ump, and even he doesn't claim there was any verbal call. So on a close play (mitt in the dirt), absent any signal from the ump, he assumed the out and then prevented his team from recovering by flipping the ball. Josh Paul is the catcher, not the umpire. It is not his job to make the call, only the play (which he did not).

3) In any case, the play had nothing to do with them giving up the SB to Ozuna or the cookie that Crede crushed.

The problem is that the "blame" is not mutually exclusive. Paul should have tagged him. Catching 101. The umpire should have a definitive "out" call. Umpiring 101.

AJ may be many things but last night he was just an opportunist.

Bill, when I heard the "talking heads" discussing how umpires generally say something like "no catch, no catch", I was surprised. Going back several (ok MANY) years, I used to umpire HS baseball/softball and we were instructed by the state federation NOT to say something like that in this situation. You say "strike 3"... but not "batter's out". Nor were we supposed to say "no catch", because this (theoretically) gave an advantage to the defense by alerting them. You simply stood silently and didn't call the batter out until he was tagged, thrown out at first, or reached the bench. Not going to pretend I know anything about how MLB umpires are taught to handle that situation, but the argument that he should have said "no catch" just didn't coincide with my, admittedly ancient, training.

Pretty good bet the subject will come up during the off-season at umpires' meetings, though. Probably be covered pretty thoroughly when pitchers and catchers report to spring training, too.

Anyway... hoping the Angels get past it all and win the next three in Anaheim.

I agree about the ball "changing direction" -- I saw the same thing myself last night. On whatever camera-angle it is that looks like it's coming right from the pitcher's mound: they do the slow-mo thing, and I saw the ball go down down down, and it looked to be about an inch off the ground when the catcher's mitt closed around it. But then, suddenly, the ball seemed to leap up a couple inches into the back of the mitt. Is that because it bounced? I'm not sure. By all other evidence, A.J. should have been called out, but that little change of direction still makes me wonder.

That's just a great heads up play by AJ. Got to watch AJ play last year here with the Giants. For some reason, people just didn't like him here and I can't figure out why. Anyways, AJ's play was firmly in the tradition of Hrbek's 'tag' of Gant at 1st or Knoblauch's deke of Smith at 2nd. That's just great baseball! Like I said before, I'm openly rooting for the BS (of course, nobody really cares here).

I have seen the replay dozens of times, and I can't honestly tell if the ball hit the ground or not. It may have. From the Ump's position, I'm sure it could go either way, since all he'd see is Paul's glove against the ground.

The key is, as many have stated, the Ump's 'mechanics'. The swing sign (flat hand) was clear, then he gave the single fist forward. So the question is, is that an 'out' fist, or a strike 3 fist?

As pointed out earlier, on previous strikeouts (i.e. Konerko's check swing K), there were seperate strike 3 and out motions, clearly. Therefore, while the ump's signs may be less than ideal in clarity, he was consistent. No out was called.

Kudos to AJ for being heads-up. Condolences to Josh Paul, who was a class guy here in Chicago, but who is as much to blame as anyone for the play. And lest we forget, the ump did not steal second or double in the winning run.

I also saw the ball change direction, but I'd be willing to bet that it changed direction when it hit inside the webbing of the glove.

Anyway, my biggest beef is not that the ump missed the original call. It's that he led everyone outside of 5 feet away from him to believe that AJ was out. He did the *exact* same thing he did on every other conventional swinging strike 3 calls.

I'm positive he didn't call AJ out verbally. That's why AJ ran. I also believe that he thought AJ to be out, hadn't made the verbal call yet, and then he freaked out when AJ started running. Regardless, he hadn't made the verbal call yet. That doesn't matter.

If the ump doesn't motion like he did for every other swinging strikeout that SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight showed, then the Angels fielders would still have been able to get AJ out. The pitcher could have picked up the rolling ball, thrown it to first, and had AJ by 30 feet.

Sorry, one other thing to point out...

Josh Paul and Kelvin Escobar were already on their way to the dugout before the ump made any signal at all. The video shows this. Therefore, regardless of what the Angels interpereted the signs as, AJ was going to be safe at first anyway. The Angels left the field before they saw any sign at all. They blew it, not the ump.

Will-

I don't know what replays you saw, but the two I saw showed that the ump did seperate calls for strike three, then out. one fist, then the other.

But I fully admit that I only saw two, online, and that others may have been different. If they were, then that inconsistency is definitely an issue here. He needs to have the same mechanics every time.

JimC, No difference if AJ is on the Red Sox. I was trying to be funny in that post. But my posts, just like me in real life, aren't all that funny.........:)

I am going to have to take my cue from Scioscia on this one (and kudos to him for taking the high road). In my opinion, the umpire blew the call. The main problem seems to be that there is no uniform rule for how you call something like that, which left it up to interpretation by the players, which is not a good thing. And it didn't help that it happened to happen when the backup to the backup catcher was in the game. But if the whole game hinges on something like that, it's because the Angels failed to score enough runs during the game to make it immaterial. Oh, and yes, you absolutely can't fault A.J. He made a heads-up play and it worked out for them.

The bottom line is, the Angels leave Chicago with a split that could just as well have been a sweep, and now it's a five game series and they have home field advantage. The Bitch Sox wasted a stellar outing by one pitcher and barely squeaked out a win with another. I know who I think can win three out of the next five games. Go, LAAAAAAA!

Guys, we're making this too complicated. Here's the deal:

1) The umpire clearly made the wrong call. It's hard for him to see in his position, but the replays clearly showed the ball was caught. It's a shame to see that happen any time, but especially at an important point of a playoff game. However,

2) Umpires miss calls all the time, going back to when God (or Satan, depending on your point of view) created them. Nobody likes it, but it happens. That's why,

3) The catcher should have made sure by tagging Pierzynski. Catchers, and players in general, are taught from little league never to assume anything, but to keep playing until they know for sure the ball is dead. Besides,

4) While the missed call hurt, the Angels had plenty of other chances to win the game. They could, for example, have scored more than one run (hard for us Twins fans to believe, but some teams do it). The could have not given up the double to Crede. It hurt, but it did not, in and of itself, decide the game. In addition,

5) It somehow just seems right that this happened with A.J.

I know this is going back a bit, but in response to the person who questioned who the Twins equivalent of Josh Paul would be, I believe the answer is quite obviously...the one and only...

Pat Borders.

Sox Matt-

You're saying you saw the ump do a right hand out, then a fist pump with one hand, then a fist pump with the other hand?

Baseball Tonight showed that on at least two other swinging strike 3's, he put his right hand out, then did the fist pump. He did the same same thing on AJ's strikeout.

I completely believe that the ump entirely thought AJ was out until AJ started running. But because he had yet to verbalize the out call, even though he was going through the same motions he used for other swinging strikeouts, because he had yet to verbalize the out call, he allowed AJ to take first. He had the right call initially, but he second-guessed himself into making the wrong call when AJ took off.

Also, yes, Escobar was on his way to the dugout when AJ was running. Meaning: Escobar was about 10 feet away from the ball when AJ started running. If any Angel thought AJ wasn't out, they could have easily alerted Escobar to pick up the ball and throw to first. But they had no reason to believe he wasn't out, because they saw the ump do the same they had seen in previous swinging strikeouts.

(Also, something worth noting: a guy somewhere else said that on a previous dropped third strike that the ump didn't do the fist pump until after the batter was tagged. I didn't see it, so I don't know.)

I think the only way to really settle this is with a LEGO-VISION re-enactment

Wonder Woman

Okay, fine -- it was a silly way for the game to end, and whether the call was right or wrong, AJ did exactly the right thing. Make somebody make sure you're out and don't worry about looking like a dork if you run somewhere unnecessarily.

But my real concern is the revisionist slant in the NYTimes article -- now that purely offends me. The implication is that AJ has finally found a home after wandering through hostile situations, and thank goodness for the embracing arms of the White Sox. Pffthht.

The Giants were jerks to AJ, never got him, and treated him badly. I get that. But he was part of something with the Twins, and the fact that he's getting Dougie's text messages and Batgirl and the Batling's love and esteem years after he left the Twinks shows what a valuable part he was. Heck, several of us have admitted to cheering for the Bitch Sox in the post-season because he's playing for them. That's saying something. (Word, frightwig.)

One look at this string of posts would tell anyone pretty much what AJ's position was in Twins fans' hearts -- he may have been a loudmouth, but he used to be our loudmouth. If we didn't have the wonderboy, he'd still be here and welcome. I wish like heck we could use two catchers enough to make it worth having them both.

So phooey on the NYTimes. He was our AJ. We loved him first, and no one gets to pretend otherwise.

I totally agree with Wonder Woman...

Wow, that sentence would look really strange out of context...

Anyway, Legovision could settle it all!

And yes Will, I wish I could demonstrate in person, which would be much easier, but his previous punch outs included two fist thrusts. But, they did not include a flat handed swing mechanic.

This is getting worse than JFK.

I'm willing to believe you saw what you did, and I know I saw what I did, so I say we just agree that the umpire was absurdly inconsistent in his calls, and that was a large reason why the play went down as it did. Good?

Sounds good, Will. Consistency is the most important thing an umpire can deliver, and he wasn't delivering that last night. He was inconsistent on quite a few calls on the strike zone too.

Besides, at this point, the question I keep asking myself is, which team will this event help or hurt emotionally (putting the game count aside) the rest of the series? Things to ponder.

Hrunting-- that ticked me off in the NY Times article, too. The only team AJ had trouble being on was the Giants-- its just that he's always had trouble with the players _from other teams_. But he certainly had a home here, thank you.

Shoeless - actually, where I am there are only a couple bandwagon jumping Cubs fans. Really, it's mostly die-hard Sox fans.

Of course, it is a small office.

And I don't begrudge them enjoying the mistake and the outcome, because they know they got lucky. I'd feel the same way.

Imagine if Paul had been an outfielder who had caught a sinking liner just above the grass, and flipped the ball into the stands before verifying the out with the umpire, because he felt sure he had caught it. Is the outfielder blameless after everyone realizes that the ump ruled it a trap, and the batter is awarded 2nd base, even if the call is wrong?

When I was a kid, I had a soccer coach who constantly told us, "Play the whistle." Meaning, it doesn't matter what you think had happened, nothing is official until you hear the ref's call. He didn't want us to get burned on a breakaway goal while we stood there whining that the guy was offsides or something. Josh Paul just had to learn that lesson the hard way.

Even if the ball didn't hit the dirt, it came pretty close. Paul couldn't assume that the umpire would see from behind him that the ball definitely hadn't been trapped. Until he heard the umpire call A.J. out, he should have acted as if the ball were still live--which it was. Paul should have tagged A.J. to make sure the inning was over. He screwed up.

Still, I don't think the play was much different than if the umpire had called Ball 4 on a pitch which seemed to catch the plate for Strike 3, which happens all the time. A.J. got 1st base; but to win, Ozuna still had to steal 2nd so easily that he didn't even draw a throw, and the #8 batter Crede (who hit .252/.303/.454 on the season) still had to drive him home with a liner off the LF wall. Chicago capitalized on a lucky break, but the umpire didn't just hand them the game.

The G-Man and even Hrbie snuck in there. Frankie Sweet Music too! What memories. Great site, thanks BG.

from the Star Trib:

OFFICIAL RULES OF MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL; RULE 6.09 (B).

Angels manager Mike Scioscia: "It was a swing, our catcher caught it, Doug Eddings called him out, and somewhere along the line -- because the guy ran to first base -- he altered the call. . . . When an umpire calls a guy out and you're the catcher, and I've caught my share of them, he's out."

Umpire supervisor Rich Reiker: "We've looked at in the truck. We've blown it up. I'm sure some of you have seen that angle. . . . At this point, I would say at best it's inconclusive. I wouldn't totally agree that the ball was caught, but there was a change in direction there that we saw on the replay available to us."