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by Doug Thews.
Original Post: A's Get "Jobbed" By Umps - Lose ALDS Game #3
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The umps must be Red Sox fans. The umps and the A's themselves did everything to give the Red Sox life in the series, and now it looks like deja vu all over again for the A's by losing another potential series clinching game. For the record, the A's are now 0-7 in potential series clinching games.
First, the A's tried to hand the Red Sox the game by commiting 4 errors (3 in the same inning). But Ted Lilly pitched a masterpiece and only gave up 1 run through 7 innings. Their run was scored on what was deemed defensive interference when Eric Chavez got in the way of a BoSox runner running back to 3rd in a run down (read this carefully, because there's a quiz in a minute - and it has everything to do with the outcome of the series).
OK, now in the 7th with the bases loaded and 1 out, Eric Byrnes takes off from 3rd on a weak ground ball. The throw from the SS comes in high and Byrnes collides with the catcher at the plate, while the ball sails to the backstop. But, being a real bonehead, Byrnes never touches the plate and walks to the dugout. The catcher retrieves the ball and tags the potential tying run out! What an idiot!!!!!!
OK, now on to the most controversial call I've ever seen, because this decided the game. The BoSox now walk Eric Chavez to re-load the bases with 2 out. Game #1 hero Ramon Hernandez comes through again by hitting a hard bouncer past the SS which scores a run. The BoSox 3B comes over to 3rd base and clearly interferes with Tejada rounding 3rd (from 2nd) to try and score the go-ahead run. As he gets shoved out of the base-path, he clearly loses steam and is out at the plate (with the throw being way too high). BUT, the umps call interference AND say that in their opinion that the runner wouldn't have scored anyway!!! I've never heard anything like that. How can you tell that the throw would've got the runner if he was allowed to complete the play unimpeded? The throw was high, and from what we saw in the Marlins game earlier, even if the catcher gets the ball, Tejada can still knock it loose or slide around a tag. There's no way that an ump can determine the future ... if they could, they'd be stock brokers.
Of course Ken Macha argues the call, but because the ruling was judgement related, he can't even play the game under protest. Funny that the President of the umpires association was quickly interviewed off-camera right after the play and the reporter said that the President felt that it was a bad call. Then you see he and MLB commisioner Bud Selig clearly talking to each other via cell phone (the picked up and hung up and exactly the same time), and then he gets on camera to say it was a good call. Clearly, the A's got jobbed on this call and lost the go-ahead run. Even the baseball experts of all networks (who've had plenty of time to get their experts to read the rule book) describe how bad the interpretation of the rule on the field was.
The A's shut down the BoSox through the 9th inning, so that should have been the end of the game. Of course, in extra innings, the A's reliever Rich Harden gives up a HR in the bottom of the 11th, and now the series is 2-1.
I'm extremely upset because it looked like the umps were doing everything to allow Boston to continue on in the series. Several questional critical ball/strike calls, plus the interference called against us. Then, the "five fingers + palm" job call to put the BoSox over the top.
What's spooky is that the A's were up 2-0 to the Yankees in 2001, when Jeter made that fantastic play and mini-Giambi didn't slide - which eventually cost the A's a 1-0 loss. Now, there was no rule interpretation that night. It was a great play, and the A's lost fair and square (unlike tonight, where the umps got rich betting on the BoSox). The next game, the Yanks came out and scored 11, and in Game #5 the A's folded early for a 7-6 loss. The Game #3 was critical for the A's to erase any possibility of losing yet another ALDS in 5 games. Now it looks more and more like the series of the past.
Can the A's get up off the deck, come out pissed, and tag Burkett early to eliminate the BoSox? If not, and the BoSox get an early lead, I think it could be the beginning of the end for the A's. Hudson is pitching on 3 days rest. If he can't win (and he shouldn't have to - the A's bats should just wake the f$#* up!), Zito will have to go on 3 days rest against a fully rested Pedro Martinez. Not a pretty site for what looked like a sure Oakland victory. Funny how fortunes can hinge just on the bad interpretation of a single rule.
Let's all pray that the A's come out smoking from the start tomorrow. Because, the A's are running out of "next times".
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