White out? Ump call costs Angels, is replay needed?

It was a wild scene in Game 2 of the ALCS, between the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels, after an apparent strike out in the bottom of the 9th turned into a second chance for the Chicago White Sox, which they turned into a win to tie the series at 1-1. If you haven't seen it already, A.J. Pierzynski had appeared to go down swinging to end the 9th inning and push the 1-1 tie into the 10th, when Pierzynski took off for 1st base. While the umpire had appeared to make the out signal, he says he was just indicating that it was a 3rd strike. Further replay shows he did make a signal that indicated that the ball hit the ground before making the strike motion. Because a batter can run to 1st on a dropped 3rd strike, Pierzynski was safe at 1st. The Angles protested the call but there was never a meeting by the umpires and the call stood. Much of the blame should be put on third-string catcher Josh Paul who dropped the ball and ran to the dugout. Paul should have been smart enough to tag Pierzynski like almost every other MLB catcher does when the ball is low and appears to hit the dirt. While also at fault, at least umpire Doug Eddings was consistent. All game his strike motion was a closed fist that looked like any other ump's out motion. And Eddings did make the signal that the ball hit the dirt, so it was a dropped ball. Of course Joe Crede would go on to hit a two-out double in the ninth to win the game.

The incident has many calling for instant replay in baseball and all UB can say is, NO! Bringing instant replay into baseball would be a big mistake for the following reasons. First the game does not have a clock, which is why games range from 2 hours and 40 minutes to whenever (like the 18 inning game between the Astros and Braves in the ALDS, or last year's 4+ hour games between the Red Sox and Yankoffs in last years ALCS) so replay will make the game even longer. Second, even if officials say replays won't be available for balls and strikes, instant replay will open the door for computerized umpires. How long until a huge non-strike call costs a team a big game? Every time it does, we gotta deal with talk of putting computers in to call the game behind the plate. Third, playoff baseball, unlike football, is a series of games. 5 games or 7, either way you can't win one and advance. Too much goes into each game, each at bat, and each pitch to point to one call as the reason a team lost the series. In football the replay has become an exciting part of the game. Coaches get a certain amount of challenges and if they don't get the call it costs them. When a close call happens fans at home are shouting "throw the replay flag!!" In basketball the replay is only used for a last second shot where the clock is a factor, again not something that baseball has.

Off the subject of replay in baseball for a moment, your Uncle Buck has been disgusted with the use of replay in College Football. Yes UB does think that replay can be good in football, but NCAA football doesn't even have enough respect for their sport to crown a national champion on the field, instead using a bogus BCS formula and polls. How can they say that these games are so important that they need to get the call right, but at the end of the year, instead of having a playoff between two 11-1 teams they just declare split national champions? Give UB a break!

Another thing UB noticed while watching the game, has there ever been such a play that went FOR the "cursed team"? Steve Bartmon, Jeffrey Maier, the phantom tag in the 1999 ALCS, Clemens ejected in 1990, the black cat running around Ron Santo, Bill Bucker, Leon Durham...each time these plays go against the "cursed" team and for the team that always wins or has recently won. In this game the White Sox are the cursed team, having not won since 1917, yet the bizarre play goes in their favor. The closest thing UB can think of is the "Tuck Rule" in the 2002 Divsional Playoffs between the Patriots and Raiders...but that was football...and the Patriots won...heh heh heh...

So if we see replay in baseball where will we see it next? Wrestling?

After further review, Steve Austin used a chair on the Rock, disqualifying himself, therefore the Rock retains the championship...good night!