Don Denkinger, Meet Doug Eddings
Sports induced stomach punches are making the rounds in my whole family this week, making the final stop at my unsuspecting gut just a little while ago.
Over the weekend, I got out relatively unscathed. Colorado beat the hell out of Texas A+M, the Titans beat up on Houston, the Predators won their first three games, and the Angels (eventually) deposited the Yankees by the wayside. Everyone else? Well… My mom had the Yankees lose (HA!), my dad had the Braves blow a 5-1 8th inning lead to the Astros and go on to lose in 18 innings to end their season…not to mention Tennessee getting trounced by Georgia (again, HA!….I loathe the Vols), and Jason, C.J., Randy, and Jenny had to deal with Ohio State losing to Penn State. Yikes.
Tonight, though, the worst may have been saved for me. The true pain of it won’t be felt until the American League Championship Series is over (if the Angels win it, who cares; if the White Sox win it….oh God…). In the bottom of the 9th inning, Kelvim Escobar strikes out AJ Pierzynski swinging on a low pitch. As the Angels trot off the field, Pierzynski turns and runs to first, as if catcher Josh Paul hadn’t caught strike three. The umpire had pumped his fist as if to signal Pierzynski out. With him now standing at first base, everyone was frozen with a WTF look on their faces. Even the umpires. Only the Angels looked more confused than the umpires. And just barely. After the umps basically shrugged and called Pierzynski safe, all hell broke loose. The inning should’ve been over. Every single replay Fox showed backed this up. But in a case of what appeared to be, "Well, he’s already at first, so…what the hell. He’s safe." The umpires allowed the inning to continue. After the pinch runner steals second, the inevitable happens and Joe Crede doubles in the winning run. White Sox 2, Angels 1.
Quite frankly, the game should’ve still been going on, with the Angels coming up to bat in the top of the 10th inning. Even the broadcasters thought it was a bad call.
Now, to tell the truth, I thought the Angels would have lost if it went to extras anyway. They stunk it up most of the night. But to lose as a result of a call like that? Atrocious. As a fan, it makes me forget the poor effort of our offense. And the umpires explained absolutely nothing after the game. Nothing. They made lame excuses, but not one of them could attest to actually seeing the ball hit the ground under Paul’s glove. The third base umpire wasn’t even watching when it happened. Doug F’n Eddings said he never called Pierzynski out, and that the clenched fist motion he made was an indication of strike three, not an out (bullshit…he called it twice). They tried to place all the blame on Josh Paul (who, admittedly, should’ve tagged Pierzynski anyway just to be sure, but knowing the ball didn’t hit the ground, just acted like he always would). They basically couldn’t defend themselves, or, much more importantly, they couldn’t defend the call.
So, if the White Sox end up going to the World Series…they can send Eddings a Christmas card.
If the Angels pull it out anyway…it’s all moot.
I’d rather it be moot.
Sayonara.