No day off for ALCS
CHICAGO – Ah, an off day in the American League Championship Series, a chance for the Angels and White Sox to take a little break out West.
But everyone else in baseball was still buzzing – not about a long home run or splendid pitching performance. Instead, all the chatter centered on the confusing call Wednesday night that helped decide Game 2 in Chicago.
Strike three on A.J. Pierzynski in the bottom of the ninth inning has already been replayed over and over. It’ll be scrutinized, dissected and debated for years to come – especially if the White Sox get past the Los Angeles Angels and reach the World Series for the first time since 1959.
“One of the most bizarre plays I’ve ever been a part of,” said Pierzynski, who caused all the chaos simply by hustling to first base.
So, in a morning-after routine that, in October, becomes as customary as coffee and doughnuts, fans all across the country headed for the water coolers at work Thursday to argue over a wild finish. This one was a doozy.
“Did you see what happened?”
“Did the ball really bounce?”
“Did the ump call him out?”
Given a second chance when plate umpire Doug Eddings called strike three – but not the third out, ruling third-string catcher Josh Paul had not caught the ball cleanly – the White Sox beat Los Angeles 2-1 on Joe Crede’s two-out double in the ninth to even the best-of-7 ALCS at a game apiece.
On Thursday, the White Sox were watching the play over and over again in their clubhouse before working out at Angel Stadium. Pierzynski, meanwhile, played down his role and tried to steer the attention toward Crede and winning pitcher Mark Buehrle.
“I feel sorry for the ump. I feel sorry for Josh. I feel sorry for me. I feel sorry for Crede. I feel sorry for everybody,” Pierzynski said.
“I feel sorry that it happened. And I feel sorry that it’s turned into such a national story, because there are so many other good things that came out of the game last night that people should be talking about. Instead they’re talking about a weird play that never happens.”
Major League Baseball spent part of the day talking about it, too. The conclusion by vice president of umpiring Mike Port: “Doug Eddings, all things considered, did nothing wrong.”
Moments before Crede’s hit, Paul and his Angels teammates ran off the field, certain they were headed to extra innings.
But hey, things aren’t always what they seem in Chicago – home of the Black Sox scandal, Al Capone and at least one or two shady elections. So what’s one more controversy to the Second City?
In a sequence as strange as any seen on a baseball field, Pierzynski swung at and missed a low pitch from Los Angeles reliever Kelvim Escobar, appearing to end the ninth with the score tied at 1.
The ball was gloved by Paul – replays appeared to show he caught it cleanly just before it would have hit the dirt. Behind him, Eddings clearly raised his right arm and closed his fist, signaling strike three.
Still, Pierzynski whirled around and ran to first – just in case. Positive the inning was over, Paul rolled the ball out to the mound with the Angels already coming off the field, so Pierzynski was easily safe.
“He called him out, and that’s what’s disappointing,” said Angels manager Mike Scioscia. “When he rings him up with a fist, he’s out.”
Not this time. Scioscia argued, the umpires conferred – twice – and the call stood after a delay of about 5 minutes.
As if it were destined to end this way, pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna quickly stole second before Crede lined a 0-2 pitch into the left-field corner for a winning double.
That left the umpires right where they don’t want to be – in the middle of a postseason dispute. Eddings said all the right things after the game, he just didn’t sound so sure of himself.
“I didn’t have him catching the ball,” said Eddings, a major league ump since 1999 who is working his third postseason assignment.
That said, plate umpires are trained to shout “no catch” or give an indication that the ball is in play. Eddings was silent.
Eddings told the New York Times he wished he would have been more emphatic.
“The only thing I’m down on myself is I should have sold it either way,” Eddings told the Times for a story posted on its Web site Thursday night.
“I should have either said, ‘No catch,’ or, if I did have a catch, that he was out. Which I never said: ‘He’s out,’ ” Eddings said.
“There is no regulation or requirement that they say something,” Port said. “Some of them do, but he’s not wrong if he doesn’t use it.”
Port spoke to Eddings in the morning, running over how the umpire signaled his call. Port said he saw no conclusive proof that the third strike was caught on the fly, and allowed how “hypothetically, there may have been” some benefit had the six-man crew huddled up to discuss the dispute.
Maybe instant replay could have helped. Baseball took a look at going high-tech last November but put aside the topic after general managers split a 15-15 vote on whether to keep exploring the subject.
Baseball commissioner Bud Selig has said he is against it and can veto any proposal by anyone who gives it a try.
Even the upsetting loss didn’t change Scioscia’s mind.
“I’m not in favor of replay at all,” he said.
Because it was a judgment call, there was nothing Scioscia could’ve done at the time, either.
“No, it’s not protestable. He’s saying he didn’t call him out,” the manager said.
Eddings probably won’t have a quiet time in today’s Game 3 in Anaheim. He’s scheduled to work the right-field line. With the low-slung wall in Anaheim, he’s sure to hear it from the Angels fans.