Let’s face it: being an official or an umpire can put you in the spotlight more than you would like to be. The NFL has been dominating the news of late as the officials can’t seem to get the call right on the loose ball plays – meaning whether to blow the play dead or let it go and then decide afterwards if it was a fumble or a forward pass. They seem to go back and forth and some of these plays have come in crucial moments down the stretch of games.
SU has not been following the World Series – at all. Once the Yankees went out, just not that interested. However, I did wake up from a brief nap last night to catch the play in the top of the 7th inning of a 3-2 game. Truth be told, we have all seen this play before during the regular season. In baseball, it’s a stupid rule to have the bases in fair territory. It forces the runner to have to cross the bag in fair territory. SU says the home plate umpire was fooled by the fact that the first baseman’s glove actually fell off trying to catch the ball. The runner did not appear to hit his glove – the ball knocked it off. To SU, the runner actually did nothing wrong and if the glove had not flown off, the umpire would not have called it interference. It was actually funny that after the game when Joe Torre was interviewed on the field, he still thought the runner had knocked the glove off.
It’s a judgment call for the umpire and not reviewable. Similar to pass interference in football although now coaches can appeal the call and, at least so far, generally not win the appeal. Nationals’ manager Davey Martinez went berserk. SU can see him being upset but it’s not reviewable. The umpires called NY but that was just to have the rules read to them over the headset. SU is sure they already know this rule – kind of stupid. They were also confirming that the Nats could not protest the game over this play.
SU says that the play should be reviewable and if it was, they would have reversed it as the runner was in the proper position and did not knock off the glove. Case closed. Something to consider for the off-season. Credit to Rendon who promptly hit a 2-run home run and avoided weeks and weeks of controversy. Now, the Nationals can make this their rallying cry for game 7 and you have to figure that they have the momentum. SU says not a bad thing for baseball. More passion, more interest in a World Series that has had few dramatic moments so far other than the road team winning every game.
What’s up with the Larry Rothschild firing? Rumor is that the Yankees want someone who is more all in on analytics to be in that role. SU thought he was an excellent pitching coach for all of his years with the Yankees. No complaints. Got the most out of a staff of brittle starting pitchers. Keep an eye out for David Cone to get this job. He is up on his analytics and has Yankee pedigree.
Finally, enough of not allowing your starters to face a line – up for a 3rd time. If you are a stud pitcher, you know how to get through it. SU says: “Save a reliever!” and let your starters pitch longer into games. It’s good for the environment.