http://www.dailybulletin.com/sports/ci_3721319
Throughout four-plus hours of baseball on a sleepy Monday afternoon, there were plenty of chances for both the 66ers and the Mavericks to gripe and groan about the replacement umpires in the Mavericks' 7-5 victory in 12 innings at Arrowhead Credit Union Park.
To this point, there hadn't been too many complaints about the replacements for the members of the Association of Minor League Umpires, who went on strike before the season to protest the lack of a wage and per diem increase, and the quality of hotels, among other things.
But on Education Day at the ballpark, which featured an 11 a.m. start time and more than 2,000 young students from local schools in the stands, the only lessons learned might have been how much an inconsistent strike zone can affect the game.
The best thing about the umpiring was that it seemed equally exasperating for both sides.
"I even talked to their manager over there about it and we both agreed that it wasn't the best we've ever seen,'' Sixers manager Gary Thurman said.
Thurman then paused and added, "If it wasn't the worst, I can't remember where I've seen that's been worse.''
The problem, in a nutshell, was this: pitches that looked like balls to both pitchers and batters were sometimes called strikes. Pitches that looked like surefire strikes were occasionally taken for balls.
And according to players and coaches - some of whom kept their harshest criticism off the record - this went beyond normal gripes about bad calls.
If the umpiring was indeed "pathetic,'' as one coach called it, then the best call all day might have been the concessions stands stocking up on extra cotton candy and Cracker Jack for the school kids.
"The pitchers didn't know where they were supposed to throw the ball and the hitters didn't know what they were supposed to swing at,'' Thurman said.
The Sixers (7-4), riding a six-game home winning streak, fell behind early when a pair of second-inning errors resulted in three runs for the Mavericks (6-5), who maintained a lead until the sixth inning.
The Sixers' Mike Wilson hit a two-run double in the sixth to give his team a 5-4 lead. Flame-thrower Stephen Kahn came on in relief in the eighth inning, inheriting runners on the corners, but threw a wild pitch that scored the Mavericks' Geraldo Valentin to tie the game at 5.
In the top of the 12th, Corona native Mike Stodolka hit a one-out single and Brian McFall followed two batters later with a two-run blast off of Mumba Rivera (1-1) that landed on top of the vacant Home Run Hill in left field.
As McFall circled the bases and his teammates celebrated, the public address system boomed out singer Tom Petty's "Even the Losers Get Lucky Sometimes.''
The Mavericks' Brandon Weeden (2-0) pitched all of the extra innings, giving up two hits to get the win.
Thurman called on six pitchers, leaving him with only two relievers - three at best, he said - when the Sixers begin a road trip tonight at Stockton.
The pitching situation might become even little stickier pending the results of an X-ray on the left hand of starter Julio Santiago, who was removed from the game in the fourth inning after he tried to field a ball with his pitching hand.
As for the umpires, whose names are not released to the teams or media, Thurman made it a point to say there have been "some doggone good'' replacements this season, just not Monday.
"I know I'm not supposed to say bad stuff about the umpires, but everybody knew. It's not something you can deny,'' Thurman said.
Some of the players, like Sixers leadoff hitter Josh Womack, said the varying strike zone put unnecessary pressure on the batters.
"It gives you something else to worry about while you're hitting,'' said Womack, who went 0-for-5 but said the umpiring hurt some of his teammates more than it hurt him. "Rather than feeling comfortable and the umpire doing his job to keep you safe up there ... you think, `Is he going to ring me up if I take this strike?' ''
Pitcher Eric O'Flaherty, who threw two scoreless innings in relief, was the most diplomatic of anyone when it came to speaking about the replacements.
"There have been some good ones,'' he said. "But basically, they struggled today.''