Quote:
Originally Posted by MrUmpire
Although Tim didn't make the excuse, the MLB and AAA MiLB umpires I've had the pleasure to speak with say Tim had the misfortune of experiencing a brain fart on six-man mechanics at the worst possible time. You can see in the photo that his position gives him a great view of the back of R3 and screens him out from the catcher's activity. He's in the wrong spot and he didn't adjust.
A huge mistake, no doubt, but given his performance over his career, not a fatal one.
The main people b!tching are media types, rats and others who either expect only perfection from professionals or have convinced themselves they can do better.
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That last part of the passage reflects the kind of thinking that literally allows for and readily excuses failure. (If you can't do any better yourself, you're not qualified to criticize.)
On a field, McClelland is lazy--perhaps due to age, perhaps due to disinterest--and that laziness comes into play quite often in his work on the bases. And that blown call wasn't merely a "mistake," it was a disservice to the game, its participants and its followers. And what was that other blown coverage and resultant horrible call on the Swisher tag play? Was that a "mistake" that none of us are qualified to criticize?
You can dismiss and defame me and his many other well qualified critics and remain blindly loyal to McClelland and anyone else you like. That's your choice to make. I choose to live my life with my eyes and my mind open. I also choose to base my observations on what is actually happening in the world around me, not what a certain segment says must be happening.