[Rich]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Well, you started out defending the call and stating that he didn't call Time or Foul, even after you saw the MLB video. Are you now willing to say that by emphatically throwing both hands far above his head, he was in effect killing the ball in this case, and therefore had no business changing his call to a fair ball, and thereby causing a triple play that never should have been? When the runners saw him signal, they correctly surmised that the ball was no longer alive for some reason, and did not need to continue the play.

Sure, we have all screwed the pooch in similar fashion in one way or the other occasionally, but we usually own up to it, not alibi and cover it up with the backing of three other umpires to perpetrate the fraud. We say, "I messed up, I'll bear down harder next time," or some words of contrition. The fact that all four umpires huddled up, and then tried to sell a bill of goods that the ball magically became alive again, after being clearly signaled dead, was not being forthright and honest. By saying, "At no time did the umpire verbally kill the play on the field," they are saying, "Hey, you are all a bunch of idiots, and you didn't see what your eyes tell you that you saw." Once Scott threw his hands up to the sky like he was going to shout, "Hallelujah," he should have sold the Foul call for all it was worth.

Personally, I love watching the Padres get screwed. Especially when that homer Dick Enberg gets all angry at the umpires.