WBC/Chad Fairchild

[Sal Giaco]

BIG Props to HP umpire of the Venzuela/Dom. Rep. game Chad Fairchild for an awesome game behind the plate. I've never seen so many nut cutter pitches in one game and he nailed almost all of them.

There was one moment that defined how umpires are changing from the old "red ***" days. The Dominican catcher, who was holding pitches throughout the game, actually threw a 2-2 pitch off the corner "around the horn" as Fairchild called it for BALL 3! As expected, he gave the catcher a piece of his mind as the pitcher had to get the ball back from his infielder but Fairchild did it professionally and never took his mask off.

The next pitch (3-2) was on the on the "black" and I bet 99% of umpires would of balled it, but Fairchild pulled the trigger for a called third strike. Although the catcher stuck the 2-2 pitch up Fairchild's a$$, he did NOT "get even" or "send a message" by balling the next borderline pitch.

I think he showed tremoudous patience and restraint considering what a rat that catcher was. I'm not sure I could of kept my cool but for those of you who saw it, I think we can all learn from this particular situation. As much as it pained me to see what was going on, I think MLB and NCAA baseball want to see us handle this situation exactly the way he did, rather than the way we used to take care of things back in the day. Any thoughts??