The phantom out (Expected call)

[Striker991]

Once again I must revisit this issue, even though I am already aware of how the "big dogs" will respond. Last night in the Orioles at Seattle game, Carl Everett attempted the steal of 2nd base. It was obvious that the ball beat him there, by quite a bit. However, it was equally obvious that the tag wasn't even close and missed Everett by a mile. While I understand the safety issues involved and the need to avoid injury by not keeping the glove down to get nailed by cleats (sweep tag), I also feel that when the miss is so obvious (from every angle) that an out should not be awarded. The 2nd base umpire looked terribly foolish and you could see the look on his face when he made that call he was making "the expected call" that everyone knew was wrong. While he garnered no argument at the time (because everyone knew what had occurred and why the call was made), Carl Everett summed it up nicely in the postgame interview..."it is lazy man's baseball." To paraphrase, it is umpiring baseball without balls.

Okay dogs...time to defend purposely making the wrong call because it is "expected."