Hawk Harrelson - Worst announcer EVER!

[Jim Porter]

I really can't blame any White Sox personnel for being upset about this play. The umpires royally screwed up. While they corrected their errors in the end and eventually got the right ruling and placement of runners, they let all that action play out when play should've been stopped. They allowed the White Sox to acquire two outs that would later be nullified. They made a difficult situation a helluva lot worse. It was very poor umpiring. Hawk is paid by the White Sox to be their announcer. He's their representative. While he might not have understood the final outcome (and, let's face it, most umpires on these forums didn't understand the outcome until it was explained by a few of us in detail) he was quite correct in calling it a bunch of, "BS."

[jimpiano]

Originally Posted by Jim Porter

I really can't blame any White Sox personnel for being upset about this play. The umpires royally screwed up. While they corrected their errors in the end and eventually got the right ruling and placement of runners, they let all that action play out when play should've been stopped. They allowed the White Sox to acquire two outs that would later be nullified. They made a difficult situation a helluva lot worse. It was very poor umpiring. Hawk is paid by the White Sox to be their announcer. He's their representative. While he might not have understood the final outcome (and, let's face it, most umpires on these forums didn't understand the outcome until it was explained by a few of us in detail) he was quite correct in calling it a bunch of, "BS."

The umpires actually did a pretty good job. The play cannot be over until the obstructed runner is denied the base he would have achieved had there been no obstruction. That the play continued after that is not to say the umpires were not trying to stop it.

And the media did a nice job of explaining it, Hawk Harrelson excepted:

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune....s-sports-print

[Jim Porter]

Of course the umpires were not trying to stop it. Heck, one of the umpires who called the obstruction later made a subsequent out call after the rundown on R2 between third and home. The other umpire who called the obstruction was in position to make a call on the subsequent rundown of the BR between first and second. That was horrible, in my opinion. It showed a lack of knowledge of the rule. Joe West saved the day, I think.

[Jim Porter]

And the media got the explanation right only because they had Rich Garcia and West to explain it all to them, as they should.