Officiating and the Crowd

[Kevin Finnerty]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

What did Scioscia say? He said to the PU after the game, "what's the count now, 3-4?" The umpires have gone on record that they were verbally abused following the game by the Angels coaching staff. He should have been yelling at his lazy a$s left fielder for not diving for that ball to save the game. If he would have dove, he probably would have caught the ball. It looked like he just gave up on it with the game on the line. Easier to blame the umpires, I suppose.

All right, we're talking about almost two different subjects. I thought Rivera should have laid out for that ball. It would have not been as sure a grab as you hinted at---more like a near-miracle grab.

The pitch that tied the game was definitely disputable, and a pitch right before that appeared to be missed. The zone was pretty unpredictable all night, so there was bound to be tension.

I'll tell you one thing, I would respect Scioscia a whole lot less if he wasn't upset by calls like those, or the one that ended the game in particular. What are you a baseball manager for?

Defending umpires is fine, but going after a guy like Scioscia isn't necessary in order to defend the umpire's right to call a borderline pitch a ball instead of a strike to end a ballgame.

And if you knew more about the guy, you would know that he would never blame one of his players for anything. He blames himself and/or the whole team. Last night, he said that they should have never been in the position to lose the game like that, and pointed out the two innings when they didn't cash in, and the two mistakes on defense during the Sox's big inning. That's customary. He said the same thing after that Doug Eddings fiasco four years ago.

Umpires wished more catchers were like Scioscia when he caught and they wish more managers were like him now.