Officiating and the Crowd

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty

Ahem ...

I had to clear my throat.

Yours is a specious argument that is common, if not forthcoming in every debate of this basic nature.

If the pitch was called a strike, the Angels win. If the pitch is called a ball, the game is tied and the bases remain loaded and the Angels may not go on to win. But, I repeat, if the pitch was called a strike, the Angels win.

The Angels did not win. If the pitch was called a strike, the Angels win.

One call goes one way and the Angels win. The same call goes the other way and they are still alive, but they lose. So it's not a direct loss, but very close.

Who put the Angels in the position where one pitch mattered? How many hits, stikeouts, strikes, bases on balls, catches, dropped balls, instances of bad baserunning, and cases of stupid game strategy did the umpire have?

One pitch called either way does not by itself win or lose a game. One pitch cannot be isolated from the other 249, except, of course, by disgruntled managers, spoiled players and fanboys.