Originally Posted by Cub42 (Post 630719)

Just as in any level of ball, you have guys that are solid mechanically, in Game Mgt, and judgement wise. Then you have those who are constantly in trouble. That will not or can not accept criticism or take instruction. Those whose reputation is poor, whether justified or not. But this is for sure, once the players, Mgrs, press, etc. see you as HS, that does not go away. They will not believe you right or wrong. Any close call or decision brings the heat. I suspect this is the case here.

Originally Posted by Ump Rube (Post 630707)

Yeah, me Minnesotans are too nice to say anything. Minnesota Nice that is what we are known for. (Although to be far it really is Minnesota Passive-Aggressive)

Originally Posted by Dakota (Post 630609)

This post is a bit of a rant, so ignore it if you like.

There are issues with this that MLB and the umpire's union needs to address (IMO).

First, with a call this obviously poor (not just missed... poor - the ball was fair for two easily seen reasons: it hit the players glove in fair territory, and it hit the ground in fair territory) in a playoff game, there needs to be some repercussions for the umpire. A call this bad is poor in general, and in a playoff game, unacceptable.

Second, with the obvious conflict of interest for MLB (they clearly make more money if the Yankees advance than if the Twins advance), there needs to be transparency in how the umpire is disciplined. With a call this poor, there will be (and is) the chatter that it was favoritism.

Third, there needs to be transparency in how umpires are selected for the playoffs, for the same reason as #2, and it needs to be merit-based. Cuzzi has somewhat of a history of poor calls that favor the Yankees. Why was he assigned to this series?

MLB cannot afford to appear to be tolerating incompetent umpires in the playoffs neither can they afford the appearance of impropriety in the officiating.

The pretend commissioner is no help. In responding to the call for instant replay for calls of this kind that resulted from the poor call, he mumbled something about baseball cannot tolerate the delay. With the generally slow pace of MLB, this is obviously baloney. Further, his credibility as a man of integrity is, well, laughable. There are real and good reasons why IR for this kind of call is a bad idea (e.g. play stops with the FOUL call; you can't recreate the continuing action that would have happened, etc.), but for a man of seedy reputation to make such an obviously silly reason for no IR just adds fuel to the speculation that something is amiss.

Originally Posted by Cub42 (Post 630740)

Meaning He is in over his head, and obviously he is in trouble constantly

Originally Posted by TonyT (Post 630750)

After missing that call Cuzzi should be fined and taken off the crew and not be allowed to umpire anymore this year. That was not even a hard call to make for gosh sakes total incompetence.

Originally Posted by SAump (Post 630752)

The Twins didn't say anything when they had the opportunity. Its nothing but old milk now.

Originally Posted by TonyT (Post 630750)

After missing that call Cuzzi should be fined and taken off the crew and not be allowed to umpire anymore this year. That was not even a hard call to make for gosh sakes total incompetence.

Originally Posted by TonyT (Post 630750)

After missing that call Cuzzi should be fined and taken off the crew and not be allowed to umpire anymore this year. That was not even a hard call to make for gosh sakes total incompetence.

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty (Post 630843)

I think the call would be a lot easier to accept if it hadn't been a fly ball fair/foul call---the easiest call in all of umpiring.

Originally Posted by Kevin Finnerty (Post 630843)

I think the call would be a lot easier to accept if it hadn't been a fly ball fair/foul call---the easiest call in all of umpiring.