Phil Cuzzi's Vision
 

is listed on Ebay right now.

It's being described as "new in box-never used".

:eek:

And the Twins were the victims--really stinks. I've never seen a major league ump miss such a fair/foul call. The only excuse I can think is that he misjudged that the ball was touched by F7 over foul ground? Still not good.

Of course, failing to score with bases loaded and no outs stinks worse.

P-Sz

Two of the worst blown calls I have ever seen were made by C.B. Bucknor at first in last night's Angels-Sox game. And there was a huge kick at third in Philadelphia.

But that fair/foul was beyond belief. You have one thing to do all effing night and then that's it?!? Wow.

The best of the best.

So why didn't everyone here go to the umpires school so we could have competent umpires in MLB.

Horsesh!t baseball to get caught at second and tagged before the run scored at the plate earlier in the game, to end the inning and possibly score more runs.
Horsesh!t baseball when you cannot score in that same inning of the call with the bases loaded and 0 outs.
Horsesh!t baseball when the manager in the postgame interview has to ask the press, there were 6 umpires right, because he didn't really know.
Who stranded runners all night?
Who gave up a game tying home run in the bottom of the 9th-How about the walk-off in the 11th?

I agree with you that Minnesota dug themselves into a hole all night. But Cuzzi's call down the line can't be defended. He was right on top of it, didn't look like he got straightlined, and absolutely kicked it big time.

Tim.

I agree with you that he absolutely kicked it big time.

So, why didn't everyone on this forum go to the umpire school and become MLBU? I am sure this would not have happened if the people on this board were MLBU.

One of several with Cuzzi and the Yankees.
 

That call was not why the Twins lost the game. Leaving 17 runners on base is a good start.

But, I have to say these are things that make you go hmmmm...

Rd. 2: Guillen upset with umpire Cuzzi | whitesox.com: News

Home rules for New York Yankees; Indians lose, 6-5 | Cleveland Indians - cleveland.com - - cleveland.com

Ozzie Guillen Is Not A Fan of Phil Cuzzi -- MLB FanHouse

Sports: Healing Thome gets extra swings

Actually he slipped trying to go to 3rd and couldnt get up in time... so it wasnt like he was trying to just stand off the base, he just slipped and Jeter saw it and got him out..

Does it come with a bonus pack of the magic floating strike zone thet the PU had?

Too many, too close
 

I won't participate in pro umpire criticism. I saw it, watched replays, and watched the interview of the crew chief.

Obvious Dept: The best professional umpires make mistakes, sometimes.

But what I think is interesting to discuss is the 6 umpire system, under the category of WHY? Doesn't it seem that more often than not over the years you have the line umpire getting near a play and missing it?

Seems to me that fair and foul is pretty well covered with 4 umpires. And last night maybe by being THAT close it contributes to the miss.

Of course the 2 extra umpires are getting big playoff money, so from umpires perspective it won't change.

But... really... does it help? How often have you seen a call that you say could only have been made (correctly) with 6 umpires.

Wow! That call sure required a lot of excuses! It must have really been a horsesh!t call.

Blind defense of all umpires regardless of anything and everything is not the sign of loyalty that you think it is.

And to come at every critic with that convoluted if-not-for-this-play-or-that-error-or-this-bad-decision-then-the-call-wouldn't-have-mattered approach is an insult to everyone who knows the game. Another insult is that if-you-can-do-better-then-why-aren't-you-out-there nonsense.

This is America; we're allowed to find fault with the big people in this society and the way they run things and then voice it.

Say all you want about everything that happened before the call; it is indefensible. Period. He's in the major leagues for crying out loud! If you want to be a blindly loyal, blissfully accepting follower, that is your right. But you don't have to be so defensive and insulting of people who choose to have their eyes and minds open to what the realities are.

I won't defend the call, but Minnesota had every opportunity to win that game. It's sad that the one horrendous fair/foul call will overshadow the fact that Minnesota should have easily won that game.

We can't defend the call, he simply blew it.

We also don't know what was in his head, or what he saw from his angle. Replay can't view the play from the precise place that the official sees the play, which is why I'm against replay in baseball.

Another thing that makes that thing so egregious is that it almost couldn't have been an easier call to blow. Zero factors, just watching the ball hit the glove and the ground. Preposterous.

The game is what it is. A call late in a close game can decide it. If you blow it, you can hand a game to a team. Nothing else at that point is really relevant. It just lessens the sting to bring it up.

I agree Kevin. When I saw the replay the first thing that came into my mind was, "Damn, Cuzzi is in perfect position to make this call, how can he blow it?" He was set, didn't seem to be screened or straightlined. How is it that we see a pitch come right down the pipe, yet we say... "ball"..... ?

The human mind is a mysterious thing.

Look, we're not insulting your wife, here. We're criticizing the dreadful call by a very highly paid professional, who performs his work in public.

So why is your first instinct to insult us for seeing and stating the obvious? Perspective is not a bad thing. Why do you want to close yourself off?

My last blown "easy one" was a mysterious mind thing all the way. It was headfirst slide into first on a pressure play. I got a great angle, I was set, I waited, listened, saw it right, heard it right, told my tongue exactly what to do (the guy was out by about two feet), and then tongue said safe!

I literally said the wrong word and waved my arms and everything. I don't even know why or how. It just came out.

The coach didn't even come out on me.

It hasn't happened since. But I bet it will someday.

It was easier for me than for Phil, because I'm lowly paid.

Lucky for us we only do 'low quality' ball.

:d ... ;)

Not to defend the guy, but . . .
 

Putting myself into Cuzzi's shoes, I could see three things that might have caused me to make the same call.

First, he might have been thinking as the ball came down 'fair, fair, if the ball touches the glove, it's fair. Nope, ball seems to have missed glove, foul!'

Second, at the speed at which events were occurring, he might have simply mis-seen where the ball hit the ground, especially as the ball seemed to veer foul sharply after impact.

Third, he seemed to rush the call. Had he replayed the action in his mind for another half-second, he might have realized that it was fair and made the right call.

That being said, he blew the call, it was a bigtime call, so he blew it bigtime. May we all learn from his mistake. Thanks to JR12 for posting the link.

Defend the call
 

Yes, he kicked the call. The ball landed within a foot of the foul line. The ump was in position and made the wrong call. Did it matter that he had a split second to find the ball in his field of vision, the fielder touched the ball and that the ball took a sharp rebound? No, none of that matters.

Another call for instant replay - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

What does matter is that there is a major distinction between a bad call on a banger like this {ball/strike, fair/foul and safe/out} and taking a "mightier than thou" attitude displayed on this thread. Perhaps he was thinking the fielder was going to make the catch and was surprised when he dropped it. It was a serious Matt Holliday moment. His timing was off a bit and in the rush from safe/out he erred on fair/foul. But my point is, let it go already. I'm not referring to any discussion about the call, just those "I-walk-on-water" comments coming out of the fanbox. I'll defend the little SOB.

http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slu...yhoo&type=lgns

Ozzie Guillen doesn't like him, some newspaper said he called a pitch incorrectly back in April, and a different newspaper says he missed 2 pitches in a Spring training game in 2004....hmmmmm he must just be terrible:rolleyes:

There were several factors which played into this call 1) Did the fielder touch the ball? 2) (If #1 is yes) Where was the ball touched? 3) (If #1 is no) Where did the ball touch the ground?

Look at the post game interview video at :57. You can see how fast the play actually happened. He got it wrong but you saying that it "couldn't have been an easier call" isn't right.

I think that's what happened to Cuzzi. Right after he made that call I bet he asked himself: "What the #@*k did I just do?" Timing is everything.

Why 6 umps? Good question.
Why do Post Offices have a union employee work the lobby to show people how to use the self explanatory Self Service machine? They have extra guys because the union asked for it is my guess-I could be wrong but, that is my guess.

I cannot remember any calls in the postseason that were nailed because of extra umps. I can remember a lot of the kicked by them extra guys, though. Can anybody ever remember a fair/foul call like this in the regular season?

I'm wrong again.

I'll take that as an affirmation.

I remember a story that a MLB Umpire had a play at 2nd base. He had a brain fart and signaled out, but verbalized "safe". The runner asked "well, what was I? Safe or out?)
Umpire replied "40, 000 people just saw me bang you out"
The runner ran off the field without another word! :)

It looked quite obvious in real time that the ball was touched by F7 in fair territory, dropped towards the foul line and still landed 4 inches approximately in fair territory. He was 20 feet away with a perfect look.

That being said, I blew a pickoff at first today. Had the runner as out. Offensive team squawked a little. I asked my partner later and he said it looked like I got it wrong. Oh well, we all blow calls now and then.

I read something about the 6-umpire system where the MLB guys were saying that it's very tough if you're the LF or RF umpire because the ball is coming down almost on top of you all the time. They said fair/foul calls right on the pole are incredibly hard because you have no angle and you're following the ball straight down. To me, it looked like the ball got right on top of Cuzzi really quickly. I think if he were further away, his timing might have been better.

I see no reason to use six umpires in the post season.

Absolutely we do, Steve. The big difference is, for most of us, millions of people aren't watching on TV. Thank goodness.

Nor are we crucified on internet boards by those who will never be as good.

There's no crucifixion occurring here. There is nothing more than conversation about the call, using it as a learning experience.

I've seen very little learning (e.g., "how can I minimize the chances of it happening to me") going on.

I subscribe to the "brain fart" theory. Stand around in an outfield for a while and then have a baseball hit right at you. See what happens.

At every level, the trick is to keep your head in the game, keep focused. I feel fortunate that millions of people aren't watching me when I have a brain fart.

Bottom line. It was a gross and inexcusable miss. Same is true for the guy that missed a similar call in the CWS.

And you've never made one?

I agree, sometimes the eyes, mouth and arms just wanna do their own thing and after the brain decides to catch up it too late from looking stupid.

What was he thinking when he made that call? He wasn't, the brain hadn't joined the rest of the body at that point.

Plain and simple, if it has never happened to you, your lying.

Not during a division series or CWS. Not the point. Just because an amatuer umpire missed a call one time does not excuse this PROFESSIONAL MLBU in this instance. If I were in his shoes, I would expect consequences. I can live with the wacker at first where the camera is slowed down, or the umpire's definition of his strike zone, not this. This type of gross miss is unexceptable. If Cuzzi can't handle it, get him out and new blood in. Did I mention that these are PROFESSIONAL MLB umpires. Amatuer umpires should aspire to be like the pros, for making getting into proper position look like a work of art, for having composure under fire, etc., not make excuses for them because they make the same mistakes we sometimes do. Misses like this make my credibility go down because "if the pros miss 'em, you do too." I don't need any help with my credibility meter, I shake it up just fine on my own.

Pro, Schmoe - people make mistakes.

Pro players strike out, throw wild pitches, do stupid baserunning tricks, throw to wrong bases, toss the ball into the stands after the second out, drop fly balls, miss signs, have a ground ball go through the wickets, bat out of order, and many other "dumb" things. To the purist, these are inexcusable. To the realist - stuff happens. It's over. Move on.

The first step in prevention is knowing the cause.

I guess you don't really get sarcasm, do you.

IMO, he got too close to the play. Your first reaction is to chase the play, as if you were U3. He did that, got too close, and didn't get much of a view of the ball coming down. He just saw a flash of ball and legs, and guessed.

Another lesson: When in doubt, call it fair. You've got to be really sure that it's foul to call it. Give the benefit of the doubt to the hitter, not to the guy who didn't catch it.

Class dismissed.

"Phil Cuzzi's Vision is listed on Ebay right now. It's being described as "new in box-never used".

"But that fair/foul was beyond belief. You have one thing to do all effing night and then that's it?!? Wow. The best of the best."

"We're criticizing the dreadful call by a very highly paid professional, who performs his work in public."


Okay, so now we know the cause.:rolleyes:

Minnesota Joe
 

The ball bounced into DBT while the foul call was being made. It appears that the Twins never asked if a foul call like this can be overturned. Did Joe or his manager request a second opinion before the next pitch?

I agree with the lesson, but only because it's much easier to fix if you guessed wrong. A better lesson is to slow down. Pause, read & react.

When I saw the play I thought he did wait it out and used his timing.

The bottom line is, the ball comes down so quick and then bounces up and kicks left. That change of direction, the eyes can't detect the point at which the ball hit the ground.

A guy 100 feet away has a MUCH better look because the eyes do not need to change direction so quickly, you can just take in that big picture without having to shift the eyes so quickly.

Now that there is IR in MLB for home run calls, I see no need for 6 umpires in the post season. The only thing they are good for is those boundary calls, and since that's now reviewable, I say there should be a shift to a 5 man crew (one guy gets a day) for a 5 game series, and 2 separate 4 man crews for a 7 game series.

Probably won't happen though...

He hustled out, got in a great set position, paused and made the call. The trouble was, again in my opinion, that he was too close to the play take in the whole scene. I think his timing was okay.

I think this is exactly what happened. The ball came down virtually right on top of him and he barely saw it before it hit F7's glove/the ground.

Whoever said an umpire calling this from 100 feet away would have seen it better is exactly right.

6 Man Crew
 

The reason that a 6 man crew is used in the P/O's is to improve outfield coverage on catch no catch calls, and for improved F/F coverage. The only thing I can come up with regarding Cuzzi's call is he either didn't pick up the ball until after it hit fair, or he called it too soon.

Just plain missed it, it happens...
So what is the common process in determining Fair/Foul, do you look at the ground and wait for the ball to hit, or do you try and track the ball into the ground and make the determination then?

You keep your eye everlastingly on the ball. If you look at the ground you can miss the ball touching the fielder, which it did in this case. You have to see the whole play. Cuzzi needed to judge where the fielder's glove was when it touched the baseball, which was in fair territory.

Which is why Evans has recommended putting umpires around the warning track between LF & CF and RF & CF - IMO, especially with replay now, having 2 umpires on the lines is just pointless. I mean at times they are literally 20-30 feet behind the 1B & 3B umpire.

Some players and coaches were standing around the parking area before my games yesterday and were discussing this call. I joined in the conversation while getting dressed and one guy was saying that in the Mexican League playoffs that there were 6 umpires, and two of them were on the warning track in left center and right center. The guy then said one of the players collided with the umpire in left center while running down a fly ball. He said it was funny as hell, and wondered why there were umpires in the outfield. I've heard of angels in the outfield, but never umpires (except U2 w/no runners, of course). Now I know where the idea came from.

This was a gross miss. Doesn't mean he sucks as an umpire. However it makes it easier for me to get over a "gross miss" (Haven't had one for awhile) knowing that it can happen to the best of the best.

I do not see how he missed this call. This was about as bad of a miss as I have ever seen and he was in much better position than most umpires at most levels ever get to make that call. And many people are right about this does not make him a bad umpire, but how you miss something like this really is beyond belief.

Peace

Good point JR
 

Again, with the experience these guys have, to miss that one is perplexing. However, there seems to be many calls that are not one sounders or bangers in the P/O's that have been kicked this year. We all miss them at times, but this is where the top guys are to be showing why they are there

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.

It is one thing to say there needs to be an open process on who gets the playoffs, it is quite another to call the umpire bias. For one if you claim there is not transparency, how in the hell do you know what calls any umpire has made or not made against a particular team? I think at the very least the umpire just saw something else and made a call. Baseball is not a sport where you get many opportunities in this situation to screw a team even if you wanted to. And I doubt this umpire would jeopardize his career to help out a team that beat a team that was expected to lose from jump.

Give me a damn break.

Peace

There is a difference between "knowing" and "appearance". With Cuzzi's history, there is the appearance of bias. With the pretend commissioner's history, there is the fact of lack of integrity. With the selection process, there is little or no transparency. With the umpire rating/discipline process, there is no transparency. This is not a good combination.

If they gave you transparency what the heck would that change? Absolutely nothing. No one is going to tell you or anyone what and why decisions are made in private meetings. That is not going to happen in any profession. And just because you say there is bias, does not mean there is bias. You have just questioned a guy's integrity without any backing or any evidence other than what appears to be your own bias. Baseball is not a sport were bias means much of anything as far as I am concerned. This was one play in one game. If they Twins did not give up home runs to A-Rod, maybe they would have won the series or not gotten swept. I guess it was bias that told the pitcher (a former Yankee) to throw the ball down the middle of the plate and have it hit into the baggy.

Peace

:D Actually it went over the baggy. The baggy's in play.

Other than that - excellent post.

I was not making an argument Cuzzi's call cost the Twins the game; it did not. The Twins managed that all on their own.

Only that Cuzzi's call was SO wrong , SO clearly wrong, and the system is so impervious that it leads to loss of integrity in the mind of the fans.

Any fan out there who thinks an umpire blows a call intentionally or cares who wins or loses a game is an idiot. If that's their "perception," they have serious bias problems of their own.

Let's get the pitchforks and torches and storm the offices of MLB!!!

But first, let's find out if there is any possibility that the dreadful six man mechanics or positioning had anything to do with this. It was terrible call, no question, but let's find out the reason for it...not the excuse...the reason.

Okay, the black helicopters are back.

Chatter? From whom? Fanboys? Idiot announcers? The "Couch Slouch?" Anyone who believes that MLB would intentionally try to get a specific team in World Series needs a reality check, or a history lesson.


The method is transparent among those who matter...team owner, MLB adminstration, managers, players and umpires. Who gives a flying F if you fanboys aren't in the loop?

That's a serious charge. Let's hear the facts behind it. BTW conspiracy theories, chatter, rumor and fanboy complaints do not constitute facts.

I'm not sure what's "amiss", but apparently what's "a-missing" in your post is common sense and the intellect that God gave a gnat.

Lets not forget, without the idiot fans, there is no sport. It doesn't matter whether the idiot fans are idiots; it doesn't matter whether their preceptions are rational; it doesn't matter what the facts are if no one except insiders knows the facts; it only matters whether they are willing to spend money to buy tickets.

I do agree, but that does not mean they know what the hell they are talking about. Customers choose to fly too, but that does not mean they can tell the pilots how to fly and what procedures need to be followed. And transparency is not going to change that fact. And no other league has that kind of transparency that you are asking for. And one of the things that keep the leagues in the news is controversy. That being said, that had nothing to do with this call or anything. Because if they changed the way these things were publicized, people like you would still be critical that they choose this guy over another in the rating process. Would it really matter in the end anyway?

Peace

When the day comes that so many fans are of the idiot fanboy variety that believes in the crap you posted, this sport will have too many problems to worry about the selection of umpires.

In other words...

The Devil you know, beats the Devil you don't. And I like the Devil I got.

I agree nothing will end fan complaining, nor would MLB want to end fan complaining. It was stated elsewhere on this board that playoff assignments were on a rotation. If that is true, IMO, that is wrong. A system that selects game officials for the most important games in the season based on "its was his turn" is wrong.

I do not favor IR in MLB, not even the limited IR they have now. I do not suggest anything should have been done to fix the call Cuzzi made. He made it; live with it.

But, if his umpire ratings during the season do not place him in the top 20% of umpires in MLB, he had no business being on that crew to begin with.

Other points made in this thread I also agree with. For example, using a 6 umpire system only for the playoffs... you have an umpire who is working a position for the first, and probably only, time during the season? How is that a good idea?

I have no idea how MLB manages its crews, but if the 6 umpire system has advantages of coverage, they need to do something to fix the "first time in a year" problem in working the position. How about form the playoff crews with 2 weeks remaining in the season and have them work the system for 2 weeks. Fill in the other games with the now idle (I assume) minor league umpires. But to have umpires working a position for the first time in a year in the biggest games of the year makes no sense whatsoever.

Dakota,

I agree with most of what you say, but what does that have to do with someone being bias on a single call in a playoff game?

Peace

"Appearance of bias..." from the conflict of interest, not actual bias. Look at the fan rantings all over the internet on this call... most are NOT from Twins fans.

It is impossible to manage irrational rantings and conspiracies. The fact is, the number of people who would have to be involved in a conspiracy like some would suggest (the NBA has been accused of this also) is too high to keep it a secret. The cost of getting caught is too high, and far outweighs any short term benefit that might be gained. And in this particular case, the conspiracy should have gone the other way; prolonging a series the Yankees were going to win anyway.

None of that matters, however, to those who hear black helicopters and wear tinfoil hats. For them, the lack of evidence and implausibility only prove their theories true.

NOT from Twins fans, but from total morons with no clue as to the difficulty involved in umpiring baseball. Everybody is an armchair umpire at home, but if they tried it in real life they would resemble Jimmy Hughes. These idiots refuse to accept that umpires are people, and therefore imperfect. When fielding percentages, ERA's and batting averages come close to the 99% level of correct umpire calls, then come see me about conspiracy theories.

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)

Maybe....
 

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.

And this applies to this situation how?

Peace

I should have said NOT JUST Twins fans...:p

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

Come on now. We all know that only the NBA does that. :D

Is he really in a lot of trouble or is this just your perception? Perception is not often reality.

Phil Cuzzi
 

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.

Blame the Twins
 

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

The Twins didn't have a replay to look at 42 times in slow motion. By the time someone from the clubhouse told Gardenhire what had happened it was too late to argue.

Good grief. Get a grip. An umpire missed a call. We don't know why. Yes, from our vantage point it should have been an easy call to make. No one here knows what it looked like to him or what he was thinking at the time.

But apparently the reason, if there is one, doen't matter. Let's put his head on a pike outsided the entrance to the Twins Stadium as a warning to all other umpires.

http://www.traveljournals.net/pictur...ed-kingdom.jpg

His punishment will probably be not making the world series crew... but like the guy before me said, he is a human and we can make mistakes.

Actually, the Twins fan boards, while generally angry about the call, were more angry with Gomez' LL bench player base running, Nathan's blown save, and leaving 17 baserunners stranded.

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.

Easier than calling ball/strike when the batter takes a full swing?

How often have you made that call as the LF line umpire in a major league game, positioned, perhaps, too damn close to the play?

Stop making excuses. He blew an easy call. Quit defending MLB umpires at all costs. Everyone blows a call now and then.

Huh?

No argument about the call. Did you see an argument? Perhaps you have me confused with someone else. I have never disputed that this call was blown.

In my post, I was questioning the "easiest call in all of umpiring" claim. If you have a problem with that, feel free to discuss. But there is no sense in arguing something that isn't being debated.

Chill.

It was a pretty damn easy call, and he wasn't "out of position." He had the best position and angle in the entire building and still managed to miss it. But it's all good, because we all miss calls. I don't need to chill, I'm just tired of excuses about the gross miss. When I badly kick a call, I say, "Damn, I sure blew that one," beat myself up for a while, then move on.

You read too much into my post. When I make an excuse for an umpire blowing a call I'll get back to you.

But, I can think of several calls easier to make that a fair/foul call near the line. Again, that was what my post was about.

So if my comment of "chill" was inappropriate, let's change it to: don't assume.

Name a few easier calls, then.

Same play, if you are U3 looking from behind the bag all the way down the line.

The eyes do fail us when we have to move them sharply one way, then another. They will, at times, give bad information to the brain. This is why we line up our tagup plays, come to a set on force plays, and improve angle before distance. And on the play in the OP, Cuzzi had to move his eyes awfully quick to track where that ball hit.

It's not an excuse, its an explanation on to why he called what he did. It happens. Blame the receptors in the optic nerve and the occipital lobe.

Where to start...
 

Here's three to begin with:

1. Full swinging strike
2. Can of corn to F4
3. Wild pitch that goes to the backstop

Oh, you're so droll!:)

#3 is not a call, try again. LOL

You wouldn't call it a ball? You'd make no call on a pitch? I guess that would be funny. LOL