Upon further review......
 

Kind of surprised this hasnt made the Thread yet. As I sat in the living room watching the play develope I thought Posey was out. Just kind of shook my head and said to myself, "Self, another bad call". As I watched all of the angles the TV replays had to offer, I could see very well I was right. I was also surprised to NOT hear the commentators, Bob Brenly and Dick Stockton, say anything about the call.

Upon further review: Buster Posey out from here to San Jose - Big League Stew - MLB - Yahoo! Sports

Not sure if there is a video of this play but here is the link.

Unfortunately ... probably for all of us ... our patrons in blue are having a bad week. this will probably give Spud Selig enough ammo to force replay down our throats. The entire M&M discussion on my way to work was about the 3 bad calls that had significant impact on all 3 games... and i have to say I agree that the calls were bad. At least in HW's case he was CONSISTENT - that's generally the most important thing for PU - but he was at least 6-8 inches off. The Mike Young check swing and the Posey steal (more the latter than the former) were bad too. I fear replay's only a matter of time now.

Full dislosure I am a Giants fan but I really did not see anything conclusive that this was a tag. Not while watching the game and not in these photos.

As I told a friend that is a Dodger fan, I'd say the same thing if the call benefitted the Braves...or even the (gulp) Dodgers.

I think most of us did, but Posey's comments kind of nailed this one shut.

What did he say?

When asked if he was safe, he got this cat-that-ate-the-mouse look, paused, grinned, and said, "I guess it's good we don't have instant replay."

In my opinion, I can see why Posey was called safe at second during the live play. I found it hard to believe that he was actually out by as much as was shown in the photograph. No excuse for blowing that check swing however, that was flagrant and obvious. Wendelstedt didn't have a good game at all in my opinion. No inside corners whatsoever for either pitcher. The missed strike three on Berkman was a bad miss. MLB either needs more replays or better umpires !!!

HW wasn't giving the entire inside half of the plate, but was giving about the same amount of space on the outside. Berkman was quoted as saying he knew that wasn't in the umpire's zone. It sucks that umpires have their own zone, but they do, and players know it, and adjust to it.

And honestly, I thought the check swing was the LEAST gross of the 3 gross misses.

Mike, I'll respect your opinion. The way I looked at it was like this. The play at second involved a high tag with a runners feet in close proximity to the base. I think a majority of us would have "safed" this play when looking at it at regular speed. We all know how difficult this call can be when you have to judge a high tag against a foot that's 3 feet away from where the tag was.

Balls and strikes are judgemental, and yes all umpires do have a different zone. We all know that pitches are missed and you are correct in stating that consistency is probably considered the most important thing when calling balls and strikes. I'll agree with your assessment of HW.

I'll admit that Young did a great job of snapping his bat back through the zone after offering at the pitch. I just have a hard time seeing how the first base umpire didn't see this call. IMO, a lack of concentration.

IMO, the MAIN problem:

MLB is NOT investing enough money in THEIR product.

MLB umpires ARE part of the product.

MLB should take control over the umpiring.

How many individuals even if they were real good can afford to go to Pro School AND work for peanuts?

Not too many which means the PRO schools as they currently exist are NOT getting the best of the best.

The other problem which unfortunately is hard to break is the myths surrounding baseball.

Let's take the check swing that happened the other night. Too many people which includes the bozo announcers etc. have this notion that if the hands break the plane it's a swing.

ESPN had a former MLB umpire on the Mike and Mike show this morning who echoed the aforementioned myth. The determination is whether or not in the judgement of the umpire the player meant to offer at the pitch not some physics type calculation.

Also, today's players take way too many pitches and the notion that I grew up with "if it's close swing" seems to be a thing of the past.

The Rays were complaining all game long about the PU BUT the Rays played like s**t and got pounded.

I agree Expanded replay will most likely be in place by next season BUT MLB needs to take control of THEIR product.

Pete Booth

Is there any proposal for replay which would have included the check swing?
I heard the umpire this morning on Mike and Mike and thought he did a great job dispelling the myth.
Not that anyone really will remember that part later.

[QUOTE]IMO, the check swing appeal is akin to balls / strikes

I doubt Replay would be used for this.

Pete Booth

[QUOTE=PeteBooth;695572]That was my guess as wells.

[QUOTE=PeteBooth;695572]I agree but most all of the time its even close in MLB they call the strike. So the problem is either the umpire simply choked, or as some suggested was simply not really paying attention closely, ??

I don't know, would be interesting to hear his side of the story. But, I would guess that at least 95 percent of all close are called strikes in MLB.

So, then it arises the question, was the umpire really qualified to be calling this type of game?

Just wondering,

Thanks
David