Buerhle/Washburn.


If we lose this game it's time to start cheering for the Bulls

Uribe needs a gold glove.

maybe not

Jesus Christ. Baserunning kills.

he was safe

this game is making me nuts.

an aside:
the local sports station is running a 2 hour boston red sox special.
i think i live in the land that time forgot.

Bullshit call.

Wow, what a horrible call.

Jeez, that sucks. I don't care who wins either way, but that's a really crappy way to end a game.

so lame

AWESOME

that call was b-a-d..I was hoping that the Sox wouldnt capitalize off it so that it could die simply as a 'bad call' but without any consequences. Now, the only way to escape from under that call *somewhat* is if the As win the series.. otherwise, Im afraid we are going to hear about it forever.

I dont think Mike Sciosa will say anything else about it; I watched the postgame news confewrence and he was like, "So what? We played like crap, we should have never been in that position anyway."

Yeah, I thought it was BS, too. But whatever.

No offense, but Chicago has some real mutants in the stands.

Ozzie Guillen has obviously made a deal with the devil/Pants. I mean, the calls, the oral spewing, the limberness of the Latino neck (I saw it). That was the biggest hose job ever.

That's what you get for having your 3rd string catcher in a game, late, in the ALCS. You know Molina would've tagged AJ to be sure. We Sox fans know how dumb Josh Paul is.

Maybe so, but when the fuggin' HOME PLATE UMP makes the "third strike" & "OUT" motions with his hands...uh...isn't that supposed to account for something?

Yes. That the batter is out. The Angels could make this ugly if they wanted to. The ump's position is indefensible.

I hate to win this way. It fucking burns me up that everyone will say no matter how this series turns out that the White Sox "shouldn't have won the game" (I've actually heard that - preposterous)

here's some things I'd like to point out:

1) The Angels never led in the game. If the Angels deserved to go home 2-0 so much, maybe they shouldn't be batting .142 as a team for the series. They had plenty of opportunities before the ninth inning to score again off of Buehrle, and they didn't do it.

2) The play in question did not decide the outcome. Ozuna still had to steal second, and Crede still had to deliver a hit.

3) The Angels were on their fourth pitcher, and he was on his third inning. What were the Angels going to do for the bottom of the tenth, bring out Escobar again? Bring out K-Rod for what, a fourth straight day? That leaves what, Gregg and newly-minted Esteban Yan? The White Sox had all their bullpen arms ready and rested and if the game went past the tenth, the Angels' bullpen management would've come back to severely haunt them.

4) The head of MLB umpires said that the ball definitely changed direction given the available closeups. At worst, this means that we can't draw any definite conclusions about whether the call was right or wrong.

5) Literally every close call in that game (and even a wrong one...Konerko's alleged "third strike swing") had gone the Angels' way.

6) ESPN didn't show this, but the home plate umpire made the same "out fist" on strike two on another batter. This is per a newspaper story, I will clarify this later.

Still, this is a cheap win, and I'm not happy about it. People are going to be saying no matter what happens that the Sox should've lost this series (if they win) or lost it quicker (if they lose). It sucks.

No, the Angels cannot make this ugly. Maybe we need a lesson on Major League Baseball rules.


PROTESTING GAMES. Each league shall adopt rules governing procedure for protesting a game, when a manager claims that an umpire's decision is in violation of these rules. No protest shall ever be permitted on judgment decisions by the umpire. In all protested games, the decision of the League President shall be final. Even if it is held that the protested decision violated the rules, no replay of the game will be ordered unless in the opinion of the League President the violation adversely affected the protesting team's chances of winning the game. Whenever a manager protests a game because of alleged misapplication of the rules the protest will not be recognized unless the umpires are notified at the time the play under protest occurs and before the next pitch is made or a runner is retired. A protest arising on a game ending play may be filed until 12 noon the following day with the League Office.

That's not a point. That's grasping at straws.


Except for the fact that, when the correct call is made, the inning is over, Ozuna does not steal second and Crede doesn't bat with him on 2nd in the 9th, much less knocking the ball in the LF corner.


Speculate all you want, but that doesn't prove a damn thing.


I'm sure this has nothing to do with closing ranks.


Immaterial, especially since the two big Chicago baserunning blunders were the correct call.


Possibly, but if you watch the first base umpire as AJ was rumbling towards first, he had casually started walking toward the infield rather than remaining in position to make a call. Eddings was fooled by AJ's underhanded grab at first, and the crowd got in his head.

All the justification in the world does not negate the fact that Eddings made the absolutely wrong call in the bottom of the 9th of the ALCS.

1) It is a point considering many Angels fans feel they were entitled to win a game that they never led in.

2) In other words, Escobar gets a free pass for serving up a meatball to a mediocre hitter in your opinion.

3) Who's proving anything? The Angels weren't showing any offensive signs of life either, were on the last legs of their effective relief corp and meanwhile the White Sox were completely shutting them down with merely one pitcher and hadn't cracked the bullpen yet. In an extra inning game all things equal, who is favored by a wide margin? The home team. In an extra inning game with one team using most of their bullpen and one team not, who is favored by a wide margin? The latter. And yet the Angels fans I've spoken to feel they were entitled to this game somehow because of a fluke judgment. It's preposterous.

4) If you look at the center cut closeup yourself, it's pretty easy to see that the ball changed direction. I've seen all the available angles and the center cut extreme closeup tells the story.

5) And yet you think Konerko's non-swing couldn't have changed the outcome either, right? Bullshit.

6) The home plate umpire looked at Paul waiting for him to tag him in the replays. Clearly. He even stated this in the postgame press conference.

It is not "absolutely the wrong call". Anyone who says the replays are conclusive has not seen all the angles. Sorry.

And how is whatever the first base umpire doing indicative of what should or shouldn't be happening? For all you know he didn't even see the strike, as his view was completely obstructed by the fact he was staring at the back of a left handed hitter in that entire sequence

As an O's fan, I have no sympathy for any other team losing a playoff game because of a bulls**t call.