Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
Safe or out? By the looks of the replay, it sure looks like Travis Ishikawa was safe.
With one out in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game on Sunday, Ishikawa was called out at home by umpire Phil Cuzzi on what would have been – and replays indicated should have been – a Giants walk-off winner.
Instead, the Mets survived the ninth inning, eventually scoring in the next frame to win the game in extras.
The call not only changed the outcome of the game, but also completely changed the course of two division races, and the wild card, in the National League. After the game, even the Mets agreed it was a terrible call. Per the New York Daily News:
The missed call was egregious, and even Blanco admitted that the Mets should have lost the game. With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Freddy Sanchez hit a chopper to third, and David Wright made a high throw home. Travis Ishikawa slid under Blanco's tag, but Cuzzi called the runner out.Sure, why not grab a sandwich before taking a look at how you ruined the outcome of a game you were employed to officiate? Maybe grab some pie, too."He was safe all the way," Blanco said.
Minutes after the game, Cuzzi said that he had not yet seen the replay. "I'll look at it, but I figured I'd eat first," he said. "(Blanco) made a decent attempt to put the tag on him. That's what it looked to me, and that's why I called him out."
It is an interesting look at how umpires officiate games. How many times do you see a bang-bang play called an out because it looked like the tag was made in time when, upon replay review, it's evident that the runner actually avoided the tag? That's always been a part of baseball, only now we have the ability to show exactly when the umpires were wrong. In some cases, the replay is so close it's understandable how an ump could get it wrong at full speed. In this case … yeesh that looked pretty obvious.
It wasn't just the one call that had both teams complaining, either. Blanco told reporters he hoped MLB would punish Cuzzi for taking off his mask and yelling at Franscisco Rodriguez, who was visibly upset on the mound over a ball/strike call. Cuzzi told reporters he was yelling at the Mets bench, and not the pitcher, but Blanco was pretty certain it was Rodriguez who was catching the brunt of Cuzzi's ire.
The Daily News reported that MLB is likely to meet with Cuzzi to discuss his conduct, which could lead to disciplinary action for the veteran umpire.
The report does not indicate how long the meeting will be. To be safe, Cuzzi should probably get something to eat first.
This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.
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The guy who made his sandwich after the game should have dropped it on the floor, and then said "I’ll make you another sandwich… I just have to go blow a home plate call."
by L'etat, c'est moi on Jul 20, 2010 12:01 PM EDT reply actions
He made a "decent effort" to apply the tag? IS that really the standard for calling someone out?? I’ve thought for years that too many malor League umps were lazy and made automatic calls instead of actually watching the play. This just tends to prove my theory.
by tedchinook on Jul 20, 2010 1:19 PM EDT reply actions
Yeah, tedchinook, it is. And "lazy" is the perfect word to describe these clowns. I have another example of laziness: about a month ago, I was watching a game where the umpire hid behind the absolutely atrocious "in the vicinity" call at second base at the front end of a double play. The fielder was at least six feet away from second base, which is apparently in the vicinity. The only thing he was in the vicinity of was center field. It’s a small example, but we have bown call stories at least once a week. It’s out of hand. Now Cuzzi tanks a call and brushes it off? He had to go eat after a hard day ****ing up? And he was dumb enough to tell us he had to eat first???
by ChiAdam on Jul 20, 2010 2:38 PM EDT reply actions
I really don’t like umpires..played sports for many years…But the truth is…they make correct calls on most plays…BUT…when the do blow it and refuse to get help or replay..and compound the mistake with a unconcerned attitude…they should be fined..suspended..and even fired…the game should never be decided by an umpire/officials ineptitude…..when that does happen…that takes awy the competition portion of the game
by Eggs Ackley on Jul 20, 2010 3:55 PM EDT reply actions
MLB umpires have acted above the game for some time. An example has to be made of one of them. A mistake is understandable. This kind of mistake isn’t and this kind of attitude shows a major problem.
by cadawg on Jul 21, 2010 3:01 AM EDT reply actions
"
The guy who made his sandwich after the game should have dropped it on the floor, and then said "I’ll make you another sandwich… I just have to go blow a home plate call.""
That was actually pretty witty, nice.
by AW78 on Jul 21, 2010 11:39 AM EDT reply actions
I was at this game (2nd row behind Giants dugout) and it was not even close. Safe all the way. The ump was calling a terrible game all day.
by SailorGabe on Jul 21, 2010 12:26 PM EDT reply actions
I happened to catch this on TV in passing; watched him blow a gasket before that, which was silly. The call was blown. My wife happened to be at my side, and SHE said the guy was safe! You have to understand that my wife is NOT a sports fan. Anyway, I umpired for many years – at the national level for Baseball Canada and some low-pro league in London back in the day (Frontier League! Look it up!). This prevailing attitude of umpires is frustrating. These guys have a pretty good life. They don’t need to feel a sense of entitlement to anything. Many of them are plain LAZY. They don’t get to the spot. They don’t get the angle. I saw an umpire get hit in the middle the other night, causing a single and RBI. That should NEVER happen. We teach that. Mortal sin, letting a ball hit you in the middle. If you’re square to the ball (which many of them aren’t), you simply slide left or right to avoid the ball. If you’re making a bang-bang call, find an angle, don’t MOVE, see it all, think, call it. Most of these guys would never make it on an instructional video. Which is silly when you think about it. Sorry for the diatribe. Close to my heart.
by michaelgmitchell on Jul 21, 2010 1:19 PM EDT reply actions
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