Controversial call at The Cell

After watching most of the White Sox-Angels game on Wednesday night, I decided to wait until the end of the 9th inning before going to bed. I figured the game would head into extra innings with a 1-1 tie. Instead, I witnessed the worst call I've ever seen an ump make in a baseball game.

With 2 outs and nobody on, A.J. Pierzynski swung and missed at a low pitch for strike three. The umpire pumped his fist to indicate a strikeout. The Angels' catcher rolled the ball back to the infield, and the rest of the Angels started heading for the dugout for the 10th inning. Meanwhile, Pierzynski took off for first base and made it there easily. Confusion reigned. The umps conferred. The verdict? It was a dropped third strike, Pierzynski was safe at first, and the inning would continue. The White Sox scored a short while later and won the game. Mike Scioscia was obviously very upset with the call, and I completely agree with him.

The key point here is that the umpire clearly indicated an out by pumping his fist. Whether or not the ball was actually in the dirt is irrelevant. As soon as an ump signals a third out, the players are going to come off the field. The ump can't just change his mind after declaring that the inning's over. Of course, the umpire claims he was merely signalling strike three, as opposed to the third out. Still, I am convinced that the only reason this was called a dropped third strike was because Pierzynski ran to first base. If he had remained in the batter's box instead of running (the ball would still be live), there's no way the ump would have waited. He'd have rung him up. I would've liked to see that, though. Pierzynski should have stood in the batter's box until all the Angels were in the dugout, then run around the bases for a combination strikeout/home run.

If anything good came of that call, it's that the White Sox won. I was starting to worry they might have to head to California trailing 2-0 in the series. At least now it's evened up.