The Twins and Joe Mauer were the latest victims of atrocious postseason umpiring in Friday’s game against the Yankees, when the likely MVP sliced a liner down the left-field line and had it drop a foot fair, only to see the ball ruled foul by left-field umpire Phil Cuzzi.
Cuzzi did have to contend with left fielder Melky Cabrera’s body on the play, as the ball ticked off Cabrera’s glove and then dropped, but he hardly seemed to be screened. He should have had a clear view of the ball coming down inside the line.
Cuzzi’s sole purpose in being on the field is making that call, and he simply didn’t do his job. It’s just the latest example of an obvious call being missed by a seemingly bored umpire, and it’s yet another in a long line of great cases for expanded instant replay in baseball.
Forget putting six umpires on the field. Simply put one in the booth with the TBS, FOX or whatever feed in front of him. Within 10 seconds of Cuzzi making the call, it was obvious to the millions of people watching that he had blown it. Why should anyone stand for it? We need to let the players on the field decide the game’s outcome, and technology can help get us closer to that goal.
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- megsdad - Oct 10, 2009 at 11:32 PM
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Well put Covert. When we were winning all those championships in the late 90′s it was all done with home grown talent. Anyone who thinks they bought all those titles knows nothing about baseball. People forget about all the high priced talent that didn’t pan out in New York. That’s just the nature of baseball. What other sport can a person succeed a mere 30 percent of the time and still make the Hall of Fame? That’s just the way baseball is and it doesn’t give a damn how much money you make.
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- jmw082 - Oct 11, 2009 at 12:27 AM
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As a Tigers fan (you know, the first team to blow a 3-game lead with 4 to play), I read the comment about Inge not getting the call when his uniform was grazed. They had the bases loaded with one out. Inge hit a slow bouncer up the middle. Cabrera was even slower getting off third base or he would have beaten the throw home, leaving bases loaded with a run in, and in the same situation as if the right call had been made. Granderson made a bush-league mistake getting doubled off in the 9th.
I’m not trying to argue in favor of excluding instant replay. But when things go bad, good teams find a way to get past it. My Tigers did not. Neither did the Twins. For that matter, the Cards were still up by a run with two outs Thursday after Holliday’s error, but their ace reliever choked.
For that matter, I’m surprised no one is talking about game six of the 1985 Series, when after a bad call, the Cards collapsed (error on foul ball, single, passed ball, another single, and perhaps a bad tag at home). Whitey Herzog said he was robbed for quite a while afterward. They still could have won game seven, though a .185 batting average for the Series might have been partly responsible.
Instant replay would be a nice way to right the wrongs. The one issue I have with letting the umpires place the runners is that they don’t do it now. How many times have we seen a ground rule double where the runner from first would have scored? The powers that be do not want to give the umpires the discretion to make that call. I don’t think they would let them play “what if” for other calls as well.
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- greeniemeanie - Oct 11, 2009 at 1:24 AM
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You also can’t assume that he would not have scored or Kubel would have been walked. Kubel may have hit a home run. The point is that he missed a really easy call. It was so blatant that it begs the question why. I assume you are a Yankee fan because it has been primarily yankee fans being apologists for this ump. No the Twins could not score. They probably still would have lost but the guy has a fairly simple job on that line and it really isn’t too much to ask for him to get that right to at least let the game be played.
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- Spice - Oct 11, 2009 at 8:30 AM
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Dear IDIOT Twins fans:
YES the ball was fair. Yes the call was blown. Yes it would have changed the inning.
The game winning home run was fair by 4-5 feet. There was nothing even remotely to call in to question. Ever replay of the home run clearly shows it was fair. Get over it.
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- megsdad - Oct 11, 2009 at 8:30 AM
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I don’t think anybody is arguing that the guy blew the call. That’s pretty obvious even to a Yankee fan. What I have trouble with is all of these people saying it cost the Twins the game. Tell you what, lets say the ump DOESN’T blow the call and that EVERYTHING does play out just as it did. Based on that “logic” the Twins would have only scored the one run and Texiera’s home run in the bottom half of the inning would have happened too and the game would still have been tied. Sure, the Twins might even have scored more runs but the same could be said for the Yankees. Any way you want to look at it this one blown call did not cost the Twins the game. I have no problem with people that hate the Yankees. There are teams that I hate too. Everyone is entitled to their opinion. But please, I don’t think a little bit of common sense and objectivity is too much to ask.
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- bh0673 - Oct 11, 2009 at 8:44 AM
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“MLB has an internal decree that the Yankees win the World Series, expect more of this?’ YOU SAY? If that was the case the Yankees wouldn’t have lost the division series each year since 2005, nor would MLD have allowed the game to continue with the midges over Joba’s head in Cleveland. The reality is this year money or not(and we all know big money may fill seats but doesn’t gaurantee a World Series-see every year since 2000). This is actually a very good Yankee team I would say the best since 1998.
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- bh0673 - Oct 11, 2009 at 8:50 AM
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I agree with you the call may have been blown, I couldn’t see I was there in right field and not able to see where it landed but I do know there were also some bad calls by Merriwether behind the plate as well.(they did have the TV monitors showing the replays over head) missed calls are a part of the game and I can recall many bad calls that went against the Yankees over the years as well. The Twins still should have scored with bases loaded and no outs they had taken the crowd out of the game at that point and still had all the momentum.
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- CC - Oct 11, 2009 at 11:02 AM
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WHY ALL CALLS ARE IN FAVOR OF YANKEES? NO TEAM CAN BEAT ANOTHER PLAYING WITH 15 PLAYERS, SORRY I MEANT 9 YANKEES PLAYERS AND 6 UMPIRES.
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- Spice - Oct 11, 2009 at 12:41 PM
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What the heck are you talking about? The calls this year have stunk for everyone. I saw Gardner called out on a pickoff and the first baseman never tagged him. I saw A-rod called out on strikes on a checked swing when he barely took the bat off his shoulder. This was one of MANY blown calls. Inge got hit by a pitch and the ump didn’t call it. How does that change the game???? Are your twinkles even in the playoff’s if that call is right?
Blown calls are a part of the game. Always were, always will be.
Your team is in over its head, 0 and 9 against the Yanks.
Get over it
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- Tonio - Oct 11, 2009 at 12:41 PM
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The twins could have sent mauer home with runners on first and second but they didn’t try with nobody out, instead they held him at 3rd and then failed to score, and they had the lead going into the bottom of the 9th inning. Who knows how things might have turned out but to say they the Umpire’s italian…his last name is Cuzzi…so he must be from the NYC area is really perceptive, there’s no italians in boston? California? I dunno anywhere? That’s just ignorant as hell.
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- John from Cooperstown - Oct 11, 2009 at 6:34 PM
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What about the call the ump made in the Tigers/Twins game? Randy Marsh ruled that Brandon Inge was not hit by a pitch by Bobby Keppel. The replay showed the pitch grazing Inge’s uniform. Umps make mistakes. It doesn’t matter what team is playing. Get over it. It is part of the game.
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- Tom - Oct 11, 2009 at 6:38 PM
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The umpire blew the call! You’re kidding!?! Like that has never happened before? And if he had made the right call, the series would be one and one? And if I didn’t eat so much I wouldn’t be fat; and the umpire made the wrong call. Because he’s Italian? Because it’s the Yankees? This is worse than high school. Get over it.
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- GrampaDave - Oct 11, 2009 at 7:12 PM
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If MLB were an honest organization, A-rod would be banned for life. Pete Rose bet on the game and he was banned for life. I guess it all depends on who you play for.
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- Spice - Oct 11, 2009 at 8:23 PM
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Actually, Cuzzi is from Belville NJ……
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- fajar - Oct 12, 2009 at 2:44 AM
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I like the Yankees
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- fajar - Oct 12, 2009 at 2:47 AM
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good job..
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- millybo - Oct 12, 2009 at 9:20 AM
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In a league where the umpires are generally below standard and have consistently blown calls it is stupid to blame one team and assume that someone has been paid off. If any of you guys are real baseball fans you will have seen many calls this year that made us cringe. The Yankees nor any other team is responsible for the poor standards shown by umpires.
It is a problem which needs to be fixed by major league baseball and the Upmpire’s association. I saw David Ortiz miss a ball by three feet ( as he has been doing recently) and the umpire called a foul tip strike. So lets focus on the real problem and put aside the anti yankee comments which seem to pervade most posts these days. If you dont like the yankees dont watch them! For us real baseball fans we want to see quality players supported by quality officials. Thats what we pay for is it not?
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- Oswego Steve - Oct 12, 2009 at 3:38 PM
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Bottom line – with or without bad calls – the twins couldn’t hit with runners in scoring position and, the Yanks could. The Twins couldn’t run the bases properly and, the Yanks could. In addition to the Yankees power, the Yankees intelligence in the field was the difference. Live with it.
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- millybo - Oct 12, 2009 at 10:38 PM
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your comment is so stupid, that i feel stupid even replying to the same! Its a pity that there is not more intelligent dialogue in these posts. We need to discuss real baseball issues like the obvious need for more quality umpires or in lieu thereof expanded replay facilities.
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- Fecteau - Oct 13, 2009 at 12:27 PM
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What about game one of the Sox v. Angels? There were 3 strikes that should have been ball 4 balls against the Sox, 2 ball fours that should have been strikeouts FOR the Sox pitcher(s), not to mention the two blown calls a first. Lester’s pitch count would have been a lot different.
The bottom line is, that I can respect the human error to a certain amount. This year has shown WAY too much of it and it needs to change.
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- Fecteau - Oct 13, 2009 at 12:33 PM
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Thank you Bill!!! Instant replay would shut a lot of people up. I heard a lot of smack talk after game one of the Boston vs angels series and I’d love to have seen how the game would have turned out if the calls were correctly placed.
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- PimP MasterR - Oct 13, 2009 at 3:37 PM
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the twins had a perfect record against the Yanks, 0-9, yeah, that call would have completelt changed teh outcome of the series…..
i love fairy tale stories, they end so wonderfully………..
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- Tonio - Oct 13, 2009 at 5:32 PM
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Maybe they should have replay for fair or foul calls just like they do with home runs….only seems to make sense to me. This way these umpire’s…who are human–and subject to human error…aren’t criminalized for blowing a call. It happens the yankees won…yanks probably would have won anyways…life goes on…except for the Twins who have to wait til next april to make a splash. Peace & Chicken grease.
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- Joe the First - Oct 13, 2009 at 8:13 PM
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Use the Quest system for calling balls and stikes. The home plate ump would hold a hand held and make the call after Quest called the strike.
As for Inge, the rule is that if the uniform isn’t proper or if the batter made no effort to avoid being hit by a pitch, then it’s the ump’s discretion to award first base to the batter. Inge clearly wears an oversized jersey and so, of course he made no effort to avoid having the ball hit his jersey. During the Twins broadcast of the final 4-game series in Detroit the penultimate weekend of the season, Blyleven, a Twins TV broadcaster, pointed out that some baggy uniforms actually flap into the stike zone during a batter’s swing. They also leave not much more than an inch off of the plate for inside pitches.
It’s time for MLB to make all players wear their uniforms as ARod’s. That is, stirrups showing and pulled up to just below the knees and the pants and jersey form-fitting. Enough of the do-your-own-thing with the uniform.
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- Joe the First - Oct 13, 2009 at 8:23 PM
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Yankee fans, the Pohlads put more of the Twins revenue and profits back into the team than do the Steinbrenners. You suckers pay six bucks for a cup of coffee so that the Steinbrenners can relax in luxury. You’re suckers.
I’m a Twins fan, but have lived NYC and the NYC area for many, many years. I was at the Cubs @ Yanks exhibition game and saw a ton of Teixeira and CC tee shirts. Yea, those guys signed with the Yanks, because they love the team, the City, and its fans and want to be part of the great NY history. What a joke. Money had nothing to do with it? Yea, they signed for love. You suckers. Keep paying those ridiculous ticket and concession prices. Yank fans are living proof that P. T. Barnum was correct, except he meant to say, a sucker is born every second in Yankee land and strives to live in NYC.
Imagine a Yanks starting rotation wherein you substitute Chamberlain and Hughes for CC and Burnett. Yea, if that were the case, the Twins would be preparing to play the Angels.
26 WS. So what? 20 of them came from 1923 through 1963. Since then, you’ve shown that a fool and his money (not the Steinbrenners, it’s you Yank fans who pay) soon are parted. Sheesh, fools, you’ve spent 100′s of millions for 6 WS in almost 50 years. Heck, at 5% of the cost of the Yanks, the Twins have won 2 during this same period and many other teams 3 or 4, again, with a much lower payroll. On a cost-adjusted basis, the Twins have won more WS than the Yanks since 1963.
Suckers, you’re NYC public education really did you well.
