Comments on: Wait, Jerry Meals may have been right?

By: macjacmccoy

macjacmccoy — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 21:19:48 +0000

He slowed down at the exact second the guy tagged him that pretty much tells me his momentum was impeded by something like contact.

By: pjmarn6

pjmarn6 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 20:26:55 +0000

Here is the BIGGEST NEWS OF THE NIGHT ON THE PLAY! I wanted to send Bud Selig an email on my opinion and looked up on Goggle Bud Selif and email. And got the answer……….(DRUM ROLL PLEASE) BUD SELIG DOES NOT USE A COMPUTER! Imagine that Bud Selig doesn’t have the brains to learn to use a computer NOR hire someone to use one for him. According to another Goggle item Bud Selig is in charge of hiring and firing umpires. Now how are those decisions made? How many missed calls does an umpire get before he gets fired? Now baseball uniforms are floppy and one can’t believe the word of the player who won the game on a missed call. He certainly looked tagged out to me. Remember he doesn’t have to touch the body only the uniform.

By: jimbo1949

jimbo1949 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:35:46 +0000

The only reason to freeze frame this play from multiple angles would be to prove the negative, that Meals made the correct call.

By: scatterbrian

scatterbrian — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:16:54 +0000

This is getting out of hand. Can we stop trying to one-up each other with how outraged we are? The fact that we need a freeze-frame screen capture in order to definitively tell safe or out is proof that making these calls in real-time is not easy.

By: mrfloydpink

mrfloydpink — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:56:38 +0000

I have to say, I had the same reaction last night as Rob did. It is entirely possible to view the replay and not be able to see where exactly the tag was applied. Even more possible if you see it one time, at real speed, as the umpire did.

I guess that makes me a tool or something, but this is not really the call for supporters of instant replay to rally around. And those who are saying it is the worst call ever are just being ridiculous. The Denkinger call was worse. The call a couple of years ago with Mike Napoli at third base–where the pictures clearly show both runners off the base and Napoli tagging them both–was worse. I could go on…

By: jrd8523

jrd8523 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:56:22 +0000

Julio Lugo’s shocked reaction at being called safe ends the debate for me.

By: 78mu

78mu — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:45:50 +0000

Neyer said he was probably out but that in his opinion none of the angles show the glove hitting the leg. If after all these years of giving his opinion (I assume you’ve been reading Neyer for a long time) you want Neyer silenced over this is ridiculous.

By: FC

FC — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:37:49 +0000

But the play was stopped. There was a good chance that without this distraction a double play could have been completed at first. The Batter fell on his face out of the box and was several feet from first base after the play at the plate. It’s conceivable that with the out at home the catcher had enough time to get the out at first.

By: Mark Armour

Mark Armour — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:28:56 +0000

Rob is right. He was probably tagged, but the catcher could have swiped and missed him.

By: dexterismyhero

dexterismyhero — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:09:03 +0000

Was that Sid Bream?

By: The Common Man

The Common Man — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:08:07 +0000

Rob was behind the paywall at ESPN for a year at maximum, and was not for several years before he moved on to SB Nation.

By: tk1966

tk1966 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:57:07 +0000

Unfortunately, the lesson here is that the catcher should lower his shoulder and bowl over the runner to make sure there is no mistake

By: fsubravesfan

fsubravesfan — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:56:29 +0000

im a huge braves fan and could clearly see he was thrown out but i watched horrible umpiring for 19 innings im glad they finally caught a break

By: crpls

crpls — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:36:40 +0000

Pfft. Being safe or out is part of the rules!

By: ditto65

ditto65 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:35:50 +0000

Lugo thought Lugo was out.

By: crpls

crpls — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:35:47 +0000

Eh. This isn’t what you’d call a saber-heavy blog necessarily and Neyer was behind the paywall at ESPN.com for a while–not to mention not a TV personality.

I guess I can see how someone wouldn’t know who he is, especially not knowing how much time the commenter spends reading about baseball on the net.

By: thomas2727

thomas2727 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:30:39 +0000

Pirates know they have no chance to win the protest since you can’t protest a judgement call. They obviously just want the situation documented.

By: thomas2727

thomas2727 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:28:29 +0000

Neyer sounds like he is pulling a Skip Bayless on this one.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:26:29 +0000

Rule 4.19 of the MLB rules prohibit protests for judgment calls. They are only for the misapplication of rules.

The protest should be and will be dismissed out of hand.

By: stevejeltzjehricurl

stevejeltzjehricurl — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:23:15 +0000

What, you didn’t already feel old when you called some other guy a “whippersnapper” above?

As to the comment about Rob trying to get a gig as an ump and this guy not knowing anything about him… I do agree that it makes me feel old. I’m stunned that there’s someone who takes the time to read and comment on a baseball-centric blog, but doesn’t know who Rob Neyer is.

By: stevejeltzjehricurl

stevejeltzjehricurl — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:18:32 +0000

I always thought such protests were pointless, but I guess you have some precedent from the pine tar game.

By: Chris Fiorentino

Chris Fiorentino — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:12:01 +0000

In this case, since they would be able to 100% start the game exactly where it ended, why wouldn’t the protest be able to start the game at that point? Is baseball worried it might hurt the feelings of poor poor Meals? Pitt is still in Atlanta. if the call is so egregious, then there is no reason they can’t start at the 19th and finish this game before they play the 7pm game tonight.

By: The Common Man

The Common Man — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:09:52 +0000

Now I feel old. Son, go to school.

By: purnellmeagrejr

purnellmeagrejr — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:07:32 +0000

I don’t know anything about Rob Neyer – maybe he’s trying to get a job as an umpire and wants to show he’s qualified. This was one of the worst – if the THE worst call I’ve ever seen.

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:07:25 +0000

What seals it for me here isn’t going to be solved by pixellating a photo and seeing if the tag was applied or missed by a centimeter or two. To me that’s moot, because Lugo doesn’t make any effort to actually avoid the tag – there’s no hook slide or hand tag attempt. Nor does he try to dislodge the ball. The ball beat him, the catcher applied (or attempted to apply) the tag, Lugo slid in and accepted the result. A better tag would have been definitive, but there is no way the Braves would have argued an out call on this.

By: crpls

crpls — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:05:03 +0000

…and the Pirates officially protest, but it can’t change anything. I assume everyone will get over this soon a la the Joyce call.

#Pirates filed an official protest w MLB @ 2:30 a.m. re: Meals' call at the plate. It cannot reverse outcome, but anger was registered.—
Rob Biertempfel (@BiertempfelTrib) July 27, 2011

By: stevejeltzjehricurl

stevejeltzjehricurl — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:03:53 +0000

Good point, although I think you’re being a little too soft on Meals here. The reason the runner is usually called out on such plays, even if the umps don’t see a clear tag, is that I think the fans (and the umps, although they probably wouldn’t admit it) apply a logical presumption that the tag was applied in the absence of clear evidence to the contrary. As a Phillies fan, I still remember Rod Barajas missing a tag at home where the runner basically slid under his mitt when the ball beat him by about a mile. But in that case, the replay was clear as day — Barajas never tagged the runner. Here, there’s nothing clear to indicate the tag was missed. I actually think the video shows the glove move upon contact and Lugo’s uniform move, and Lugo certainly thought he was out (although a fair case could be made that he’s operating under the same assumptions we are).

Here, if you people to guess on whether a tag was applied and bet their life on whichever conclusion they choose, I’d guess 95 out of 100 would say it was applied, and 4 of the other five would be just attempting to be contrarian even in the face of death.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:03:30 +0000

Vince McMahon just switched Rob “The Anvil” Neyer-Hart from babyface, to villain. He’s still a good guy, it’s just kayfabe.

By: adowding3

adowding3 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:59:16 +0000

I agree they are pro’s and they should move on. I’m sure they still believe in themselves, and Clint Hurdle will fire them up.

But I also feel that anyone outside their clubhouse sees this run as a very fragile entity, and myself included, are regretfully waiting for the magic to run out.

By: crpls

crpls — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:57:19 +0000

The NFL didn’t overrule the Steelers-Dolphins play last year. That’s not an encouraging comparison.