Comments on: Foul ball? Johan Santana caught a break in his no-hit bid

By: crackersnap

crackersnap — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 03:34:30 +0000

Hmmm, This brings up an interesting issue. if we ever live long enough to be blessed by instant replay, the rules governing IR should include automatic ejection of any player who covers up, obscures, erases or alters potential evidence in any way. If, in this case, an IR official had signaled for review they would have directed attention to the chalk line. If the third baseman goes over and kicks the line right there then he destroys the evidence that collaborates the video.

By: mplsjoe

mplsjoe — Mon, 04 Jun 2012 02:18:33 +0000

Wait until a blown call costs your team the Series. You’ll feel differently.

By: critter69

critter69 — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 07:07:00 +0000

On a windy field (wind blowing right to left), a batter hits a very long ball that goes well inside the first base, then curves foul, the ball travels to the foul side of the foul pole, then the wind pushes it a few feet to fair.

A long foul? Or a home run?

Remember, it was fair when it passed first base. By your ‘logic’, it’s a home run.

By: dawglb

dawglb — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 04:26:38 +0000

Hey, I hate the Mets. But, that kind of missed call happens all the time…so regularly, that it has become part of baseball. I hope when people speak of his No-hitter, they don’t mention that one call… Let the Mets enjoy it.

By: madhatternalice

madhatternalice — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:54:00 +0000

From the linked MLB article:

“While manager Mike Matheny insisted afterward that no asterisk belongs next to Santana’s no-hitter, the feat will, however, forever be linked to a call.”

If so, it will be because media outlets, like NBC and MLB, continue to post stories about it, and not because all of baseball sees this as some sort of “injustice.” Just my two cents.

By: jjpileggi

jjpileggi — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:24:56 +0000

Let’s stop talking about this thing being “tainted”. Lots of call get made in a season and many errors and close calls are part of the game.

John Pileggi

By: dickclydesdale

dickclydesdale — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 23:02:21 +0000

* “Ignorant” 3rd base umpire robs Beltran of a base hit and the Mets get their 1st no hitter.

By: mrmarkls

mrmarkls — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 21:59:40 +0000

yes, the word is REND: to tear violently… Rending: tearing violently….

Otherwise: good post….

By: mplsjoe

mplsjoe — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 21:01:40 +0000

So your point is that bad calls happen all the time? Fine. My point is that we should find a way to make sure that they don’t happen anymore.

Also, there’s a difference between “controversy,” like the dispute over the final strike in Humber’s perfect game, and an actual, factual mistake. Reasonable minds can differ over whether Humber’s game should have been a perfect one. But the call in Santana’s game is demonstrably, factually wrong. No judgment involved. Those are two different situations. You’ll probably never be able to fix the former, but you should be able to fix the latter.

By: ka7aok

ka7aok — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 19:28:09 +0000

The records say foul ball and no hitter. Period. Done. As, I believe, Tom Hanks once said (or should have), “There ain’t no do-overs in baseball.”

By: caine115

caine115 — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 19:14:30 +0000

Even Humbers perfect game ended with a check swing that the ump called at home. Checking at first could have been the difference between a ball and a strike. Every game has a close play. A batter called out at first with a tie on a grounder. It happens. No hitters are a combination of skill and luck. hard hit balls directly at someone and many factors

By: spudchukar

spudchukar — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:51:38 +0000

Congrats to Johan. And it came against the best hitting team in the NL. At the time of the disputed play the game was still a close contest, with the heart of the Cards order coming up. Hard to say if it would have made a difference, maybe, maybe not, but what is indisputable is the horrid ruling. Yes any ball that brings up chalk is a close call, that is why they have the lines, but what is even more difficult to understand is how Johnson could have blown the call. The ball lands comfortably10-12 feet in front of him, no real danger of striking him, it starts out fair, crosses the base fair (without bouncing) and lands smack dab on the middle of the line, not barely on the foul side of the line, right smack dab in the middle, kicking up chalk.

And as has become customary, the denials begin. The egregious part is behavior after the poor judgment, as if the Cards didn’t have, and shouldn’t have had a beef. Whether or not MLB should institute instant replay is debatable, problematic, and hopefully still on the horizon, but what isn’t debatable is that MLB needs better umps.

Johnson could go a long ways toward redemption if he would fess up to his error, e.g. Joyce, and help put the matter behind him. Again, Congrats to Santana.

By: klingonj

klingonj — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 18:00:14 +0000

your obsession with all umpires watching the same part of the play indicates you never umpired. each umpire has a n area of responsibility on a play. with the 3rd base ump and the plate umpire have responsibility for the play in question last night.

By: pceluvandhap

pceluvandhap — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:47:14 +0000

How do you give a thumbs down to that?

By: pceluvandhap

pceluvandhap — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:42:09 +0000

That’s baloney! Is that what he said? That was a routine play that happens a million times a season and this one time that guy thought the ball was moving in the first basemens glove. Believe what you want, but I’m calling B.S. on that one.

By: nothanksimdriving123

nothanksimdriving123 — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:32:55 +0000

Sorry, but I have to note another error here, where Craig says “anyone renting one’s garments.” Unless we’re talking about a tux for the banquet, I believe that would be “rending.”

By: chiadam

chiadam — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:29:39 +0000

Every no-hitter was some luck in it (and quite a few one-hitters probably have their share of bad luck). More luck than skill, actually. Dallas Braden threw a perfect game, right? The defense rests.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:27:16 +0000

It’s getting to be like effing football around here. The great thing about baseball is that it’s a metaphor for life. Sometimes the calls are wrong and sometimes they go your way — that’s just how it is. And then we argue about it. It’s beautiful. I don’t want instant replay. It’s a crappy pursuit of “perfection,” which is an illusion as much as being “greatest.” I don’t want the sport I love to turn into that legalistic football crap where you have to stop for reviews all the time and the game becomes a slave to technology. This push for replays is a sad commentary on our society today. If The Tape is the all-knowing God, the church of baseball has lost its way. (PS Bud Selig = anti-christ)

By: nothanksimdriving123

nothanksimdriving123 — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:25:18 +0000

As to your point 2: I recall reading that Addie Joss, a great pitcher in the early 1900s, got one of his no-hitters thanks to a blown catch/trap call, but lost another one due to another blown call.

By: wkinsomnia

wkinsomnia — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:10:55 +0000

Listen…I don’t know why everyone is arguing about this to be quite honest. Was this supposed ‘no hitter’ a cause of Umpire misjudgment? Of course it was, but then again…what No Hitter has been so flawless and smooth that it didn’t require a bit of luck or an incorrect call in order to make it complete?

I watch games all over the Majors on MLB.TV, and I saw Buehrles Perfecto, Halladays no-no, Santanas no-no, Humbers Perfecto…and you know what? They ALL had misjudged calls go in their favor. Number one culprit every time is the extremely expanded strike zones the closer it gets to the end of the game. Lastly, we should just commend these individuals on their achievements and not try to nit-pick and blemish what it was that they have just accomplished. Because, one bad call or not, it is still quite an amazing feat.

By: nyetjones

nyetjones — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 17:06:46 +0000

Also interesting – why is it framed as “taking something away from Santana?” seems like it is more denying that he ever had it.

By: concernedcitizen001

concernedcitizen001 — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:55:26 +0000

Blue strikes again! Somewhere, Armando Galarraga is shaking his head

By: Kevin S.

Kevin S. — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:50:49 +0000

No hitter aside, ask Beltran whether he would have rather had a single or a strike there. Instant replay might not have perfectly corrected the call, but it would have gotten things much closer to accurate.

By: ihcone

ihcone — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:45:48 +0000

An awesome display of hitting power by the Mets and a great pitching performance by one of the most dominating pitchers of our era (pitchers who have used steroids don’t count).
Congratulations Johan!

By: paperlions

paperlions — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:36:21 +0000

No.

Instead, why don’t you go back and find a controversial call for the last 10 no hitters…..I bet you can’t do it. Most no hitters don’t involve a bad call by the ump or official scorer…which is why such events are talked about when they do happen.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:33:38 +0000

Pretty much. I don’t like it, but how many great pitching games have been aided by generous umps “getting into it”?

(e.g. nearly half of the Braves starts in 1993)

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:31:38 +0000

Not only this, but the Joyce call was a much harder one for the other umps to see and evaluate correctly–hence a discussion probably wouldn’t have solved anything.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:23:59 +0000

Because Joyce thought the ball was moving in the first baseman’s glove. It was an honest mistake, with only replay to prove him wrong. When there’s chalk dust flying up in front of everyone, and a ball mark where the chalk was, the evidence of a blown call is RIGHT THERE. Joyce’s was an honest mistake–the four umps who didn’t call it correctly last night is a travesty.

By: jjpileggi

jjpileggi — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:17:49 +0000

There is simply no way history will view this as tainted. Umpire calls are part of the game. There have been many, many controversies in the game and while some (the Pine Tar Game) are defining in and of themselves, most become nothing more than a footnote or incidental discussion item.

John Pileggi

By: pceluvandhap

pceluvandhap — Sat, 02 Jun 2012 16:01:17 +0000

Wow, I can’t believe anybody can compare this call to that call against the Tigers guy last year. And to say this was worse? I watched that one live and said ” cool, perfect game” when the ball was thrown to first. I was absolutely amazed when that ump called him safe. This was a bang bang play that people sitting on their couches or at their keyboards have absolutely no clue what they would have seen or done. Everybody just throw your biases aside and be happy for a great pitcher who pitched a great game.