Umpires may not be totally clear on hand signs beyond a single finger

Let me guess… the middle one right?

Lol jk, we all know the only possible action that will be taken is a fine to any coach/player that criticizes him. After all, the only jobs on the planet in which you’re allowed to completely suck at what you do while still remaining employed are that of US politician and professional sports official.

This is the second time in 10 days that the Cardinals have been absolutely hosed by an Umpire reversing the call on the field!

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That’s because during the sequence, home-plate umpire Kerwin Danley signaled that Kelly had caught Hosmer’s ball on a line drive.

What bothered Matheny was that Danley’s out call could have affected what Kelly did next. By seeing Danley motion that Hosmer was out on a line drive, Kelly believed he was doubling up Getz at first base.
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No camera angle was definitive. In fact there was really on one camera angle and it was difficult to see if the ball short hopped or not. However, the pitchers mound dirt was bone dry and in those instances you look for a poof of dirt in the replay. No such poof of dirt occurred in the replay.

I believe the ball short-hopped – but did so in the web of Kelly’s glove.

I’d love to know where the other umps were standing where they could have had a better angle at seeing Kelly field the ball than Danley – who was right in front of the play. How did Danley not see the play unfolding in front of him?

Never-the-less Matheny is right . . . instead of an inning ending triple-play, they are assigned 1-out because Kelly had gone directly to First thinking he had doubled Getz off the bag – with the runners advancing to 2nd & 3rd.

Brutal.

The reason that Ozzie got so animated was because Balkin’ Bob tried to undo the mistake he knew he had made. The other umpires had to intervene to let Bob know that he couldn’t do that, and that he had just totally screwed the Cardinals.

When will MLB hold these guys accountable?

http://conelrad.com/mutatedtelevision/hermanmunster.php

1) Mike Matheny DID walk out right up to Davidson and tell him the switch he was making. Davidson then made a notation on his scorecard. I’m not sure when the hand signal for ’5′ took place – if at all. It appears that it was Davidson that hand signaled ’5′ to Ozzie – although this wasn’t seen on the Cardinals broadcast.

2) Ozzie came out in a fluster and protested while the Cardinals were still on the field and after Marte had given up a single to HanRam. Davidson looked lost. Which is funny because . . .

3a) Freese made the final out in the Top of the 9th, and when Matheny brought Marte in, Freese took a seat, while Daniel Descalso moved from Secondbase to Thirdbase and Tyler Greene came in to play Secondbase.

b) MLB.TV had all of this correctly notated in its Summary.

4) The Cardinals TV Announcers were perplexed. They could only surmise that there was a player brought into the game that was not on the lineup card.

5) After Ozzie complained to Davidson . . . the ENTIRE UMPIRING CREW CONFERENCED, then went to over to Matheny to explain. Matheny then had a protracted and somewhat animated discussion with the umpires. (There was a shot of Cora next to Ozzie in the dugout with a shit-eating grin on his face as this unfolded.)

Matheny then went back to the dugout. The umpires conferenced again. Then Matheny pulls Allen Craig off of 1B. Tony Cruz goes to 1B. Freese then goes back out to Thirdbase. Matheny then went back out to Davidson to review everything one final time before play resumed.

(MLB.TV then changes the Summary to reflect the revised substitutions).

McLaughlin/Hrabosky pieces together what had just transpired and remained flummoxed without an official explanation.

Ironically, Gaby Sanchez then proceeds to ground a ball to Descalso who Starts the DP to Cruz.

6) Top of the 10th McLaughlin notes that they sent someone down between Innings to get an explanation . . . only to be told there was none available.

They proceed to correctly speculate that there was confusion over the 5th spot in the order.

7) Tyler Greene then scores the go ahead run on a Furcal Double. Holliday HBP. Beltran IBB. Joe Kelly comes to the plate with the bases juiced and legs out an IF RBI single. (NOTE: Joe Kelly is BLAZING FAST).

8) Bottom of the 10th . . . Rick Horton had gone down to the Cardinals dugout and was told that Davidson wrote down the wrong info . . . and then relayed that wrong info to Guillen. So, Matheny did, in fact, tell Davidson the correct change, but Davidson told Guillen the wrong info.

Thus BOTH managers were correct in their protests as the controversy lay squarely in Davidson’s lap – although Ozzie may have astutely realized he could selectively misinterpret Davidson’s hand signal in order to get Craig out of the game so he couldn’t bat 2nd in the next half Inning.

What, you think making sure umpires are competent is the solution? Don’t be silly.

If Davidson was not confused when it happened, he shouldn’t have let Guillen change his mind. I think Guillen knew his umpire and figured he could play him. But you know, adjusting to an umpires lineup card confusion is part of the game, it’s what separates minor league managers from big leaguers, human element.