Let's clear this up. The ball hit the dirt. Furthermore, why Josh Paul didn't just tag him is beyond me. How many baseball games have you watched where a catcher tags the batter even while the batter is undoing his gloves? Paul, from Buffalo Grove here near Chicago, should have known better. Regardless, the ball clearly skipped off the dirt into his glove.
The Sox are still making mistakes that no team should make in the regular season, let alone the playoffs. What was Joe Crede thinking? No way he should have been doubled off second. And Joey Cora channeled Wendell Kim when he waved around Rowand in the 2nd inning. Rowand had just slid into third. Meaning he had run from home to third (thanks Tim McCarver). There were no outs, the ball was within grasp of Quinlan and Rowand was all huffy-puffy. Terrible move by Cora to send him. I do not blame Rowand at all.
What else is there to say about Buerhle? He truly has become one of the best pitchers in the game. His performance was amazing. I'm convinced that Pierzynski has had an effect on all the Sox pitchers. Plus his attitude is great. Asked about the game last night, "Do we feel lucky? No," Pierzynski said. "Did they feel lucky when they won last night?"
So the Sox split at home. History shows that the West has not been kind to the Sox. They better get the bats going. Iguchi .222. Dye .222. Konerko .200. Everett .211. That's your 2-5.
Game 3 on Friday...
6 comments:
"the ball clearly skipped off the dirt into his glove" ??? What replay are they showing in Chicago? It must be digitally altered because I've looked at it again and again and it never touched the ground before going into his glove. The ump signaled the out, then changed his call. It's a tainted win for the white sox. Any objective observer can at least admit that it's contraversial. I'm in Utah. I don't care about the Angels or the White Sox. All I see is that the Angels got hosed by needing 4 outs and were dealt an unearned base runner in the 9th inning of a tied game. The catcher should have tagged him for insurance, but that was a mole hill compared to the mountain of a mistake made by the ump because he really was out until the ump changed his call.
in super slo-mo you can see the ball hitting the surface 1st and popping into the glove. At first I thought it was very controversial. But after seeing the replays and hearing the umpires post game comments, I'm convinced it is legit.
I watched it again, and again, and again. No skip. Bad call, but get over it. The Angels only needed to get one more out to advance to the 10th. Yes, the 10th. The game was still knotted at 1. The Sox didn't steal a victory as much as the Angels letting one get away.
I have to chime in and say I totally disagree The Zoner. I don't see it hitting the dirt either--plus, more importantly to me, Paul's reaction was just too much the other way to think that he didn't catch it cleanly. I just can't imagine any catcher tossing the ball to the mound, turning their back, and heading to the dugout if there's even the slightest chance that he needed to tag the hitter or throw to first--especially not in the 9th inning of a playoff game!!!
But all that being said, give AJ the credit for hustling, and the Sox for capitilizing. Bad call, but it didn't end the game.
Though Sox fans should be concerned about the trip West, as you've noted...
PV
Let's not forget the Cano play in the Yankees series. The Angels are fortunate to be where they are. The night before--and the announcers totally glanced over it because they were talking about Erstad's slide--Uribe's throw on the DP was good--he was out. No one mentioned it. Again, I think Paul maybe was doing a little acting, much like a hitter who starts toward 1st base before the ump signals ball or strike. It never would have been a bad call--if in fact it was--if the Angels were playing heads up ball. And let's also not forget--Crede hit their best guy to win it, after Ozuna stole second easily--another Angels lapse.
No way did that ball hit the dirt.
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