Angels Lose Game in Bizarre Ending
October 13, 2005
Tim Brown
LA Times
CHICAGO — As the baseball rolled toward the U.S. Cellular Field mound Wednesday night, A.J. Pierzynski was closing in on first base with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning.
On deck for the Chicago White Sox, Joe Crede was returning to the dugout to fetch his glove for the 10th inning.
Nine Angels were headed toward their dugout. Chicago Manager Ozzie Guillen was considering a pitching change. Robb Quinlan was thinking about leading off the 10th.
The inning was over, extra innings coming, for all but Pierzynski and plate umpire Doug Eddings, who had waved his right hand and then clenched it, two gestures, he said, for a swinging strike, no calls for the out.
Three pitches later, Crede doubled home pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna from second base and the White Sox won, 2-1, to even the best-of-seven American League championship series at one game apiece.
On a crucial and controversial call that brought screams of protest from the Angels and shrugs from the White Sox, Eddings ruled that Josh Paul had trapped Kelvim Escobar's split-fingered fastball, a swinging strike three to Pierzynski.
In that case, the out had to be recorded by tagging Pierzynski or throwing to first base. Paul, believing the inning was over, instead underhanded the ball toward the mound. Pierzynski, sensing Eddings' hesitance, dashed to first after taking a couple of steps toward his own dugout.
"I didn't hear him call me out, so I thought — I thought for sure the ball hit the ground," Pierzynski said. "I watched the replay 50 times and I still don't know."
Angel Manager Mike Scioscia argued that Paul caught the ball before it hit the ground, that Eddings called Pierzynski out, "and somewhere along the line, because the guy ran to first base, he altered the call. When an umpire calls a guy out and you're the catcher, and I've caught my share of them, he's out. He didn't call 'swing,' he rang him up with his fist and said, 'You're out.' "
Eddings said he called no such thing. He said he believed the ball was live, even after the two motions he made with his right arm.
Scioscia's on-field debate centered on Paul making the catch, and also on Eddings' gestures, which many interpreted as calling the third out. It was that call that caused the Angels to abandon their positions and Paul to relinquish the ball.
"My interpretation is that's my 'strike three' mechanic when it's a swinging strike," Eddings said. "If you watch, that's what I do the whole entire game."
While many Angels viewed the replay and concluded that Paul had wrapped the webbing of his mitt beneath the ball, and Pierzynski, for one, concluded there was no conclusion to be had, Eddings, his crew, and umpire supervisor Rich Rieker agreed that Paul had trapped it.
Using what Rieker called, "some technology," the six-man umpiring crew viewed the replay and determined the ball had actually hit the dirt.
"We saw a couple different angles," Eddings said, "and if you watch it, the ball changes direction."
It is possible the ball ricocheted from the end of Paul's mitt into the pocket, but replays appeared to show a clean catch.
"I caught the ball," Paul said. "It was strike three. He was out…. It's not my fault. I take no responsibility for that whatsoever."
After his initial argument, Scioscia left the field, then returned after learning of the replay. He appealed the call to third-base umpire Ed Rapuano, who would have had the best view of the pitch to the left-handed Pierzynski. After a short consultation with Rapuano, Eddings pointed to the ground, meaning they agreed, the ball had been trapped.
As the Angels fumed in their clubhouse, Eddings sat beside Rieker and crew chief Jerry Crawford in an interview room across the hall.
"At this point," Rieker said, "I would say at best it's inconclusive. I wouldn't totally agree that the ball was caught, but there was a change in direction there that we saw and the replay is available to us."
Typically, when a catcher believes a strike-three pitch may or may not have bounced before he catches it, he instinctively will tag the runner.
"That's why I was pretty shocked at what took place, and that was what I was kind of talking to Scioscia about," Eddings said. "Josh Paul, like you said, especially if you guys have seen the replay, it was questionable.
"I had question. That's why if you watched, sometimes you go off reactions on what you're doing. There's a lot of times you can hear two sounds. I didn't have him catching the ball [on the fly]."
Added Rieker: "And since Doug did not say that the batter was out, play continues, and that ball is alive."
Eddings said of his third-strike routine — the sweep of his right hand, then the clenched fist — "It's never been an issue until now."
Strike three
Baseball's rules on a third strike:
Rule 6.05 (b)
A batter is out when a third strike is legally caught by the catcher; "Legally caught" means in the catcher's glove before the ball touches the ground….
Rule 6.09 (b)
The batter becomes a runner when the third strike called by the umpire is not caught, providing (1) first base is unoccupied, or (2) first base is occupied with two out; When a batter becomes a base runner on a third strike not caught by the catcher and starts for the dugout, or his position, and then realizes his situation and attempts then to reach first base, he is not out unless he or first base is tagged before he reaches first base….
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