Umpires Blow Call – Cost Giants Series Sweep Over Mets

The Giants won the game!

And then they didn’t. *sigh*

But then they won the game again! YES!

But then they didn’t. *finds razor*

Listen, I’m not one to normally shit on umpires. I understand they’re human and they make mistakes. But it’s becoming inexcusable with the way they’re blowing them. If I can sit home, pay half the attention that an umpire should be paying, and easily see the correct call in real time – then we have a problem. A big, problem.

Phil Cuzzi (along with his peers) had one of the worst collective days I’ve seen this year in the Majors, but Cuzzi certainly had the worst of the crew. Both teams benches where constantly on the rag over Cuzzi’s extremely random strike zone. Well, that’s a lie. He had no strike zone. You could have thrown one down the middle and it be called a ball. Then you could have thrown one into the dugout and chances are, it would have been called a strike. However, Cuzzi took the crown when he called Travis Ishikawa out at home in the bottom of the 9th when it was extremely evident that he was safe. I was lucky enough to hear the New York Mets broadcast feed and they were absolutely astonished at the call and raked Cuzzi over how awful it was.And when Mets uber-homer Keith Hernandez is shitting on you because of a favor that went the Mets way, well, you might as well just kill yourself now – you’re done as a steak at the Outback. Even Met players like CATCHER Henry Blanco admit that it was the wrong call.

For those that missed the play, you can watch the travesty here.

I’m not really sure what else you can say. The Giants won the game. It’s clear as a moonlit night in Alaska. And in a division as tight as the National League West is, a win replaced by a loss has the potential to be catastrophic. Sure, maybe the one game wont matter in the actual final standings. But with the Rockies, Dodgers, Padres, and Giants all battling in the final two weeks of the season, this potential game could change the way series are played or the way they potentially could play out. Imagine the Giants traveling to San Diego for the final series of the year and rather than be back two games, they’re back three because of this game. It’s a situation like this that makes the mistake so costly and it wont even cause a blink from the Major League front office. Let us not forget, it was Phil Cuzzi who made the horrific (and game changing call) in the 2009 ALDS between the New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins. Twins catcher Joe Mauer hit a double down the left field line that bounced off of Melkey Cabrera’s glove, landing clearly in foul territory AFTER it already hit Cabrera’s glove yet Cuzzi called it foul. Rather than double, Mauer singled on the next pitch. The following batter singled as well, a hit that would have scored Mauer had the correct call been made and the Twins would have taken an 11th inning lead. They didn’t. They lost. Sound familiar?

It’s so sad that the only profession where you can be wrong more than an umpire and still have your job is a weather reporter.

So, all in all, fuck you, Phil Cuzzi.

G-men head down to LA for a tilt with the Dodgers tomorrow. The boys in blue are coming off a rough series in St. Louis where they were swept, losing in the bottom of the 9th earlier this afternoon.

UPDATE:

"Cuzzi said that he had not yet seen the replay. “I’ll look at it, but I figured I’d eat first,” he said, laughing. “He made a decent attempt to put the tag on him. That’s what it looked to me, and that’s why I called him out.”"

Oh wow. Oh fucking wow.

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