I'm not so sure about that Red. The view we get is from an angle, not directly behind second base. Catcher probably purposely tried to block his view too once he saw the position of the second base ump.
Early on especially. It seemed to smooth out after the BS call with the hidden ball. I guess he figured he was just a little to close to our fans to keep that crap up. All I ever ask for is fair calls. If they're going to be mickey mouse with one team, then they need to be with the other. When it's obviously one sided is when I start to get pissed.
There is no way the hp ump is going to overrule a guy that is a few feet away, no matter how wrong he is.
The baseball announcer commented how good UCI's catcher was at moving his body and not just his arm to catch pitches from Gorgen.. basically the theory being that UCI's catcher makes balls "look" like strikes since the umpire sees him catching it more to the center of his body since he's actually moving his body. Since the commentator mentioned this I watched very closely from that point on.. what was hilarious was one pitch which was clearly a ball he called a strike and the fans at the Box booed loudly. Two pitches later he threw the exact same pitch and it was then called a ball. I mean it was a mirror image pitch. Very odd to say the least considering it was within mere moments of each other.
I've seen it happen....often. But there has to be a conference to get it done and a head ump with a set of balls.
i hate to say that a call took away the game but who knows what could have happened after that if he'd been called safe. the fact that the ump didn't throw out maineri probably proves he knew his crew missed the call. if they were so certain, PM woulda been ejected.
it's all irrelevant where the home plate ump was looking or where he wasn't looking, or where the catcher was or wasn't. TV replay clearly showed the ump was doodling something in a little pocket book at the tiem of the play, so he was out of position to make the call. The 2nd base ump wasn't looking directly at the play either. Irvine got the call, because their whole team ran off the field after the play and the LSU players froze, so the umpire just assumed he was out. Horrible officiating, I know, but from seeing it in person and then on tv, that is what happened. and I am very certain they realized after a while that they missed it, too, or else Mainieri would have been gone, too. They don't normally let someone stay in the game after arguing for upwards of 10-15 mins.
Looking back on the freeze-frame here, let's be honest, the ump made a good call. This was a disputable situation that different sides can debate with good points on each side... SERIOUSLY, ARE YOU FREAKING KIDDING ME? HOW DOES A FOOT-AND-A-HALF DISTANCE NOT GET NOTICED??? I think the ball-in-hand trick fooled the umps, not the Tigers.
