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Thursday, October 8, 2009

One missed element to Wednesday’s one-sided Phillies victory: The umpires had a really bad day.

With the game scoreless in the second, third base umpire Ron Kulpa called Yorvit Torrealba out at third as he tried to advance on a fly-out to rightfield. Replays showed Torrealba well ahead of Jayson Werth’s throw.

The Phillies got another break when Cliff Lee appeared to be picked off at second. Jerry Meals either did not see Troy Tulowitzki brush Lee’s front leg as he came back to the bag standing, or ruled he did not make contact. That one was closer.

Jimmy Rollins appeared to have beat the throw after Rockies second baseman Clint Barnes bobbled his two-out ground ball in the sixth inning. Had first-base umpire Bob Davidson madde the right call, Raul Ibanez would have scored from third with the sixth run, Carlos Ruiz would have reached third, with the meat of the Phillies order coming up.

The oddity is that none of the calls involved the wind or the sun.

Here’s hoping they do better today.
 

Posted by Sam Donnellon @ 1:14 PM  Permalink | 2 comments
2
Comments   
Posted 02:02 PM, 10/08/2009
fcskills
With 'Balkin' Bob behind home plate today Sammy, the officiating is not likely to improve.
Posted 04:29 PM, 10/08/2009
Potus415
I concur. These postseason umps are supposed to be the best of the best. But all 3 infield umps blew calls yesterday. Luckily two of them went our way.
About Sam Donnellon
Donnellon's career began in Biddeford, Me., in 1981, and has included stops in Wilkes-Barre, Norfolk, and New York, where he worked as a national writer for the short-lived but highly acclaimed National Sports Daily. He has received state and national awards at each stop and since joining the Daily News in 1992 has been honored by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the National Sportswriters and Sportscasters Association, the National Association of Black Journalists, the Associated Press Managing Editors of Pennsylvania and the Keystone Awards. He and his wife of 22 years have raised three fine children, none of whom are even the least bit impressed with the above.
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