Phillies to MLB: You make the call

THE ONLY part of umpire Joe West's controversial decision to call rightfielder Hunter Pence out for fan interference after viewing a replay that is intended only to determine boundary calls for home runs that has been resolved is that the Phillies have formally filed their protest with Major League Baseball.

That procedural move had to be made within 24 hours of manager Charlie Manuel informing the umpires that he was playing the remainder of Sunday's 5-4, 14-inning loss to the Florida Marlins at Sun Life Stadium under protest.

"We felt like we had grounds to back Charlie's protest," general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said yesterday. "Our feeling, frankly, was that the utilization of the video was not properly used in this case."

The crux of the Phillies argument is apparently that instant replay cannot be used to detect interference.

The counterargument would seem to be that, if in reviewing a possible home run, the umpire clearly sees a fan reaching into the field of play - across the boundary, if you will - that it falls under the instant replay review rule.

"We'll let Major League Baseball make the decision," Amaro said, adding that he thought the rule is "very clear."

That might be, but there was still a lot of confusion yesterday. For example, much has been made of whether or not Manuel asked West to look at the replay to see if Pence's ball had cleared the fence.

However, it seems that point is moot. The crew chief, from all accounts, has the authority to look at a replay whether the manager requests it or not.

The Phillies might argue that West showed no inclination to review the play until Marlins manager Jack McKeon came out to argue that there was interference on the play. And the gray area gets even grayer. Even if West had the right to consider interference, how can he assume that Marlins rightfielder Bryan Petersen would have been able to make the catch leaping at the wall anyway?

Said Manuel, who was ejected from the game: "My interpretation of it was, you can't make a defensive call with a review. That's what I told him. Joe was trying to get me away. He said, 'You can't argue the review decision' I said, 'I'm not arguing about the decision. I'm arguing that I understand the review can't be determined on a defensive play.' "

There's no indication when a ruling might be made. Protests are only rarely upheld and even if the Phillies win it would be a hollow victory. It could mean that they'd have to return to South Florida and replay the game from that point in the sixth inning even though they have no more scheduled off days this season.

"I think we're just trying to do what we think is right. And we'll deal with the consequences after that," Amaro said.