Re: _Orioles_, Rob Wiseman wrote to Terry May on 18 Oct 96:
 RW> Of course, our allegiance to the Orioles wouldn't have anything to do
 RW> with our clashing interpretations...
Probably, but I had no problem taking the Orioles' side on the fan 
interference issue.
 RW> Whatever the meaning of his ill-fated blurtings, the umps played the
 RW> situation like a violin. Alomar publicly apologized for his actions,
 RW> and the matter should have been settled with the forthcoming
 RW> suspension. Phillips didn't have to drag out the melodrama and play the
 RW> poor victim to the press for so long. Especially while his employees
 RW> were out blowing very obvious calls in extremely important games. They
 RW> should've struck! Replacement umps couldn't have done any worse.
I don't think ANY of the sides handled it very well.  MLB screwed up when 
they gave him such a weak punishment; MLBPA screwed up when they appealed; 
and the umpires screwed up when they tried to bully their way.  Oh, and of 
course, Alomar screwed up big time, as did Hirschbeck.  A lot of screw-ups!
...  1996 NLCS Game 7:  Atlanta Braves 15 - St. Louis Cardinals 0!
--- JetMail 0.99beta22
---------------