Paul...
PL>>I'm one fan who is tired of the control umpires have in a game.  Its
PL>>very frustrating to see an umpire throw out a player at a whim,
PL>>especially when an erroneous call is made that could be costly.  Yet
PL>>umpires can not be ejected in any way, shape or form.
Did you happen to see the call Durwood Merril made in the Rangers-Blue
Jays game on Tuesday night? Runner on first. Count is 3-1. Runner
takes off with the pitch, Pudge throws him out easily at second (as
usual). Problem is, it is ball four, making the play a non play. But
the runner, acting as any runner would after hearing the ump bellow
OUT!, gets up and heads to the dugout. He is tagged out again by
Mclemore. Merril calls him out again. Nixon is standing on first, the
obvious recipient of the walk. Merril just has to keep his head in the
game and at least know the count and what the call is before making
that original call. But, he doesn't, and that one play affects the
outcome of the inning and quite possibly, the game. Instead of having
runners at 1st and 2nd, no outs, now you have runner on first, one
out. Next batter is Cedeno, who probably bunts the runners up in what
should have been a situation calling for just that, but now, he swings
away, Rangers get out of the inning and go on to win the game. Even as
a Ranger fan, I objected to that call. And. Merril HAD to know he was
wrong. He just refused to reverse himself. That is a big problem, in
my eyes. Even his enormous ego shouldn't have caused him not to
reverse himself. He follows that up by calling one of the worst games
ever behind the plate last night. Anyone would be hard pressed to say
if they have ever seen Ken Hill and\or Dennis Cook as livid as they
were with the calls of an ump. Think he might have been trying to make
up a little? He is, after all, only human (I think).
Regards,
Ric
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 * CANDLEn * I don't think Mr. Ranger is gonna like this, Yogi...
--- WILDMAIL!/WC v4.12 
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