THE SMARTEST GUYS ON THE FIELD

I'm thinking of starting a second blog with the above stated title. You know who those guys are, right? That's correct: The Men In Blue, The Arbitrators, The Three Blind Mice (plus one).It seems there would be a lot to write about, none of it too complimentary.

They missed two more beauties on Wednesday.

In Cleveland, Oakland A's Adam Rosales hit what he thought was a game-tying home run in the top of the ninth, only to have the Umps rule it a double. Manager Bob Melvin respectfully asked for a review, confident that the Umps would see what he saw on the replay: the ball hit off the railing above the yellow line denoting a home run. After a few minutes, three (I almost said...("blind mice") of them said, "Nope, it's a double." Naturally, Melvin objected and was promptly tossed for his trouble. As Melvin said later, "The only four people in the stadium who didn't get it right."  Aaron Boone, analyzing the play for ESPN, was so shocked, all he could do was throw up his hands and stutter, "I don't know what to say."
Umpire Angel Hernandez and his crew knew what to say, "Rosales is on second and Melvin is in the showers." Afterwards, of course, they had nothing to say.

We're not done, boys and girls. down in Tampa, Florida, Rays manager, Joe Maddon, noticed that home plate umpire Scott Barry, said a ball was fouled off a batters foot, but that clearly didn't happen. He mentioned it to Barry, who just glared at him. He asked again for Barry to get help, at which point Barry removed his mask, walked toward the dugout and gave Maddon the old heave-ho. Maddon running out screaming, "You know that didn't happen. You know that didn't happen."  As is usually the case when the umpire has no defense, he simply wouldn't discuss it.

Umpires will make mistakes, it's bound to happen. You can only hope it isn't the determining factor in a win or loss. In any case, when a replay clearly shows the umpire is wrong, why does someone have to get ejected? It costs the evicted person money and a possible suspension. Who would risk that if they didn't believe they had a case? Former umpire, the late Babe Pinelli, felt that people should be allowed to have their say and to do anything he could to keep players and managers in the game. 95% of the time, those people felt they were right, so let them vent. Pinelli wrote a book about his career as a player and umpire, called Mr. Ump. I read the book. He never once said, he showed me up, or he disrespected me, in the book. It ought to be required reading for all umpires.

Sorry folks, I just got a call from Joe West. I've been ejected from this posting.

Glad to hear AJ Happ is doing fine after being struck in the head by a line drive. Very scary.

Okay, okay, Joe, I'm going.

***THEY SAID IT***
"The NBA fined Bulls guard Marco Belinelli $15,000 for making an obscene gesture in Saturday's Game 7 against the Brooklyn Nets. That works out to $7,500 for every person in Brooklyn who is offended by an obscene gesture"  -- Brad Dickson
"Pau Gasol will be the latest Laker to have surgery, with an operation on his knees scheduled for tomorrow. This Los Angeles team is increasingly becoming an expensive burden on Medicare."  -- Janice Hough
"In Denmark, attractive young women have been helping police to slow down drivers by posing topless on busy roadsides. Those are my kind of speed bumps."  -- RJ Currie
"The minor-league Norfolk (Va.) Tides set an International League record last season by using 75 different players — 25 of them starting pitchers. No big deal, newly arriving players say, once you get used to the turnstiles in the dugout."  -- Dwight Perry
"NASCAR hit Joe Gibbs Racing with a penalty for using an engine part that was 2.7 grams too light. Moral of the story: Spare the rod, and you'll get the shaft."  -- Dwight Perry
" On Thursday and Friday, a solar eclipse will occur over Australia. I feel sorry for the losing soccer coach who says: "At least the sun will come up tomorrow" .. and then it doesn't."  -- Brad Dickson
"Texas A&M reportedly plans to increase seating in their football stadium to 102,500. Not to be outdone, the Saskatchewan Huskies will add a folding chair to their luxury box"  -- RJ Currie

CP-