If i don’t catch ESPN SportsCenter (i know, it’s on about 20 times a day; how can i miss it?) or the evening news, i like to watch baseball highlights at the MLB website. I don’t subscribe, so i only get limited video highlights, but it’s usually enough to satisfy my appetite.
Anyway, i was watching highlights of yesterdays game between Oakland and the Chicago White Sox, and i was wondering if anyone else saw the incident in which Joe Crede was ejected, and, more specifically, the incident leading up to it in which Crede was denied a HBP walk because the umpire said that he leaned into the ball.
If you haven’t seen the play, and you are happy to view a streaming video, you can find it here. Just click on the game “Chicago White Sox @ Oakland Athletics” and then, on the right, click on the link titled “Crede ejected.”
I was wondering what people thought of this call. I still don’t know enough about baseball to know exactly how something like this should be called, so i was wondering whether people thought the umpire got it right or not?
I have a couple of friends who are huge baseball fans, and are very much into the rules of the game. They did not see the play, but when i described it to them, they both expressed considerable surprise (and a degree of praise) that the umpire had made such a call, because they both think that umpires generally tend not to make that call even when it’s warranted.
As i said, i’m not real clear on the exact requirements for an umpire to determine whether or not the batter leans into a pitch. It seems very clear to me from the video that Crede did, in fact, lean in. But the commentator insisted that leaning in wasn’t a problem, because the ball was in the batter’s box anyway and Crede was under no obligation to get out of the way. Both commentators insisted the umpire made a really bad call. Anyone have an opinion on this?
And the issue of the commentators leads me to my next question, and my rant.
WHO THE FUCK ARE THESE WHITE SOX COMMENTATORS? One reason i’m loathe to accept their interpretation of the rule in this incident is that these two guys are, in my opinion, about the most biased commentators i’ve ever seen on a sports broadcast (any sport, any country). I mean, they literally barrack for the White Sox during the commentary, and their “You can put it on the boooaaaard…YES!” cheer is ridiculous. Hell, i’ve even heard them refer to the opposition as “the bad guys.”
I know that all home-town commentators have a bit of bias, but they can usually suppress this enough to give a fairly even-handed commentary. Even the Yankees commmentator, who i find a bit annoying, still does his “See ya!” catchphrase when the other team hits a home run. By contrast, if any team hits a home run against the White Sox, these guys can’t hide their dissappointment, and often they don’t say anything at all.
Do White Sox fans really like this shit? I mean, i’ve got no beef with the White Sox as a team, but if i were a fan these commentators would annoy the fuck out of me.
