So Johan Santana pitched the first no hitter in the Mets 50 year history. Except Carlos Beltran hit a ball that was clearly fair on replay but the ump called it foul. Does this tarnish the accomplishment? It doesn’t feel like a no hitter to me at all.
The no-hitter in Seattle ended on an iffy check-swing call. I haven’t heard it brought up after about 2 days.
Balls and strikes including check swings have always been a judgement call. And no reason to assume that there would have been a hit. This was clearly a fair ball that would have been a double.
Missed the game, haven’t seen clip, so I’ll defer to you.
I thought it might have been one of those times where the ball bounces and it’s hard to tell if it went over the base fair or foul.
But no, this was just a clear fair ball.
Don’t forget that game from last year where a perfect game was lost on a blown call at first.
http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=8000113
Its about 20 seconds in.
I was at Citi Field last week for Johan’s last start. It was a three hit complete game shut out. In may have been a better performance than this one. He only threw 84 pitches going into the 9th. He is certainly in the zone. Hopefully he didn’t blow out his arm last night with all those pitches.
Bad calls work both ways. Two years ago, Jim Joyce made a bad call on a close call at first that cost the pitcher, Galarraga, a *perfect[/p] game. Joyce was a classy guy afterward, admitted blew the call, and said he felt bad about his mistake being the only thing between Galarraga and a perfect game, but it’s still in the record books as a one hitter.
Every game is filled with close calls, down to balls and strikes. Umpires aren’t perfect and miss a few. If we had the type of video coverage of games from the 1800s to today, I’m sure we could find other missed calls in other no hitters. It’s part of the game, and Johan gets a no-no.
The call isn’t as obvious as people seem to be making it out to be IMO.
It was “obvious” only on a slo-mo replay. I was at the ballgame and it looked like an ordinary close call (right over the 3B bag, hitting near the chalk line), the umpire was right on top of it and those calls are right 99% of the time. Even on replay it nicks the OUTSIDE edge of the chalk, it doesn’t hit inside of the line or directly on it, and again, just after the ball crosses the 3B bag which is white (making it slightly harder to see from where the ump was standing).
So yes - it was a “blown call” on a slo-mo replay that doesn’t exist in baseball.
Playoff games have been decided by worse blown calls so I’m not going to say this is a “tarnished” no-hitter at all.
It would not have be obvious to anyone in the stands. Its not obvious on TV until you see it in slo-mo. But the ump was a few feet away in perfect position to see it.
Regardless of the controversy, I would have loved to have been at this game.
Hey all - a good friend of mine is a huge Mets fan. He DVRs all the games, avoids ESPN until he watches etc. Guess which game his DVR was too full to record? Yup. Where’s the best place I’d be able to find someone with a copy for him? The mlb.tv version of it that he saw is just the abbreviated “only the action” edit. He really wants to hear the commentary, etc. that goes along with a full broadcast. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
The guy who stormed the field after the no - hitter was arrested and put in jail. And he missed his son’s first birthday party.
Its funny, I’ve been to Citi Field and Yankee Stadium this year. I noticed that the Yankees rely a lot more on the NYPD. The Mets seem to use security guards exclusively (NYPD in the stadium but security guards at field level). I think that is a lot less likely to happen in Yankee Stadium. They do not want a repeat of the Chris Chambliss incident.
Munch:
In a similar vein, my son is a huge Mets fan, listens to almost every game, and listened to this game until the fourth inning, but then had to shut off the computer for Shabbos. He spent the next 25 hours wondering if they pulled it off.
Of course, the Mets had a tradition of fans swarming onto the field after championships. . .
It was a close call, but judgement calls like this have probably occurred in half the no-hitters ever pitched. The call is official even if it’s blown.
Yeah, he wins. Am I guessing that things like DVRs are verboten? Is he allowed to watch a copy of the game that someone else made?
I’d contact the Mets and see if they have any plans to issue a commemorative DVD. They already have T-shirts and stuff.
Incidentally, fuck the Astros for not protecting Santana from the Rule 5 draft.