Quote:
Originally Posted by TheKilo
Homeplate ump wasn't a joke, Ortiz swung the bat and then pouted like a little bitch afterwards.
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Laz Diaz called, overall, an excellent game.
But do you really think that Ortiz swung the bat? As I posted, even Gary Thorne and Jim Palmer were very surprised by the call. It's not often that the opposing team's broadcasters disagree with an umpire on a call critical to their own team.
The rulebook is silent on this: Rule 2.0 just states,
Quote:
A STRIKE is a legal pitch when so called by the umpire, which—
(a) Is struck at by the batter and is missed;
(b) Is not struck at, if any part of the ball passes through any part of the strike
zone;
(c) Is fouled by the batter when he has less than two strikes;
(d) Is bunted foul;
(e) Touches the batter as he strikes at it;
(f) Touches the batter in flight in the strike zone; or
(g) Becomes a foul tip.
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without further defining "struck at." How "struck at" could involve a checked swing where no part of the bat ever passed through the strike zone and the wrists were not broken eludes me; I've seen those used as unofficial criteria to determine whether or not a batter "offered" at a pitched ball. I've seen many batters check their swing as Papi did and have a pitch be called a ball. I don't get it, just as Thorne and Palmer didn't get it.
But you do--do you have any cause for that other than the absolute authority granted to umpires on balls and strikes?