Umps should just give it to the whitesux

[friendlyfisher]

After that so called hit by pitch right before the grandslam,Why not just give chicago the world series. They get every break possible.

[crappieflop1212]

Yeah,

It is starting to get recockulous. Well I guess their fans will take it. I suppose I would. Still sad though.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Ozzie says, "I would rather be lucky than good". The Windy City Walleye Hunter says, "I would rather be lucky AND good"

You got to play the calls, been that way for years. Konerko still had to launch the rocket, just had an extra man on base to do it for the Granny!

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD....YES!

[SledNeck]

Its getting to the point where they should seriously think about launching an investigation into MLB, its obvious that they want certain teams to win.

[crappieflop1212]

Well I must admit the sox are good. But they sure have benifited from some very questionable calls. I wouldn't say they are given any of these series, considering they haven't been close to being eliminated this year, but they certainly haven't done it all on their own. I must say, they look like a better team than the stros. They still suck though

Bad luck to ya Windy.

[crappieflop1212]

Quote:

---

Its getting to the point where they should seriously think about launching an investigation into MLB, its obvious that they want certain teams to win.

---

They need instant replay.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

While I will be the first to admit the fact that the Sox have been on the recieving end of every questionable call, I will also point out that none of those calls resulted in the game winner. AJ running to first on the dropped/not dropped third strike did not end the game, it took a stolen base and a double to score the winning run. AJ's glove hitting/not hitting the bat did not result in the game winner. AJ getting the tag at first reversed, did not end the game. AJ getting hit by the pitch (sorry, I mean JD, just kinda got used to saying AJ, LOL,) JD getting hit/not getting hit by the pitch did not end the game. It is one thing to catch a break, it is the sign of a good team that capitalizes on those breaks and the Sox are surely a good team this year because they have capitalized on every mistake, break, turn of events that has occurred. Not having to face Schilling vs. Boston, having Bartolo go down in LA, those are all breaks that the Sox have driven the Mac Truck thru when the door is left an inch open.

As for instant replay, we will be looking at 4-5 hour games if we open up that pandora's box and still the AJ dropped third strike would never have been overturned on replay because there is not a clear cut shot that shows the ball not touching the ground before it ended up in Josh Paul's mitt.

And as for the MLB wanting a certain team in the playoffs, I can assure you that it is not the Astros nor is it the Sox. They are trending as one of the lowest rated WS outside of Houston and Chicago. The teams that would have been the ratings getters are NY or Boston, possibly St. Louis or Annaheim but not Stros or Pale Hose!

Well there's my two cents, and a few bucks more to boot!

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD...YES!

[friendlyfisher]

The game would not be 4 to 5 hours long just cause of instant replay. It only takes a couple minutes to go to the booth for one maybe two calls a game.

I will say that im not for it, I am just saying that if they want it or not, time should not be the factor. It should be do they want every call right all the time or do they want it the way its always been, mostly correct calls and a few judgement calls.

I think if they asked the other umps on the field on what they saw, then they would get a lot more calls correct. It would also help if they pulled their heads out of their you now whats. It would also help if they didnt have a big bonus at the end of the month for helping a certain team.

friendly.

[nbdyknws]

If football gets 2 red flags why not let baseball have 2 red flags. There are so many missed calls or wrong calls in games and I am sure alot of those changed the whole game. The human eye can only see so much so why not if it makes the call right let a camera see it.

Give teams 2 flags or even one flag a game, that if something happens they can challenge. But it might work better if they could have a penalty for getting the challenge wrong. Maybe adding a strike onto the next inning for their leadoff hitter or something.

With the challenges the White Sox would have atleast played 1 or 2 more games this post season. And hey that is actually good for mlb right? Well maybe not good for a team that had 5 people show up to every home game for a long long time.

[buzzsaw]

From Fox Sports ................

If you didn't know better, you'd think it was 1919 in reverse. This time, the White Sox obviously are trying to win the World Series, but they're getting so many breaks from the umpires, it almost makes you wonder if Shoeless Joe Jackson has been reincarnated to make amends, once and for all.

Maybe he's Doug Eddings, who called the infamous dropped third strike on A.J. Pierzynski in the American League Championship Series. Or maybe he's Jeff Nelson, who called the phantom hit-by-pitch on Jermaine Dye on Sunday night in Game 2 of the World Series, a blessed little event that set the stage for Paul Konerko's go-ahead grand slam.

Oh, the integrity of the men in blue is not in question, merely their competence. And say this for the White Sox: They might be lucky, but they're also good. Every time the umps hand them one of those handy little postseason gift certificates, the Sox respond as if they've been handed a winning lottery ticket, cashing in big.

Dye's foul-ball-turned-free-pass isn't the reason the White Sox defeated the Astros 7-6 to take a 2-0 lead in the series. Konerko had to follow with his slam on the next pitch to give the Sox a 6-4 lead. And then, after the Astros tied the score on a two-run, pinch-hit single by Jose Vizcaino with two outs in the ninth, Scott Podsednik had to hit a walkoff homer off Astros closer Brad Lidge — Podsednik's second of the postseason after going 507 at-bats in the regular season without one.

Still, the umpires were again an issue, and while they're only human, Major League Baseball is one more blown call away from a major uproar. Heck, that uproar already would be taking place if Konerko's slam had stood as the decisive blow. Instead, White Sox closer Bobby Jenks blew the save in the ninth, and Podsednik hit his game-winning shot with one out in the bottom half of the inning.

Dye freely admitted afterward that Astros reliever Dan Wheeler did not hit him with a 3-2 pitch with two outs in the seventh, yet Nelson sent him to first, loading the bases for Konerko. "The umpire told me to go to first base, so I went to first base," Dye said. "I didn't argue with him. It was a big break for us."

Nelson did not directly address reporters, but spoke afterward with Major League Baseball spokesman Pat Courtney.

"He thought at the time that he made the right call and he thought it in his heart," Courtney said.

There's no way to know if Dye might have drawn a walk on the next pitch, just as there's no way to know if he might have struck out to end the inning. Astros catcher Brad Ausmus asked Nelson to get help from the first- or third-base umpire, but according to Astros manager Phil Garner, Nelson responded that it was his call. Garner said he asked Nelson to check if the ball had a black mark from Dye's bat, but "the ball already was gone."

"I certainly can't see it," Ausmus said. "The ball is moving 90 mph. I'm incapable of seeing where it hit, what it hit. I based my judgment on the reaction of the hitter after the play. I felt like there was no reaction. If you were hit in the hand, you wouldn't just throw your bat down and go to first base. But it's a very difficult call. The ball is moving so fast, it happens in a split-second."

The Astros knew they had no excuses — Chad Qualls replaced Wheeler after Dye went to first and Konerko crushed the reliever's first pitch for his fifth homer in 41 postseason at-bats. Two innings later, Lidge allowed his second consecutive ninth-inning homer, grooving a 2-1 fastball to Podsednik, who never will be confused with Albert Pujols.

The White Sox have now won 14 of their last 15 games, including their last five in the regular season. They're 9-1 in the postseason, 66-35 in games decided by two runs or less, 108-64 overall.

All championship teams get breaks; the White Sox's success clearly is not a fluke. But for his next trick, maybe Shoeless Joe will return as a fan at Houston's Minute Maid Park for Game 3, reach over the left-field wall and grab yet another unexpected Podsednik home run. The crowd will howl for interference. The umpires will react with another collective shrug.

It's not 1919 in reverse. But for the White Sox, a team that last won a world championship 88 years ago, things certainly are evening out.

[CNY Tim]

I'm for replay!!! - Don Denkinger

[friendlyfisher]

Have you guys heard the latest from MLB.

It appears that Bud Selieg(sp) himself has told Houston they have to leave the roof open for tonights game. Houston has had the roof closed for over 60% of their games this year and Houston believes they have a slight homefield advantage with it closed. But for some reason MLB thinks they need to tell Houston what to do, like they can have control over the mater. What next 4 guys in the outfield for chicago? friendly

[genegodawa]

Windy,

Stop the talk about the calls not resulting in an impact to the outcome of the game....maybe we'll never know for sure, but don't say the calls don't change the game. There is a HUGE diff between 3-2 on Dye with first and second 2-outs, down 2 runs and bases loaded 2-outs down 2 runs to Konerko. And then you never know what happens if Konerko doesn't hit it out. The extra runner changes the game situations that may never have happened.

CNY Tim,

Man, I know it's hard to forgive him, but you gotta give up on poor Denkinger. He blew it, but at least you've seen a few other WS. I don't even have a pennant in my lifetime.

Now onto the replay debate: maybe if they allowed it to judge fan interference on Bartman, I'd be for it. But I am not for it, despite me callng them chUMPs, because I really do believe they get it right on over 99% of the times that I watch an instant replay to see if they were wrong. There are the occassional missed plays/missed tags/phantom bases/trapped balls but overall they do a great job. I am in favor of adding the 2 foul line umps all year long and I also do favor the committee discussions when one is unsure about what he saw.

Me? I need glasses so I should get off my soapbox now.

[friendlyfisher]

Its offical, the roof has been order open for sure for tonights game. MLB has steped in and demanded it.

[Windy City Walleye Hunter]

Buzz,

Don't feel bad, MLB also directed the Sox to pick Bo Jackson to throw out the first pitch in game 2. They wanted Minnie Minnosa, a long time Sox favorite but MLB probably thought Jackson had more national appeal, LA maybe??? He was with the Sox for what a year, OK he hit a big homer and had a few decent throws from the outfield but ask any Southsider Minnosa vs Jackson and it would not be close. As for the roof incident, I have to agree with the MLB, baseball was meant to be played outdoors in the fresh air and as long as their was not a chance of weather affecting the outcome of the game, ie cold or rain they choose to have the game played the way Abner Doubleday planned it, in the great outdoors. You don't have to like it but it makes sense to me as the game time temp was 63 degrees and no sign of rain.

YOU CAN PUT IT ON THE BOARD...YES!