Another Umpiring Travesty

Once again, another crap call at the plate cost a team a game.

Another MLB umpire missed an obvious call. And this was such a travesty that I had to put up a post about it.

I was finishing my Trivia Night stuff when I put on the Pirates-Braves game, locked in an extra-inning battle. In the bottom of the 19th inning, Scott Proctor (relief pitcher, remember) hit a grounder to third, and the Bucs' third baseman tried to nail runner Julio Lugo (remember him?) at the plate. The throw to catcher Michael McKenry beat Lugo by five feet and the backstop tagged him not once, but twice. And ump Jerry Meals called him safe, giving Atlanta the win.

The Braves players were doing the usual "We just won the World Series" nonsense after the call, but they should have been celebrating with Meals.

It was one of the worst calls I have ever seen at the plate. How in the world could Meals miss it? Easy: it's because MLB umpiring on a whole, blows.

It has so much incompetence in blue, it is really pathetic. The Pirates were furious, and a few players had to be held back. I'm sure manager Clint Hurdle will vent to the press after the game, and of course, if he's not careful, he'll be fined. Because, as you know, you can criticize the President of the United States, but you dare not hammer an umpire.

MLB has an enormous problem with its umps, but refuses to do anything about it. They won't weed out the incompetents. It makes the game suffer. Meals should be suspended at the very least.

Absolutely pathetic. (With thanks to SBNation for the clip.)