Via @JimmyTraina
I hate blaming umpires for a Yankee loss, but tonight’s firstbase umpire cost the Yankees one of the most important games of the year. The play above is the last play of the game. With a man on first and third, one out, 5-4, bottom of the ninth, hit a groundball. The runner at second was clearly out, but on the return throw, Teixeira slid into first base and was clearly safe, but Jerry Meals blew the call. Meals is notorious for some terrible calls, including this one from last year, which I still think is the worst call in baseball history. If Meals makes the right call, the Yankees tie the game. Now, the Yanks and O’s are tied for the AL East again.
The game started with a 2-0 lead thanks to a sac fly by in the first inning, and a double from in the second. couldn’t hold the lead though, and gave up 5 runs though his 6.1 innings on the mound. He seems to have lost his command, as well as movement on his slider. I’ll look into what the PITCHf/x looks like since his elbow issues this week, and I think it’s fair to worry about him going forward. pitched and gave the Yankees 1.2 innings with just 1 walk and 1 strikeout.
While Sabathia was disappointing, the offense continued to battle throughout the game. During the game, came on to replace , and the Yankees, for the first time in a while, had their injury-free lineup. Rodriguez has looked red hot, and continued his streak with a homerun in the 8th inning. There was a bit of a rally in the 8th as well, but it ended with a slumping Curtis Granderson popping out to the catcher.
This brings us to a 5-3 game in the 9th inning, with on the mound. Ichiro Suzuki and hit two very quick singles to set up for the bunt. misplayed the bunt, and Jeter was rewarded with a bunt single, meanwhile the Yankees were rewarded with a bases loaded no out situation. grounded out, but narrowly beat out a double play, allowing Ichiro to score. Then, with Teixeira up at the plate, Jerry Meals stole this game from the Yankees.
With all the technology we have today, and how quickly we can use it, what happened tonight is a shame. Mark Teixeira blames the umpires, saying, “” Personally, I don’t blame Jerry Meals for this game. People make mistakes. Instead, I blame Bud Selig, who should be ashamed of himself for ignoring the importance of instant replay, and instead focusing on his plan for the two wild card teams this season. Creating drama, and more possible playoff situations, creates more money for the MLB and team owners. But, if he wanted late season drama, he got it at the expense of angry fans and angry players.
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19 Responses to Umpire Jerry Meals Blows The Game In The 9th, Yankees Lose 5-4
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TIQ IQ
Whiners! Yankees get far more blown calls in their favor than not….stop blaming the umps for the loss based on one call; how about blaimng a suddenly very old-looking Yankees team for the loss??
Mark…don’t be THAT guy on the blog! It was a bad call and you can’t make bad calls this time of the year!!!
Mark i would get so violent with you and Jerry Meals. That is truly unacceptable. I don’t care if it’s the first or last call of the game or if it takes 5 minutes or 6 hours. I want the call to be right. Especially in September in this intense pennant race. For all we know it could cost the Yankees the division, and if they lose to the Orioles by 1 game, you know who to blame.
Awful call yes, but this team, the 2012 Yankees, cannot put together four or more hits in a row to save their lives. They barely collected three hits in a row in the final inning – thank Jeter’s perfect bunt for that.
How many times have the 2012 Yankees collected four or more hits in a row? They must be in the bottom ten MLB teams in that category.
Also, this team chokes in the ninth when trailing, simple as that, else why ZERO wins when trailing after eight innings for 2012?
The 2012 Yankees are almost exactly the same as the 1992 Yankees in BA and OBP and their ace is pitching like a #4 starter.
the guy above me is a bobcats fan
Wow, what a moronic post. You act like putting 4 or more hits in a row is a common occurrence. Also, way to go to deflect from the real issue that this blog has drawn attention to.
The Yankees offense is so terrible that they are in 1st place in their division.
Jeffrey. Maier.
That directed at me? I could care less about the blown call, I care about how this team rarely gets four or more hits in a row and has a slashline almost exactly like the ’92 Yanks (.261 / .331 / .450 to the ’92 team’s .261 / .328 / .406 which would probably be .450 had these guys faced today’s pitchers.)
Did you think that up all by yourself or did Mommy help you?
Mighty frustrating, compounded because we’re fighting back from down in the hole. Hope is the Yanks will hold this as another burr under the saddle. Our fight is back, we just need to sustain it.
The most frustrating part is that Jerry Meals had a history of blowing calls, he’s the same ump that blew pittsburgh 19 inning game last year.
I can’t believe that it would be difficult to expand instant replay look how easy they are able to see the right call on YesMo
Being a Yanks fan myself, I can hardly contain my annoyance at people blaming the Yanks poorer performance of late for anything or even bringing it up. Why don’t you just say, “Well if they Yankees were up by 5, or 10, or 1000 runs, then the blown call wouldn’t have mattered.” This is total garbage. The point is not that the Yankees are struggling, or the Orioles are still surging, or about any team. The point is that with technology being what it is, controversial GAME ENDING calls should be a thing of the past. Nevermind the Yankees or the Pirates, what about Armando Gallaraga and the blown call on what would have been the last out of a perfect game? Thanks to the technology in cameras these days, fans at home know that the call was terrible from 5 different angles before the players are even done arguing about it on the field. Yeah, I hear you with arguments about how the game’s already slow, and instant replay would make it worse, or that umpires would be pointless if you’re gonna be able to challenge everything, but now that we can clearly see how often this is happening, something has to give. I mean what would be so damaging to the sport if you allowed managers to challenge a controversial call that ended the game? I’m not talking about every stinking out. I’m not even talking about a challenge per inning. I’m talking about the last play in a game where if the call was bad, the game’s over and there’s nothing you can do about it. At least if a blown call happens earlier in the game, you still have time to overcome it. And how many games do you watch where the final out is controversial? Not that many. In the 9th, there are no second chances. And yes, while I am a Yanks fan, it would still be bs if the Yankees miss the playoffs by 1 game in the end, and if you’re an Orioles fan and the call went the other way you’d be saying the same thing. Sure there’s bias, but there’s also truth that there exists easy fixes for situations like this and Bud Selig and his cronies won’t do a damn thing about it. You want to protect the integrity of the game Bud? You want to stop turning off fans from the game? Well tell us what integrity is left in a game where human error can be compensated for, even if limited to specific instances, by the assistance of technology, with minor interruption to one game that could down the line very well determine the fate of a whole season, and instead you refuse to do ABSOLUTELY ANYTHING. Not exactly looking forward to watching tomorrow’s game when the possibility of what happened today is equally real.
And here’s a zinger I’m only going to mention in passing. What if that umpire CHOSE to call that out? He’s already got a record of bad game ending calls. But he works in a system where he has ZERO accountability. Umpires are human. You really think none of them can be corruptible? Having a way to correct an obvious bad call can protect the integrity of the game in a way that I shouldn’t even need to discuss.
If for example, 10% of games are 5% longer, is that so horrible? MLB can set initial “baby steps for” I.R. rules (amendable, of course) … This would silence scaremongers who say games will be 5+ hours on the ridiculous notion that managers will challenge every little thing. They won’t. And they can’t –if MLB is strict from the getgo.
The games might not even be longer. How much time is wasted by managers running out of the dugouts to argue calls. Those days would be over if Instant Replay was instituted.
Bah, I hate all the media and bloggers letting umps off the hook for any blown call, as if its part of the game. THere are calls that are so close that you cant blame a guy for getting it wrong. THen there are calls like this, that isnt even remotely close, its a pretty much no brainer call that never gets missed. Thats the issue. It makes you wonder if this guy is getting paid to miss a call or if he really is so imcompitent that little league umps dont miss that call.
This was probably the most frustrating game of the season for me. 1. You spot CC a two-run lead, dude should hold it. 2. Joe Saunders is complete and total hot garbage; you should get him for more than two runs. 3. The third grader I tutored last week would’ve been able to make that call at first.
Meals’ call was terrible. No doubt. It ended the game, but it’s not the reason the Yanks lost. No, that’s on CC and yet another crappy performance, and an offense that time and time again fails to hit with RISP.
As bad as the call was (and it was horrible) the biggest joke and biggest travesty is Mike Winters the crew chief of this crap crew coming out and saying “it was a close play” and “I couldn’t tell on replay if he was out or safe” Is he serious??? I know he is protecting the blind, incompetent, cheating. lazy, dumb, careless Jerry Meals but to say what he said was more criminal than Jerry “the cheat” Meals. Winters and Meals should be put in the minors or better yet Little League. And who has the plate today? Yep, “the great” Jerry the cheat Meals. MLB is a joke. He should be at least suspended for the year at minimum. It was that bad and Winters should be with him. 2 cheaters in this game.
The bottom line is that umpires are paid lot of money to make CORRECT calls. It is their JOB to make RIGHT calls and to be FAIR to both sides. In the case of this game Jerry Meals were supposed at least consult with other umpires but No he chose to run away from the field as fast as he could. Also, he didn’t have any decency to at least apologize and admit that he made a mistake. If I was Bud Selig, Mr. Meals would be on suspension right now….