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Yes, the Astros fans are having conniptions. But they're completely ignoring the context (as, of course, the entire national media have done as well - did you see the Sportscenter highlight? Or hear Tony Kornheiser? It's so obvious he didn't even watch the game.)

Wheeler had a 3-2 count and missed the plate by about 18 inches. He was way inside and way high. The ball unintentionally struck Dye's bat, which he didn't even begin to swing. At all. So how would it have been justifiable for the ump to let Wheeler off the hook just because a pitch he threw at Dye's torso on a 3-2 count accidentally happened to hit the bat he was holding?

Sorry Houston, sorry Mr. Wheeler. Cry all you want about that call, but it was a terrible pitch on a full count, and it not for the grace of God the ball wouldn't have hit anything at all and Dye would have walked to first.

Also, fuck ESPN hard and in the ass.

I said precisely what you said - if Wheeler had thrown a decent pitch, the likelihood is that no one would be talking about this a day later.

Yes, I'm still pulling for the Astros. No, I'm not whining about the call. Bad calls are part and parcel of sports. Game officials are human, and thus prone to error.

Nobody talks about the good calls. Why? Because:
1. it's more fun to talk about officials (read: "the man") fucking up,
2. it's a cop out, and,
3. typically, the good calls far, far exceed the bad ones.

I wasn't pointing the finger at anyone here, Houstonian or otherwise, but rather towards the crying fandom in general.

They seem to have had a dramatic change of heart since Game 1, when I don't recall anyone criticizing the two phantom "hit by pitch" calls against Jose Contreras.

That second one didn't hit Ausmus's jersey - it hit the idea of his jersey floating around in the World of Forms.

sorry i’ve been away. i’m in shock in a way. first the rocket goes down with the hammy. then the grand slam and then the walk off off of lidge.

sorry, i overlooked something. jermaine dye the lie. so change the above from walk off to game tying homerun. if the white sox do win, it’ll be interesting to see how it’s remembered. what are we up to now? 4 horrible calls going in the white sox favor? get the asterisk ready for the history books! file next to the black sox.

and now mlb officials are telling the astros that they’ll decide whether or not the roof stays open or closed. it’s never ending it seems.

If Dye takes that pitch it's ball four and bases are still loaded.

actually, it hit his bat and therefore is a FOUL BALL.

Rick Reuschel wrote:If Dye takes that pitch it's ball four and bases are still loaded.

You'll notice the strategic use of the word "if" at the start of the sentence.
The ball was not in or near the strike zone.

waltermalling wrote:actually, it hit his bat and therefore is a FOUL BALL.

Yes, how dare the umpire not bail Wheeler out. Usually "foul balls" involve the batter taking his bat off the shoulder, not an overhyped reliever choking and missing the plate by two feet high and inside.

look, i don’t make the rules. if a pitch hits the bat, regardless of anything, and it doesn’t go into fair play, it is a FOUL BALL. are going to try to tell me next that check swing foul balls don’t count?

this stuff about mlb insisting on the roof being closed is ridiculous. why didn’t they say the same thing during the division championship?

waltermalling wrote:what are we up to now? 4 horrible calls going in the white sox favor? get the asterisk ready for the history books! file next to the black sox.

The only people whining for an asterisk will be the teams the Sox beat.

As if the Angels would have won that series if not for the Pierzynski call? Did you happen to notice that they could barely score a run off the Sox pitching? That one call caused Anaheim to score, what, 10 runs in the last 4 games of the series?

Also, I don't recall anyone complaining when Contreras was tagged for two phantom HBP calls in Game 1. Hmm.

Go ahead and blame the Astros major choke-job on the umps if it helps you sleep at night, but the fact of the matter is their pitching staff has been horrendous and they have no one to blame but themselves.

Clemens was awful. Pettite was barely adequate. Craig "E-4" Biggio hasn't done anything. The bullpen has been absolutely awful. Not one reliever (excepting Wandy R, who allowed 9 baserunners but somehow only 1 run) has been effective.

And it's the UMPIRES' fault they're down 2-0? Shit, as poorly as they've played it's amazing either game was even close.