Umpires Gone Wild: Phil Cuzzi Edition

This is a feature I wrote for SB Nation Chicago on the horrific blown call by Phil Cuzzi yesterday in San Francisco that literally cost the Giants the game.

It's time for replay now. Is Cuzzi going to put the Giants in the postseason if they miss by one game?

almost 2 years ago Al Yellon 23 comments 0 recs |

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"Is Cuzzi going to put the Giants in the postseason if they miss by one game?"

Shouldn’t it be out of the post season?? And yeah, that call wasn’t even close

by braziliancubsfan on Jul 19, 2010 10:57 AM CDT reply actions

Al...Error

But the call cost the Giants a win over the Mets. It was the last of the ninth in a tie game and Travis Ishikawa clearly, no doubt about it, no question, not even close, slid in safely at the plate before Mets catcher Henry Blanco tagged him. The Giants should have won 4-3. Look at the photo attached to this post. A six-year-old kid could have made the right call.

Instead, Cuzzi called him safe. It wasn’t just that, though. Read Cuzzi’s comment about the play:

Should be “Cuzzi called him out”

"All I want is food and creative love" - Rusted Root

by TheRiot Police on Jul 19, 2010 11:56 AM CDT reply actions

Oh, right.

I’ll fix it. Thanks.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Jul 19, 2010 12:07 PM CDT up reply actions

Not sure I buy the NYC part

Aside from the integrity issue, if he was the fan of one or the other growing up, why would the other get calls from him? I can’t imagine too many Mets fans like the Yankees or vise versa.

by Shanghai Badger on Jul 19, 2010 12:00 PM CDT reply actions

If he was a fan of the Mets

Then KRod is getting that strike call in the 9th inning. So was the 10th inning out call, a make-up call? Doubt it. Probably just bad umpiring.

"They come to see me strike out, hit a home run, or run into a fence. I try to accommodate them at least one way every game." - Gorman Thomas

by RiskyBusiness on Jul 19, 2010 1:07 PM CDT up reply actions

Also a good point

by Shanghai Badger on Jul 19, 2010 3:01 PM CDT up reply actions

Umpire blows late-game call

In other news, the Pope is Catholic and healthy grass is green.

Has there ever been a worse year for umps, or is it only more noticeable because of all the video tech available?

by Steven Schweickert on Jul 19, 2010 1:00 PM CDT reply actions

It's getting worse every year.

And yes, part of the reason are the HD cameras, and so many of them at each game, which clearly show how bad these calls are.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Jul 19, 2010 1:05 PM CDT up reply actions

Saying the call was not close…“anything but”…when it was very clear he was safe. I get that they were trying to negate him being out, but their attempt here to make it merely “controversial” smacks of ridiculouslessness in trying to tone down the mistake Cuzzi made. Much better to say he was clearly out only upon review on a quick play, not true but at least more reasonable.

Shut Up Joe Morgan

by Sandberg's evil twin on Jul 19, 2010 2:14 PM CDT up reply actions

It's a shame they can't

send umpires back to the minors like players. Cuzzi sounds like a prime candidate to go back to AAA.

Betcha we’d see better calls in that situation..

by cubmudgeon on Jul 20, 2010 9:26 AM CDT up reply actions

Cuzzi sounds like a prime candidate to go back to AAA.

Cuzzi sounds like a prime candidate to be fired, if they could do that.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Jul 20, 2010 9:59 AM CDT up reply actions

Well that's disappointing

I clicked on the link hoping to see some umpire wet t-shirt contests.

DAMN YOU AND YOUR SNEAKY HEADLINES!!!!

"Dad gum right this games gonna be played under protest. . . I guarantee this is gonna be one protest that's upheld." --Hawk Harrelson, 6/24/07

by RynoHoF on Jul 19, 2010 3:05 PM CDT reply actions

Pass the mind bleach...

the thought of an umpire wet t-shirt contest makes me shudder.

"Pinky, are you pondering what I'm pondering?"--The Brain

by brook on Jul 19, 2010 5:46 PM CDT up reply actions

I'm with you there. If anyone going wild is out there, let them be female...or at least players for the ladies.

Shut Up Joe Morgan

by Sandberg's evil twin on Jul 19, 2010 6:22 PM CDT up reply actions

I am starting to think you are correct about replay, Al, but I disagree about the official scorer part.

I once heard an interview that a broadcaster (Eric Nadel?) did with Steve Palermo, who is an umpiring supervisor for MLB. When the proposal about having a fifth umpire act as an official scorer (not a replay official, this was before any replay), he said that he was against it. His reasoning was pretty sound:

- Umpires are constantly tested on baseball’s rule book. They are also constantly tested on weird cases, exceptional circumstances, etc. … EXCEPT…

- They are never quizzed on the rules of official scoring (rule 10, I think). The reason: they are not supposed to think at all about whether a play should have been made, they are only supposed to think about “ball/strike”, proper rotation on a ball to the OF, watching for balks, proper positioning to call “safe/out”, etc.

Bottom line: MLB would not want the umps to mentally “change gears” every fifth day from proper positioning to “hit/error”. It sounds like a pretty good reason to not have them work as scorers. Could they work as replay officials every fifth day? I guess that is an open question.

I personally would prefer that MLB hire former players to act as official scorers.

"I've never complained about it. I'm thankful to have a jersey." Mark DeRosa, 22 Aug 2007

by DeRoMyHero on Jul 19, 2010 7:07 PM CDT reply actions

You may be right about the official scorer part.

In any case, it should be taken away from sportswriters.

And that “fifth umpire” would get something of a break every 5th game. Just for that, umpires would probably be in favor of it.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Jul 19, 2010 10:30 PM CDT up reply actions

The umps would be in favor of being the replay guy every 5th day

just for the 17 more jobs it would create.

"I've never complained about it. I'm thankful to have a jersey." Mark DeRosa, 22 Aug 2007

by DeRoMyHero on Jul 20, 2010 12:21 AM CDT up reply actions

17 jobs?

How do you figure 17?

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Jul 20, 2010 6:43 AM CDT up reply actions

MLB has 17 umpire crews.

The umps get three weeks of vacation, but two of those occur when their crew is rotated off. For the other week, the umps choose their days, and MLB calls up AAA umps.

MLB Umpire Crews

"I've never complained about it. I'm thankful to have a jersey." Mark DeRosa, 22 Aug 2007

by DeRoMyHero on Jul 20, 2010 6:20 PM CDT up reply actions

I knew about the vacations...

… didn’t know entire crews got time off together.

"You can observe a lot just by watching." ~ Yogi Berra

by Al Yellon on Jul 21, 2010 7:07 AM CDT up reply actions

Most umpires will tell you

that a lot of bad calls will come from anticipating the play that SHOULD happen, not the play that did happen. I agree with DeRo. Let umps ump and let the scorer score.

I couldn’t care less who scores a game.

There is no such thing as an ugly female breast

by Worf on Jul 20, 2010 9:53 AM CDT up reply actions

There is no good argumenmt against the use of replay in baseball

none

I always turn to the sports section first. The sports page records people's accomplishments; the front page has nothing but man's failures.
~Earl Warren

by lookingdeadred on Jul 20, 2010 8:34 AM CDT reply actions