that blown call

An umpiring controversy is always fun to follow, assuming you aren't a fan of the aggrieved team. You can still make a Red Sox fan splutter just by whispering "Ed Armbrister" in his ear...

Angel fans bood ump Doug Eddings and White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski when they took the field last night, which is part of the fun of course. Eddings especially is lucky the blown call came at the expense of the Los Angeles/California/Anaheim/Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim Angels -- his reception from the fans in right field would have been much more raucous if it had been fans in Boston or New York or Philadelphia; he would've neede a suit of armor. Same with Angels catcher/victim Josh Paul -- the fans cheered him in SoCal.

Personally, I think Eddings blew the call. Pierzynski, who is roundly disliked by everybody including his teammates, took a step to the bench before reversing direction. I dunno if he thought the ball hit the ground, heard hesitation in Eddings' voice, or thought he'd take a chance on fooling the ump and Angels... but it worked.

But still, the Angels have only themselves to blame. Even if the call was wrong, they only needed one more out to send the game into extra innings, and there was only a guy on first. If they get that last out without a run scoring, then this is just a little footnote. Now, if the Angels lose this series, they will gnaw on this bone all winter...