2009-07-03 Brewers (Suppan) at Chicago (Zambrano) : 1:20 PM CT [Brewers lose, 2-1]

[RoseBowlMtg]

I only hope the ump has to respond to that horrible way to end that game!

[crewcrazy]

You don't want to hear from Cubs fans right now, especially ones coming to point out calls in the Brewers favor, so I'll make it brief and say I mean you no harm. But ball 4 to Hart to score the Brewers run was rather iffy. It was more of a ball than the one that ended the game, and it was with a 3-1 count, but yeah.

 

Good luck to you guys the rest of the series.

 

Edit: Oh and I should say that last pitch was an obvious strike...the game should still be going on. The ump had been calling a very very inconsistent zone all game but that's no excuse as that was probably the worst call of the game.

Yeah, I thought the Hart call was a little iffy, too, but like you said it was a 3-1 count on Hart. Even if that was called a strike, there's no guarantee Zambrano doesn't walk him on the next pitch (especially given how Zambrano was pitching that inning).

 

How about letting us win the next two games to make up for it? http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/wink.gif

[Postseason2006]

I for one have never seen a team besides the Yankees get more calls by umpires. The missed call then Leyritz hitting the homer vs Hoffman still sticks in my craw.

[Irish Brewer]

moofnelson[/b]]Game should have never come to that point. The Brewers lack of hitting is getting disgusting.

 

Hey Macha, show some emotion once in a while. Get out there and get in the freaking umpires face. Kendall and Defilice are giving the umpire crap and Macha is running for the beer cooler.

Bingo. I understand the cool demeanor he's had so far, but come on. Get out there and protect your players Ken. Show some aggression.

[Oldcity]

I'd have rather lost on another A-Ram walkoff, or on a Theriot infield hit, or a wild pitch, or anything that would have at least been the Brewers' fault. He struck Fox out, and they lost the game. Just an infuriating way to lose. I can't remember ever being this pissed after a game before.

[Bernman23]

The Cubs have won about 3 games against the Brewers this season primarily due to umpiring in their favor. Cubs fans don't have to apologize for it, it's not their fault, but it's annoying to hear justifications and rationalizations about close calls in the middle of the game compensating for obvious incorrect calls at the end when a team has no chance to respond afterward.

[bucks2281]

I'm going to be unhappy if the Brewers just throw their hands up and say, "Hey, what can we do? It looked like a strike to us, but the umpire thought differently. We'll just have to get 'em tomorrow." Not saying that there's anything we can do about what happened, but can somebody act displeased?

[diesmitty]

http://mlb.mlb.com/mlb/gameday/index.jsp?gid=2009_07_03_milmlb_chnmlb_1&mode=gameday

Ball 4 to Hart was inside and off the plate.

Fair enough. I guess my eye is not as good as I thought it was. The thing that made that stand out to me was that I thought the Brewers got a strike call in the exact same location the next inning. Eitherway, the pitch was borderline at very best and only homers of the team that didn't benefit from the call would complain about it. The call to end the game will be seen by a casual fan watching Baseball Tonight and make them do a double take.

[pebadger]

The lesson here is that people in authority can be arbitrary and/or wrong and unless you have a concrete way of dealing with them (like voting them out or taking them to court), there isn't a whole lot you can do about it without risking their ire, which is ultimately counter-productive.

[Oldcity]

You can also just stop delaying the inevitable and move to an electronic strike zone and all is solved.

[valpocrewsader]

I didn't see any of the game, but watching the clip just now, I just can't get up in arms about the call. DiFelice missed his spot badly and Jason Kendall was sitting on the ground when he caught it. That combination of events made the pitch look up and maybe inside, to me. (And maybe it was? You'd need an overhead camera and a camera from the side to determine that it was over the plate and not high.) If it was just the awkward way Kendall caught it, Welke should be better than that, but you see it all the time. You hate for the batter to be rewarded for being cowardly and taking such a close pitch, but an honest interpretation from watching the clip was that the call could have gone either way.

[sdcheezhd]

I for one have never seen a team besides the Yankees get more calls by umpires. The missed call then Leyritz hitting the homer vs Hoffman still sticks in my craw.

I remember it as Tino Martinez getting a ball 3 call on an inning-ending strike 3 from Langston then hitting a GS. Brosius hit the HR off Hoffman that series, although maybe that was after a bad call too. Leyritz was on the Padres that series. But yes that was also a horrible game-changing call and I haven't let it go either.

 

The flip side was the Braves getting balls called strikes for years when they had their run. I think part of the problem they always had in the post-season was that the umps made them throw real strikes in the series.

 

And can we talk about Doooook?

[phxMILWfan]

Eric Young on ESPN shows the clip of the last pitch and goes "It was a little high". Are you kidding me? I think if you watch that pitch and think it's out of the zone you're a little high.

[Eddiehitsthefoulpole]

People wanted to see Ken yell and scream at the umps after the game. What good is that? The umps don't stay on the field. Nobody comes onto the field to argue balls and strikes after the game in the majors. He was on the top step yelling as the umps ran in. Ken's job as manager is to get the players' minds off of the call and focusing on the next game.

[Glennron]

Eric Young on ESPN shows the clip of the last pitch and goes "It was a little high". Are you kidding me? I think if you watch that pitch and think it's out of the zone you're a little high.

To be fair, it was definitely at the top of the strike zone. It's still called a strike like 98% of the time though.

[Postseason2006]

Let's put this in another way. An umpire's job is to make the correct call. The President's job is to make the right decisions. A judge's job is to be fair and make sure a person gets a fair trial.

 

Why do these umpires get a continuous ride when they can't do their job. I think Bud Selig is just as inept a commissioner to not be able to correct poor umpiring calls. I don't care is Kendall slipped or he was set up in the other's batters box. If it travels over the plate and below the letters and above the knees, it is called a strike. It's not rocket science.

[Bruce Ciskie]

I know it's been a while since I've been around, and none of you have really missed me, but I'm going to chime in on this lack of fire from Macha...

 

I was more than willing to stick up for Ned when he came out to stick up for his players, but what good did it do him in the end? It may have made the players think "Man, he's on our side here", but it didn't buy us much of anything from the umpires.

 

Ron Gardenhire gets tossed on what sometimes seems like a weekly basis in Minnesota, and I don't see his team getting extra breaks from the intimidated umpires.

 

While I think it makes a difference with the players in the end, it really doesn't do much good in other facets of the game. Macha is a very cerebral guy, and as long as he's constantly communicating with the players and letting them know where they stand, everything will be just fine.

[pitchleague]

I didn't see any of the game, but watching the clip just now, I just can't get up in arms about the call. DiFelice missed his spot badly and Jason Kendall was sitting on the ground when he caught it. That combination of events made the pitch look up and maybe inside, to me. (And maybe it was? You'd need an overhead camera and a camera from the side to determine that it was over the plate and not high.) If it was just the awkward way Kendall caught it, Welke should be better than that, but you see it all the time. You hate for the batter to be rewarded for being cowardly and taking such a close pitch, but an honest interpretation from watching the clip was that the call could have gone either way.

Valpo, I agree with you 100%. I didn't get to see the end of the game but I listened to it on the car radio while we were at the cemetary this afternoon (not for a funeral, just visiting). I kind of shrugged it off.

 

Then I saw the replay at Fuddruckers while waiting for my burger. I, too, thought that, "yes, it's pretty darn close" but I also thought that it was maybe a bit high, what with the crouch that the batter was in. And inside, too, just a hair.

 

It's disappointing but I'll live. The Brewers will still play ball tomorrow. And the next day. And so on. Eventually, we will win a few games just like this. It'll even out.

 

Heck, as others have stated, this AB wasn't the game clincher. If you can't throw strikes to Soto, there's your ballgame. If you can't get hits with RISP when the opposition is begging for you to get one, there's your ballgame.

[BadgerFan]

Are umpire's perfect? No....but I for one could live with this if the umpire or MLB was allowed to say, "sorry - missed that one."

 

To end a game in that fashion was/is disgusting. The ump must have wanted to beat the traffic before the fireworks in Chicago tonight.

[Oldcity]

It was in the high part of the strike zone but still a strike. It was definitely not inside.

[naivin]

Bad call? Sure, but come on...Score. More. Runs!

[Postseason2006]

Speaking of which, how can the Cubs be playing with a drug user in Soto? He friggen admitted to smoking pot for Pete's sake.

[nate82]

Speaking of which, how can the Cubs be playing with a drug user in Soto? He friggen admitted to smoking pot for Pete's sake.

b/c you can't miss games for smoking pot in MLB.

[brewmann04]

Brewers continue to be a Funky Team when they get Pitching they don't hit and whe they Hit the Pitching does not show up.

It would be finally Nice if this tean can finally put it all together. Watching this team has so Frustrating Suppan and Yo last start just get you so upset.

[The Heartbreak Yid]

Speaking of which, how can the Cubs be playing with a drug user in Soto? He friggen admitted to smoking pot for Pete's sake.

b/c you can't miss games for smoking pot in MLB.

 

Hell, in the '80s, half the league was one coke. In fact I think it was a requirement.