Manny Robbed
 

The 1st strike out was highly questionable. The 2nd strike out was on a pitch that wasn't close to being a strike. I hope he had it in for Manny, because if he really thought that was a strike, then he is one blind white guy. I don't know how these guys can live with themselves (when they see an obvious ball called a strike all night long on sportscenter etc.)

that ump should be suspended

Hes not the first guy to get called out on a bad strike 3 call. Geez, what a baby. You have to wonder if he was mad that he couldnt help his team stretch their already 5-0 lead or if he wanted to improve his personal stats.
I understand his competitiveness, but throwing your gear in the air? All the things I hear about him (like how he refused to play more than 5 games in the minors to get ready) make me not question Theo Epstein's strong desire to get rid of him. Super player but as Jason Bay has proved, not irreplaceable.

join the club scuds , the umps have been burying the yanks all year

I thought the first punch out was justified. If not, it was definitely too close of a pitch to take. The second one wasn't even close. But the way he got tossed was ridiculous, on both ends. The ump didn't see him toss the pad so he just assumed Manny threw it and tossed him anyway. It was a justified offense (if seen), but one of the base umps who saw it should have tossed him. As fas as Manny just being Manny, it was just stupid. I would have more respect if he would have stayed there and jawed with the ump and get tossed that way. Instead of just doing something stupid with a 5 run lead. It almost looks like he wanted to spend the rest of the night in the clubhouse. But,why not a 5-0 lead in Citi field these days is insurmountable. But it was still a stupid/busch move.

1st K - was definite strike.
2nd K - Was majorly ridiculous. Like watching a late 90's early 2000 game of the Atlanta Braves. Ball wasn't even close.

He knew he was coming out of the game(Torre was gunna take him out soon.) That was a contributing factor. He takes pride in getting a hit when guys are in scoring position. He knows the strike zone quite well. He knew he got robbed of a chance to get a few more runs(and our 2 fatgirl allstars did team up to blow the 5 run lead in the 9th on Sunday in San Diego)

Manny is probably the best hitter ever with guys in scoring position, especially in close games that mean something. I watched him enough in Boston to know hes the 2nd best player in the game today (behind Albert Pujols) but also one of the most selfish whos ever played. He knew he was coming out and so did Torre, but theres no reason to act like that, especially in someone elses ballpark. Torre is a great coach but he doesnt treat Manny like the other players. I guess when you are that good, you have different sets of rules and different conduct expectations. But Albert Pujols apparently missed the memo that went out.

At this point, it's(Pujols versus Manny) like comparing apples to oranges. If it was Pujols, this pitch would never have been called a strike. This guy just wanted to be able to call Manny out (looking.) Now, there's a 5 run lead, and Manny is already coming out soon. So, you're saying for Manny to ignore the fact that the guy had it in for him? I prefer it the way it happened. Manny never did anything dangerous. He threw things up high in the air. Never threw anything at anyone. The important thing is that the pitch got looked at all night by baseball people around the country. They all know this guy called a ball(OBVIOUSLY) a 3rd strike. Maybe other umps will keep their bias under raps now(cuz this guy didn't get away with it.)

5 home runs in Milwaukee....We can hit bad pitching. Just can't hit that fkn junk-throwing Cole Hamels etc.

That was a joke. That pitch was definitely a few inches outside. Over the years when they have used some of the really good camera angles in slow motion, I've seen some strikes called that were even worse. Some of these umpires call strikes on pitches that are literally 6 inches outside. Some of the really good pitchers would consistently get these calls. They would throw a slider that was never over the plate at any time, a pitch that started about two inches outside and ended up 5-6 inches outside and they would call it a strike. It would drive me crazy. It would make it almost impossible for a team to score any runs if the umpire is going to call those pitches strikes.

That's why baseball is the easiest game to 'fix' and the worst sport to bet on.

Baseball is a great sport to bet on. You just have to have patience, an understanding of odds, a willingness to bet against favs and a clue.

There are about 300 pitches throw a game. An ump missing a few still makes him 99% right.

Manny is a great hitter but not the 2nd best player.

3rd strike, and 4th ball...Those pitch calls are a bit more important.:rolleyes:

This was an unusually bad strike 3 call(Like 999/1000 fans at home would have been surprised to see it called a strike.) Eric Gregg-style strike. Cannon, you are(at best) minorly;) disturbed. An example of majorly disturbed would be whatever that crap is that NOMAR can't stop doing.

I think it can be alot worse than that. When it comes to "safe" or "out" calls, I agree with you that they are probably right at least 99% of the time. But when it comes to "balls" and "strikes", I've seen games where they are calling strikes on outside pitches the entire game. You don't have a great view from the head-on angle, but when they show that overhead camera, you can see exactly how far outside the pitches are. I've seen games where they probably made 40 bad strike calls.

If they are consistent, no one is complaining. All umps have different strike zones..right or wrong. It's when they vary between innings that guys get tossed.

I know that seems to be the prevailing opinion that as long as they are consistent, then it is ok. I agree with you that it is obviously much better if they are consistent and in most of the games I'm complaing about, the umpire was in fact conistent. But as a hitter, you still have have practically no chance, even if you know that the umpire is giving the pitcher a wide strike-zone. You can try to adjust and swing at the pitches that are 4 inches outside, but you are still at a huge disadvantage. You have to start crowding the plate so you can reach that outside pitch. Then you have no chance on the pitches on the inside corner.

And often times, the umpire is only giving the call to the big-name pitcher and not the pitcher on the other team.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=1331

I do know is that Hirschbeck has absolutely no incentive to act with the intent suggested by Cohen. Umpires are constantly reviewed, and it would be bad enough for Hirschbeck that he missed these calls, period, let alone that he purposely missed them in an attempt to send a message. Actions like that tend to result in fines and discipline, not high praise.

The PITCHf/x data further confirms the outside location of this controversial pitch. While serving as home plate umpire this season, with right handed hitters up to bat, Hirschbeck has had to make a call (IE - ball wasn’t fouled off, whiffed at, or put in play) on 373 different pitches with similar horizontal location to the Manny pitch. He called strikes on 32 of these pitches, several of which were further outside than the slider to Ramirez. Hirschbeck hasn’t missed calls on pitches like this that often but the Ramirez call certainly wasn’t an isolated incident.

Does he harbor ill will towards Ramirez? I don’t know. I doubt Gary Cohen knows either. If Yuniesky Betancourt or some other hacktastic hitter with a poor eye were called out on a pitch like this, everyone would question the call for thirty-four seconds and then move on with their lives. Since it is Manny we’re talking about here, the same pitch suddenly balloons into a potential conspiracy with umpires “fixing” at bats to shun a player whose actions they look down on. It’s possible, no doubt, but it seems like a far reach that better fits person opinions on what should happen rather than what actually happened.