Horrible Calls and Poor Scheduling

by floridaroar on Oct 27, 2008 8:56 AM EDT

1 - Is this one of the worst officiated World Series ever? There have been horrible, game-altering calls made every game, for both teams. These are supposed to be the best umpires in the game and they're failing on the biggest stage in baseball. No consistency, no clue.

This is not an excuse for the Rays record in this series. The Rays have been generally outplayed and the poor calls have only added to the misery.

2 - Can someone please explain to me what MLB is thinking by having every World Series game start after 8PM EST? I understand their need to grab west coast viewers, but couldn't the weekend games at least have been scheduled earlier?

I have fond memories of watching the World Series as a young child and it helped make me the baseball fan I am today. By scheduling the games so late I feel that MLB is missing out on an opportunity to attract a whole new generation of fans to the game of baseball.

This post was written by a member of the DRaysBay community and does not necessarily express the views or opinions of DRaysBay staff.

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Well..

1- Short answer- Yes. I can’t remember a worse officiated series. The way the a-hole was trying to instigate a confrontation with our dugout in between pitches was bush league. I can see going ove in between innings and addressing it, but trying to show us up on TV was BS, hardly makes him look objective.

2- Ratings are king, f everthing else. With neither team being from the west coast there is no reason why they could start earlier but its all about $$.

by BOHICA_ALEast on Oct 27, 2008 9:09 AM EDT reply actions

As I see it...

I think that umpires will call out a bench that is riding them about strike issues as it is supposed to be non-arguable, non-post season games usually dont have mics on the field. But as a Philly fan, and I think mostly non-biased, calls have been poor both ways. No question.

And dont get me started on Fox. I cant stand Buck or McCarver. And the worst was them having the non starters removed from being announced before the first game, thats just wrong. They are all about the money and are ruining the WS. They can pound sand.

by PhilsMightActuallyWin? on Oct 27, 2008 9:38 AM EDT reply actions

I find it funny that the reason they gave is no time....

When the COVERAGE starts @ 8:00pm….the first pitch is thrown @ ~8:30….and they spend that 30 minutes hocking shit through commercials and filling the rest of the time with useless fluff and banter.

they could come on air @ 8:00 and say “we’ll be back @ 8:30 ….after these commercial messages” and still have time to announce everyone and throw out the first pitch by 8:40 (as well as throw another commercial in there or 2).

by chancedj on Oct 27, 2008 4:16 PM EDT up reply actions

Yes

The officiating has been the worst I’ve ever seen, these guys ought to be bagging groceries. It hasn’t just happened to the Rays as evidenced by the phantom strike call in game 2. There was the blown balk call, the inconsistent strike zones, and the Evan tag. What about the 1 lb. of pine tar on Joe Blanton’s hat in game 4? I know that sorta stuff happens all the time but usually its discreet. I noticed the smudge on Blanton’s hat the first pitch of the game as well as the constant readjusting of his bill. I wouldn’t say they are corrupt, just incompetent. That said, I will give them props for letting us tie the game before they postponed the game.

by atlantaray on Oct 28, 2008 12:23 AM EDT reply actions

I tend to think

I like to think I know the strike zone and can see pretty well considering I am watching on a TV. But the umps have let every call go the phillies way this world series. Even the obvious ones.

If we lose the world series due to poo officiating I call on a class action law suit against major league baseball for poor representation and sabotaged product.

There is no way we can win with this umpiring crew screwing us every half inning!

Devil Rays World Series 2009

by Japhei on Oct 28, 2008 9:29 AM EDT reply actions

time to put on the tin foil hat.....

but i have noticed many other people claiming the phillies are getting the calls….perhaps the 200-1 odds in vegas of the Rays winning it all is causing some pressure on the umpiring crew…? :)

by chancedj on Oct 28, 2008 2:21 PM EDT up reply actions