First, a line I should have used yesterday:

Derek Lowe, every time you sign with the Yankees, Johnny Pesky dies.

In tonight's game, we outhit the O's 11-7. One might think that'd be a game we win...or at least not lose by 6. But we lost by 6. 1 for 10 with runners at 2nd and/or 3rd.

When the game started, NESN's video was frozen on a moment from the pre-game show. We had audio only. For a while. Then that disappeared and came back, before we got normalcy I think during the Gonzalez at bat. (It's almost like they're so pissed about being called out for missing stuff, they said We'll show ya missing stuff!)

The game was close until the 6th, when the O's turned a 2-1 game into 7-1, which was your final. A big play in that inning came with 2 on and 1 out. And Don, Jerry, and the umps screwed it up royally. With a 2-2 count, Wieters attempted to check his swing. The ball got away from the catcher and both runners moved up, but more importantly, it appeared as if the Red Sox had gotten the second out. We immediately saw the home plate ump point to the third base ump, to see if it was a check or not. Then we see a wider shot where Beckett and Lavarnway are looking at the home ump and pointing at the third base ump. The home ump again signals to the third base ump, who we barely see start to make the "no swing" motion, before the camera cuts to the guy on third--and the ump's hand entering the side of the screen as he extends his arms out in the call. Next they cut to Valentine coming out of the dugout, making the swing motion. Two different people in the dugout behind him are either making a swing motion or screaming to get the right call.

Don, who had yet to say anything except to note the advancement of the runners, says at this point, "Valentine saying that he fouled it off."

!?!?!?

After all that I just described had happened, neither Don nor Jerry had any idea what was going on!

NESN then cuts to a close-up of the third base ump. The truck at least by now realizes what's going on, but Don merely says, "Wild pitch charged to Beckett."

Only at this point, as they cut back to Valentine again, does Don say (probably cued by the truck) that they "wanted to see if he went around...."

So now I'm pissed for two reasons. But wait, there's more! Now that we all know what's going on, it's time to replay the swing. First they show a frontal angle. Nice choice! It's funny, though, because the swing seems like such a swing that you can actually tell on that front view that he went too far. Still, it's not definitive, of course, but Remy decides that he's gonna call it a no swing! He seems perplexed that the truck wants to show this again, saying nonchalantly, "doesn't appear to be...". Finally, after all this time, Dr. Venkman takes a look at the fridge. We get the side angle...and boom goes the dynamite. It's close, but the bat clearly goes too far. Hands way out in front of body, bat angle shooting out at about 10 degrees passed 90. Should be strike 3 and two outs. Don and Jerry give it the old "hey it could be after all," but quickly end the discussion.

So with all this crap they do on the broadcast lately to try to pull in the casual fan, they leave those same casual fans to think that basically nothing's wrong, instead of letting them know that the Red Sox just got robbed.

Terrible job, guys, and terrible job, umps.

The O's would go on to score 5 in the inning. Maybe with the out call, they would have scored 10, we don't know. I'm just saying, that play changed the inning. Wieters ended up hitting the Jeter-est single to score a run. It should have been two outs, two on, next guy up. And yeah, we never got past 1 run ourselves, and we are surely to blame for stranding so many runners, but we don't know what would have happened had they gotten that call right. And to be so pissed about a call and as a bonus have your OWN announcers not realize what they were even seeing, just frosted my ass, as they say.


In case you missed it, the O's did a nice job having a moment of silence for Pesky before the game. (Of course, during NESN's technical difficulties--they attempted to play it later, and of course, there was a double by Ciriaco at that moment, so they had to awkwardly turn up the live audio in the middle of a replay of a moment of silence. Typical NESN.) And the Sox wore armbands on the right sleeve on the road unis tonight. They'll wear one on the left sleeve with a black circle-6 above it at home.