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Phil Cuzzi’s Blown Calls (And Attitude) May Face MLB Discipline

Jul 20, 2010, 2:45 PM UTC

â†µSafe or out? By the looks of the replay, it sure looks like Travis Ishikawa was safe. â†µ

â†µâ†µWith one out in the bottom of the ninth inning of a tie game on Sunday, Ishikawa was called out at home by umpire Phil Cuzzi on what would have been – and replays indicated should have been – a Giants walk-off winner. â†µ

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â†µâ†µInstead, the Mets survived the ninth inning, eventually scoring in the next frame to win the game in extras.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe call not only changed the outcome of the game, but also completely changed the course of two division races, and the wild card, in the National League. After the game, even the Mets agreed it was a terrible call. Per the New York Daily News:â†µ

â†µâ†µâ‡¥The missed call was egregious, and even Blanco admitted that the Mets should have lost the game. With the score tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth, Freddy Sanchez hit a chopper to third, and David Wright made a high throw home. Travis Ishikawa slid under Blanco’s tag, but Cuzzi called the runner out.â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥“He was safe all the way,” Blanco said.â†µâ‡¥
â†µâ‡¥â†µâ‡¥Minutes after the game, Cuzzi said that he had not yet seen the replay. “I’ll look at it, but I figured I’d eat first,” he said. “(Blanco) made a decent attempt to put the tag on him. That’s what it looked to me, and that’s why I called him out.”â†µâ‡¥

â†µâ†µSure, why not grab a sandwich before taking a look at how you ruined the outcome of a game you were employed to officiate? Maybe grab some pie, too. â†µâ†µIt is an interesting look at how umpires officiate games. How many times do you see a bang-bang play called an out because it looked like the tag was made in time when, upon replay review, it’s evident that the runner actually avoided the tag? That’s always been a part of baseball, only now we have the ability to show exactly when the umpires were wrong. In some cases, the replay is so close it’s understandable how an ump could get it wrong at full speed. In this case … yeesh that looked pretty obvious.â†µ

â†µâ†µIt wasn’t just the one call that had both teams complaining, either. Blanco told reporters he hoped MLB would punish Cuzzi for taking off his mask and yelling at Franscisco Rodriguez, who was visibly upset on the mound over a ball/strike call. Cuzzi told reporters he was yelling at the Mets bench, and not the pitcher, but Blanco was pretty certain it was Rodriguez who was catching the brunt of Cuzzi’s ire.â†µ

â†µâ†µThe Daily News reported that MLB is likely to meet with Cuzzi to discuss his conduct, which could lead to disciplinary action for the veteran umpire. â†µ

â†µâ†µThe report does not indicate how long the meeting will be. To be safe, Cuzzi should probably get something to eat first.â†µ

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This post originally appeared on the Sporting Blog. For more, see The Sporting Blog Archives.

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