It gets better...they did it again

What have we done to deserve such comedy? After enduring Phil Cuzzi's rather horrid fuck-up, Tim McClelland, with Jorge Posada and Robinson Cano as supporting actors, easily trumped Cuzzi.

Top of the 5th in last nights Yankees-Angels Game 4, 2nd and 3rd, one out, 2 already home on A-Rod's HR and Yankees slapping around Angels pitching: Swisher hits one back to the box. Posada, seemingly purposely gets hung up between 3rd and home.

With one out, the slow as dogshit and lazy as a dog Posada was going on contact- a bonehead play, but not relevant here. In breaking on a comebacker, it seemed his logic was that it was worth getting his ass off the basepaths to get Cano over to 3rd.

Uhhhh, Jorge, it's really only worth it if Swisher also gets to second. You force the catcher to throw back to 3rd and have the 3B haul ass to chase you home. But, no matter, you lazy cunt, we'll go with your logic.

Posada, after waving Cano on, apparently losing the battle with his ego, retreats back to 3rd to die. In doing so, he obviously forgot that Cano has the baseball savvy of a doorknob and that he'd be confused as to what to do when two players converge on the same base. Posada also showed his lack of baseball savvy by not considering that he, and not Cano, is entitled to 3rd base. With both of them standing on 3rd, Cano would be tagged out, defeating Posada's "point" of getting hung up.

Of course, reality played out even better than theory. Not only does Cano decide not to set foot on 3rd, Posada deliberately overruns the base. As the picture above- apparently owned or some shit by Getty images- shows, neither of them are on the base, and Angels catcher Mike Napoli tags both of these muppets.

This was far too much for McClelland to process. He called Posada out and Cano safe. To make things worse, they now show replays at the ball park (I know I don't go to many games any more but, whenthefuck did this happen?), so the fans went apeshit.

Mind you, this was on the back of ruling that Swisher left early on an apparent SAC fly by (Melky?). Replays showed that McClelland was not looking at Swisher when he left 3rd and was not in good position to see both the catch and the tag-up. This was minutes after the 2nd base umpire blew the call when Swisher was picked off.

No so quick stories:  Back in the day when Bokolis played ball, two of the umps were ex-Major Leaguers.  It was mind boggling how many close calls these guys missed.  They we're worse than some of the other shlubs that were umping just to get out of the house.  One time, our opponent tried to turn two on a ground ball.  They got one out but the other reached.  I don't remember who was who; all I remember was that the ex-ML ump blew both of the calls.  I was coaching 3rd. I said to their 3B that he blew both calls.  He thought about it for about a second and a half, then agreed and chuckled.

Another time, there was a similar play to McClelland's, involving the other ex-MLer.  I'm again coaching 3rd.  I set myself up to watch the play, the runner on 3rd AND the ump, who I saw was not watching the runner.  Of course, he blew the call.  I lace into him and let him know that I was looking right at him and know that he didn't see the play.  He got tight, telling me to "shut the fuck up."

It relates to McClelland because of McClelland's reputation.  McClelland is a big guy, even by today's standards.  In his earlier days, it was understood that he could kick the shit out of most players.  So, even when he blew his fair share of calls, no one fucked with him.  Scioscia, who hit the bigs about the same time as McClelland, didn't give him shit in the argument, in  situation where he needed to get ejected.

Neither Joe Buck, who is as clueless as he is useless, and Tim McCarver, whom the game has passed by, had the balls to say that McClelland's call on Swisher was a make-up call for the botched call on the pick-off.

It's probably for the best.  Another story:  I once got into it with the (first) ump from above.  I watched him botch a play from the on-deck circle where, similar to the first play above, there were multiple things going on and he blew both of them, ultimately calling my guy out when he was safe on that play, but should have been out earlier in the play.  I walked through the play and asked him what he saw...took about 10 seconds.  When he gave me a shit explanation, I took the first pitch and muttered "make-up call."  He called time and, with me smiling, proceeded to ream me a new one.

The experience was worth it; Bokolis learned that officials, whether umpires, referees or judges, are as lazy, if not lazier, than the next guy, and call whatever the fuck they want.  There is a lot of shit they don't see, so you have to pick up on that in your argument.  Your argument should involve gaming them for the next call.  If you think they have it for you, then you stand up to them.