Robbed

No, I'm not going to say that the game was robbed from the Yankees. That would too easy. But at least we were all robbed of an opportunity to see how the game would have played out had the umps not made that bizarre call that cost the Yankees at the very least one run but in all likelihood more than that.

Fox described the play like this...

'The Yankees' best chance at a comeback against Santana was ended on a disputed call in the fifth inning. With runners on first and second and two outs, Robinson Cano swung at a third strike in the dirt. Cano ran to first and catcher Bengie Molina's throw got past first baseman Darin Erstad, apparently loading the bases for Williams. But plate umpire Joe West called Cano out for running inside the baseline, prompting an unsuccessful argument by Torre.'

After seeing the replay several times I don't see anything like that. Molina just made a bad throw. Erstad was set up on the outside of the bag. Cano ran on the inside of the bag. If anything it appeared to me Cano was trying to stay out of the way.

Torre handled it with class but with appropriate rebuke. He said he had not seen the replay yet but he hated for the game to be effected so drastically by anything less than an obvious call. That's the point. It was too crucial of a moment for an umpire to step in and become the headline.

Jeter who has a lot more class than I do says he did not see the play and they were simply out played for five games. That maybe true...but we'll never know because the game was effected by something outside of hitting, pitching & defense. It was effected by umpire interference.

tags: Yankees Angels MLB