callstrikes

I saw the play live and also saw the quotes. He blamed himself entirely and brought no other person or action into his apology. To bring the pitchers actions into the equation would have cheapened the whole process. A pro does not make a call at first without checking on possession of the ball, period. That said, it was the wrong call in that situation and he will have to live with it. As far as selling the call, I honestly don't recall how demonstrative he is. Many of the guys are very basic with the e xception of big outs at home. All except Tim McClelland. I don't think he sells any call.

Mr. Joyce is a gentleman who took full responsibility for the call. Why would you doubt that it influenced the play? No Pro that I know of makes a call at first without first confirming control of the ball.Don"t get me wrong, I think he made the wrong call. I also think that if the call were made in the third inning of 5 to 1 game we wouldn't be talking about this, muchless doubting his state of mind, what he thought of the pitcher or what his positioning was. If he follows his rotation tomorrow(Today) he will be shown the greatest repect by those pichers, catchers, and Jim Leyland, because they know he is one of the best. On a personal note, we umpires represent the integrety and rules of baseball, whether we do coach pitch for free, rec ball for very little,or any level of ball. When we put on the uniform or even post on an umpire message board, we need to forget that we are Johnnies dad, Cardinal fans, or what good players we were in High School. Let's be UMPIRES. We don't need to blindly support those who are wrong orfoolish, but try to learn and get better by starting with the mirror, instead of pointing fingers

Balk Hater is only one of us to remotely see the play as it happened. Out of position? straightlined? Had it out for him? You are talking about one of the top two or three guys in the business. I am embarrassed by some of these responses. Joyces angle and distance were perfect to see the pitcher double clutch. He may make the same call 9 out of 10 times and the commentators would say "Tough luck, he didn't have control of the ball" Everybody probably agrees that it was the wrong call, but not why it was wrong. It was wrong because it was the 27th out of a perfect game. Situational ethics, you bet! Make the obvious call......the ball beat the runner......he is always out..That is what people are asking us to do. Do ANY of you think that the double clutch in any way influenced the call? Do any of you check the mit at first before making your calls? Mr Joyce was very gracious and fell on his sword. He offered no excuses. What is the excuse of you guys that question his integrety, positioning, etc. We will learn more about baseball umpiring and life in general, by following Mr. Joyces' example.

It was very strange for me! :cheers: