Umpires go by [i]sound[/i] more than sight on close plays at first. The ump had his eye on the glove, and based on his call he saw the ball hit the glove before he [i]heard[/i] the foot hit the bag. From our viewpoint we can’t see the ball, but the ump was all over it.
The play was nice, but can’t compare to Jeter coming out of nowhere for that flip to the plate back in ’01 to nab Giambi at home and save the Yankees’ playoff.
Bart, as an A’s fan, I’ll never forget that play – Jeremy Giambi should have slid, but still, what an amazing play by Jeter. I coach LL baseball and softball and that is always exhibit number one for having baseball presence and mind.
Umps are trained to go by the sound of the ball hitting the mitt while watching the foot hit the base, and don’t go by the sound of the foot hitting the base. You may see two things at the same time, but it’s very hard, if not impossible, to focus on both–and I suppose it’s possible that he made an exception (reversed the process) and tried to listen to the foot. But I think it’s much more likely he just tried his best to see both at the same time.
My take: It was a tie (and thus the wrong call). But it was very close and looked like from the umps view of the ball (thrown so softly it would not have made a definitive sound), the ball may have disappeared from his view (beyond the top edge of the mitt) the smallest fraction of a second before the runner’s toes came down on the bag. The toes were down though, at the same time (if not a fraction sooner) as when the ball hit the palm of the glove.
Cute play. Bad call.
I have seen it six times and still cannot believe it. I cannot believe he conceived of it to start with, much less that he pulled it off!
Yeah, I think the runner was safe.
Actually, looking at this video, the play was a lot closer than I realized:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090708&content_id=5776514&vkey=news_mlb&fext;=.jsp&c_id=mlb
This is why we watch baseball.
Umpires go by [i]sound[/i] more than sight on close plays at first. The ump had his eye on the glove, and based on his call he saw the ball hit the glove before he [i]heard[/i] the foot hit the bag. From our viewpoint we can’t see the ball, but the ump was all over it.
The play was nice, but can’t compare to Jeter coming out of nowhere for that flip to the plate back in ’01 to nab Giambi at home and save the Yankees’ playoff.
Bart, as an A’s fan, I’ll never forget that play – Jeremy Giambi should have slid, but still, what an amazing play by Jeter. I coach LL baseball and softball and that is always exhibit number one for having baseball presence and mind.
Thanks for that better look William. Tie goes to the runner. But it made it worth the price.
T’is why Baseball is the greatest sport, ever.!
Umps are trained to go by the sound of the ball hitting the mitt while watching the foot hit the base, and don’t go by the sound of the foot hitting the base. You may see two things at the same time, but it’s very hard, if not impossible, to focus on both–and I suppose it’s possible that he made an exception (reversed the process) and tried to listen to the foot. But I think it’s much more likely he just tried his best to see both at the same time.
My take: It was a tie (and thus the wrong call). But it was very close and looked like from the umps view of the ball (thrown so softly it would not have made a definitive sound), the ball may have disappeared from his view (beyond the top edge of the mitt) the smallest fraction of a second before the runner’s toes came down on the bag. The toes were down though, at the same time (if not a fraction sooner) as when the ball hit the palm of the glove.
Jeter / Jeremy Giambi
http://it.truveo.com/Jeters-amazing-flip/id/3043227141