Thoughts on last night's Angels-White Sox ALCS Game Two conclusion:
Eddings did NOT verbally call anything, just the hand gesture for strike three but not the third out.
Angels catcher Josh Paul said that umpires usually verbalize the non-putout: "no catch, no catch" or something. He didn't bother to look at or verify Eddings' hand gestures.
Pierzynski, a catcher himself, ran to first because he was burned on a similar play when a batter reached first base after he dropped a third strike and he trotted to the dugout.
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Hand gestures, non-verbal calls... this is like when a runner slides at home plate but fails to touch the base. What does the umpire do? Nothing; it's a non-play. An event that is still in progress. He can't call him safe cause he didn't touch the play. He can't tell him he didn't touch the plate cause that's none of his business. And he certainly can't call him out cause the play isn't completed yet. Nor can he gesture something inbetween.
Eddings certainly should have said something. You know why strike call gestures were implemented? Supposedly to help a popular deaf player who had trouble figuring out which pitches were balls and strikes. Well that's cool but geez when's the last time we had a prominent deaf player in the majors? Must have been a couple decades or so.
Anyway... this too shall pass. This isn't Mickey Owen's dropped third strike in the '41 Series.