This is ridiculous if true.
Derek Jeter attempted a steal of third in the first inning of Monday's game against the Blue Jays. The ball beat him to the bag, but he clearly evaded the tag, only to be called out by Marty Foster. That's when the following exchange took place:
"He didn't tag me," Jeter told Foster.
"He didn't have to," Foster said, according to Jeter. "The ball beat you."
Maybe Foster didn't really say that. I doubt Jeter is lying, but the noisy crowd can surely make words difficult to pick out. If Foster did say it, though, he deserves a suspension. I have a very poor opinion of him anyway, and he'd be right near the top of the list umpires that I'd prefer to see dismissed.
That was just one of three bad calls to go against the Yankees in the game, which they lost 7-6. Another, this one in the seventh, featured Marco Scutaro catching a relay while already off the bag at second base. The fielder's choice was granted, though, and for once, I didn't mind the call. Eric Hinske had aimed his slide about three feet to the right of second base and never actually did touch the bag. That's two of my pet peeves on the same play, and if it had been my choice, Hinske would have been ruled out for interference anyway.
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Foster has to go. This is just the icing on the cake, he's been so bad that David Stern wants to hire him. Even as a Red Sox fan, I have to say that whenever you see Derek Jeter that worked up, you have to assume the ump is dead wrong. The second I saw Jeet jump up arguing I knew he must not have been tagged at all, and replays confirmed this.
I couldn't agree more about Hinske, Scutaro is well within his rights making a phanton foot sweep of second when Hinske is sliding roughly into left-center field.
It's true Derek Jeter doesn't argue very often. I didn't see the play (I don't watch Yankee games), but it seems clear the umpire missed the call. And if he really said, "He didn't have to tag you because the ball beat you," Foster should be suspended.
What nobody seems to be focusing on is Jeter's bad judgment in trying to steal third with nobody out. "Never make the first or third out of an inning at third base." That's been a baseball shibboleth since the dead-ball era. With Swisher, Texeira and Rodriguez coming up behind him, getting thrown out at third is a huge no-no, especially in the first inning. A runner has to be 100% sure of making it. Obviously that wasn't the case here.
The umps cost the Yanks that game. Three bogus and completely criminal calls. When the division is this tight, every game matters. Umps explanation was that they 'just missed it'. Don't be missing calls on my dime. This is my team, these games are important. What makes me steaming mad is that after the Jeter play, i'm pretty sure the ump knew by the next inning that he blew the call, someone who saw the replay told him....why then wasn't that umpiring crew looking for a 'makeup call'? There were plenty of close plays later in the game that the Umps could have given to the Yanks and they did not return their mistake. I'm not big on makeup calls, but sometimes there are plays that are exactly 50/50 and could go either way....when you make a mistake as an umpiring crew, the right thing to do is to give back what you took when the situation is 50/50 and in this game, they did not do that. This was a crushing loss, we are chasing a team who seldom loses games, we can't afford even one loss like this. Heartbreaking.