Merely by pressing the issue for this long, Jeter has debunked the old rumor that he had "class."

In short, another non-issue blown up by the New York media.

I'm as anti-Jeter as the next guy, but to suggest this is all new york BS is off-base, I think. If the ump is lying then something should be done about it. If Jeter is doing something that has resulted in other, lesser lights being fined, then he should be fined. This is only a non-issue if MLB acts. Otherwise it becomes a huge issue of either special treatment for Jeter/the yankees, or it becomes an issue of willful tolerance, even endorsement, of umpire malfeasance.

This is something that has gone on in a thousand baseball games for a hundred years now. The ump called it as he was taught in umpiring school by umpires who called it that way before he was born. Jeter had no problem in the likely dozens of times he has benefited from injury-preventing ball-before-player calls as a shortstop. Pressing this issue is a zero-sum game.

That this is the most talked-about story on NBC's baseball site speaks volumes - meanwhile Craig's article on the Dominican issues (which involve big-time corruption) has one comment and one vote. That so many people are so foamy-mouthed about this issue makes me a bit embarrassed to be a baseball fan.

I have the name of an excellent eye doctor if you required 2 viewings to see what was apparent to just about everyone as it was happening live.

Mo your such a loser that you are correct, I am holding the optomitrist recommendation and instead offering a good shrink because it's apparent from your comments that you are mentally deranged. You not only can't see what's right in front of your face but you are stupid enough to publish the fact to the entire world. You need some really serious help.

Steve, might I suggest you go for a walk outside and calm yourself a bit...?

In one post you not only accused another poster of being blind but of being mentally unbalanced as well...

Really, does this one play in one of 163 games affect your life THAT much or is there something else at play here?

Seriously, Steve? Mo Green disagrees with your take on the play, and so he has mental problems? This is why people dislike Yankees' fans.

Oh, and if you're going to presume to judge others, I suggest you learn how to write properly, so you will not then be judged yourself. In particular, you might want to review the use of your vs. you're, and you might also want to check on the spelling of optometrist.

Anyone who thinks that was an easy call when it was happening live and in full speed has never umpired before. Give me a break. Umpires get about 99% of calls correct. In any other industry, that's an amazing success rate...

Plus, Jeter is embarassed and messed up. You CAN't get called out in that spot. If you're gonna steal 3rd there, you need to beat that throw and be safe without a doubt. Jeter just needs to man up and get over it/himself.

Jeter was not out. The play was not even close. The UMP blew the call and lied about. It is silly that the league fines players and managers for speaking the true when UMP make bad calls and can lie about it.

Score one for the Umpire's union I guess but Jeter has never gotten special treatment or does he need it.

You will not find a player with more class on the field and off then Jeter.

No one was saying that he ws tagged out. Bottom line, you can't get called out in that situation. It can't even be close. Why do you think Girardi was so angry about it? He didn't care about if the call was right or wrong after the game, he just said if you're going to steal third in that situation, you better be successful.

And how do you know if the umpire is the one lying? No one knows that. I'm sure the umpire, upon review, would admit Jeter was safe. But did he say what he said he said? I don't know. Just like I have no idea if Jeter is tellignthe truth. It's all speculation, but so many are throwing it around like it's a fact that Jeter was right.

And I'm pretty sure there are plenty of players with as much class as Jeter on and off the field. Pujols is the first to come to mind. I've only seen him complain about one call and get tossed. And the dude apologized for it immediately after the game. Not because he was right or wrong, but because he let his teammates and fans down by getting himself removed from a game. Now that is class. And that's from a Cubs fan.

This is the 3rd story about this one incident. Maybe instead of posting about it you should just use the same internets that brought you here to figure it out.

Jeter stole 3rd base. As he was sliding in his left hand was extended toward the base and the Rays 3rd baseman reached down to tag it. Jeter pulled his left arm back, extended his right arm out, and slid into 3rd base safely. The umpire, Marty Foster, called Jeter out because he blew the call and no tag was ever made. He said to Jeter "The ball beat you and you don't have to be tagged". He then threw out Girardi for arguing the call with him. Then on Tuesday he weasled his statement and said he said "The ball beat you and I had him tagging you". Jeter went on record to say "Thats not what he said, I know what he said and he knows what he said"

Wow Mo, did you forget your Prozac this morning??? In the meantime, go to a happy place, go to a happy place, go to a happy place, go to a happy place....

Jeter tried to get clever and pulled his left arm back, extended his right arm out, and slid into 3rd base in a strange manner. The umpire, Marty Foster, called Jeter out because that's the way any umpire from MLB to little league would call it.

Fixed your post. You don't have to thank me.

Y'know kiddies, if somebody posts something that either has no value or is blatantly inflammatory, there's always that little ! button to hit. Enough people doing that will collapse the offending comment. Just thought y'might want to know....

Really Steve in Alabama? How were you watching that game live? You get YES network there?

How exactly is it readily apparent that Derek Jeter doesn't lie? Oh, because you say so. So how long have you known him?

Girardi got tossed for waving his finger in the ump's face. He 100% deserved to get tossed no matter how wrong the call was.

Your need to mount personal attacks only underscores your distinct inability to use reason and logic.

It's readily apparent that a) Jeter doesn't lie

How were you watching that game live? You get YES network there?

Wow, people can be ridiculous.

That's a little hypocritical... Steve didn't really mount any personal attacks on anyone, but you did with your sarcasm and self-righteous ramblings.

I don't know either one of you, and I never even watched the play. But I will say that you're kind of an aggressive jerk, or at least you appear to be.

If you look up to the top of the comments, Steve mounted several quite personal attacks, including: I need an optometrist, I'm mentally deranged, I need a good shrink, I can't see what's right in front of my face, I'm a loser, I can't see what's right in front of my face, I need serious help.

If those don't sound like personal attacks to you, I just don't know what to say, except it sure sounded personal to me.

Oh, good point actually, I didn't notice he had posted up above.

Alright, you're right- he is also being an aggressive jerk.

For Bill312 and MO ... as a matter of fact I do get YES right here in Alabama thru the magic of MLB Extra Innings. Just amazing isn't it what they can do these days with satellites and televisions and cable systems. I probably see more Yankee games a year than you guys do because I see approximately 130 Yankee games each season.

Steve, have you ever umpired? And I don't mean in a YMCA game or something, I mean like a real High School game, College, etc. You guys up there in the 55th row or on your couch need to put your beer down and try it some time. It's not as easy as you might think.

Steve, there was an artile in Sports IIllustrated a couple years ago, I don't remember when, that you should read. Every call they make is monitored, and the year SI was writing about had this to show:

I don't remember the exact numbers, but the calls they missed equated to about 1 every 24 games!!! If you look at the number of calls they have to make, and how close many are, I think it's pretty damn amazing what they do. To me, these numbers are incredible. Where else do you find that kind of accuracy?

And calling balls and strikes, try squatting behind a plate 300 times in a game, and call pitches traveling 90 miles an hour and moving, and being accurate to within 1/4 inch. It's not as easy as it looks on TV sitting there drinking a beer.

I think these guys are very very good. I wish everyone would get off their backs. You can't have it both ways.

So Steve, how long have you and Jeter been seeing each other? You protect him like a girlfriend would protect her man. I know, everybody's out to get the big bad Yankees, because they're, like, awesome and stuff.

Shucks Bob, now you are going to get Mo Green all riled up because he doesn't know what's keep CB in the majors hehehehehe

Wow Steve, race-baiting, personal attacks, horrid spelling, worse grammar, no logic. You're doing Alabama proud today. You still get angry every time you see an African-American who isn't shuffling to the back of the bus, don't you?

Interesting ... I comment on your limited mental capacities and you turn it into race-baiting, personal attacks, horrid spelling, worse grammar, no logic. You really are an angry young man who can't see anything but HATE it would seem. I haven't been on a bus in over 40 years so I wouldn't know who shuffles and who doesn't, but apparently you have a stereotypical picture in your mind I see.

I must have been mistaken. So prove me wrong, why does CB have his job? Or as you put it so eloquently, "what's keep CB in the majors hehehehe"

CB has his job and continues to have his job because even though he is a sub-standard UMPIRE, the powers that be at MLB refuse to do anothing about umpires period. They are afraid of a lawsuit from the union (Which happens with any termination in any union to keep the individual from suing the union for failure to represent) which almost always winds up being settled but costing money. It's easier to just not make waves under the Bud Selig administration instead of doing the right thing and getting rid of sub-standard and incompetent umpires.

That's what racists do best, run for cover when the light shines down upon them. I'm fairly certain that you and Bob Hammond weren't insinuating that the Union was responsible for CB still having his job. Why not just be honest about what you meant?

Run for cover? I answered you directly and ON POINT as to why CB has his job. If the fact that you were once again found wanting disturbs you then so be it. You are the one making the assumptions and we always know how that turns out.

You crack me up. Anyone who reads yours and Bob's posts knows exactly what you were insinuating. You can't erase it, you can't use ALL CAPS and make it go away. Why don't you just be a man and admit what you really meant by that post. Of course, if you were a real man you wouldn't have written it in the first place, so that's probably asking too much. Shucks.

I always thought the cool kids sat at the back of the bus

Sorry MO but from your very first post on this blog you have been wrong and assinine. You can make all the accuasations you want but you cannot change the truth and thats what you are attempting to do. I am finished with you because you are not worth my time. And thats not running for cover, rather it's an acknowledgement that you have arrived at a gun fight carrying bubble gum and hoping when you blow a bubble the POP will scare everyone. So enjoy the rest of your pathetic life because I'm so finished with you.

Get a room.

You're right, King. This is "allowed" to keep injuries down from what I understand. The players can't have it both ways.

I really doubt that a guy who umpires baseball for a living and who has put in countless hours on the minor league circuit doesn't know the fundamentals of the baseball rulebook... I think you might be exagerating here...

Claiming that because the ball beat Jeter to the base is reason for calling him out is a violation of the fundamentals of the rules of baseball. Anyone who knows baseball at all would know that that play required a tag. I don't think that is an exageration at all.

I believe he said that he had the tag. But Jeter didn't hear him. Or maybe he didn't. I don't know. You don't know. None of us know the umpire or Jeter. So who's word can we take? We don't know. So that's not really the point (and neither side will ever be proven right or wrong).

The point I was making that these guys know and can do way more in regards to officiating baseball than both of us combined. And this is from someone who does some umpiring. These guys are good. If you and I were good enough, we'd be doing what they're doing for their amazing pay as opposed to what we're doing for a living right now. So if a professional doesn't understand the fundamentals, then neither of us does.

My whole point, which by now is understandably obscured, is that this isn't really that big of a deal. It wasn't that bad of a blown call, the same game had a couple of other much worse calls. I don't think anyone needs to be fined or suspended here, not Jeet, not the Ump.

Furthermore, Jeet made a very bad baserunning decision, and that almost never happens. That's news in and of itself. At least it was an aggressive mistake, but bad baserunning nonetheless.

A, Craig writes a blog; he's not a reporter so he doesn't need to be unbiased. B, please point out any "bias" in his writing.

But keep making random statements not based in fact. Who else should be fined?

MJ - I'm going to have to fine myself for trying to talk logic and reason with a redneck. From my grandmother's sub-basement, no less!

MJ, are you the blog comment police?

Why should I (as random a commenter as you) be specific in pointing out the blogger's bias. I do not see rules posted for leaving comments.

Just like an (ok to be biased?) blogger can share his thoughts, so do I reserve the write to speak my own. And I have chosen to share my opinion that the blogger has a bias, as random as you may think.

But to be specific in my opinion of the blogger's bias for your sake, his sarcastic portrayal of Derek Jeter (as an icon that mlb is afraid to touch) in not only this article but also in his previously related article, it is clear enough to me that he has a bias against Jeter... which ultimately leads me to think he's either a Yankee hater, or likes to use Yankee hate as a way to incite readers. I guess I saw through the sarcasm and was incited, thus, I opined.

You asked, "Who else should be fined?" I do not think anyone else needs to be fined. Ultimately, it is still my opinion that it would suffice to fine the 4 individuals involved in this particular media explorative: Hirschbeck, Foster, Jeter and Craig (the biased blogger). The first 3 for each falling into their own trap in a very public way by continuing the disagreement through the media. And the blogger for perpetuating that annoying media trap, in particular to share his bias on a national outlet like NBCSports (from which I first dawned on this blog post).

OK, after further thought, largely due to MJ pointing out that Craig's "not a reporter so he doesn't need to be unbiased", I must amend my proposed fine... I would suggest that instead of Craig being fined, a fine would better suit NBCSports Editorial for lack of integrity in their choice of promoting a biased blogger's nonsense article as "news".

MJ - You don't have to like my "random" opinion, nor do I care if you do.

As for me (as if you would care), in the future I will avoid this blogger's inciteful bularky.

:-)

I'm a Red Sox fan, and a Derek Jeter fan. I think if you really love baseball it's hard not to at least appreciate the way Derek Jeter plays the game and the class with which he has always conducted himself.

But I have to side with the ump here. It was a really hard call from that angle. Girardi ran out to keep Jeter from getting tossed, good job by Girardi. Waving his finger under the Foster's nose was just cause to get run, by no means was it an unreasonable ejection.

The best thing MLB can do is just quietly ask everyone involved to stop talking about it please.

You're right, I don't think the ump got it right, I'm just saying it was far from an egregious missed call. I have umpired baseball and refereed soccer, and I just think from the Ump's line of vision it probably looked like Jeet was tagged out. From there, the ump may have misspoke in the heat of the moment.

When you make a bad call (yes I've made my fair share) you usually realize it too late to undo it. Furthermore, Derek Jeter almost never complains, so when he jumped up the Ump probably realized his mistake and just tossed off a quick rationalization.

Hi Allen, I'm not really upset about anything except for some redneck insulting my eyesight, my perspicacity, my sanity, my ability to bring the correct weapon to a "gunfight", and telling me I have a pathetic life.

There is no reason to ever hit a child, and why do I want them to jump exactly?

I attempted to argue initially that the call was a tough one and that it wasn't that big of a deal, and no one needs to be fined. Is that angry?

Thanks for piling on, I'll be here taking questions and abuse on and off for the rest of the afternoon if you have anything to add.

Again I thank you for your quick wit and biting sarcasm. I don't beat my wife or my dog, and I'm almost 40 years old. By the way, I only counted 7 misspellings and grammatical problems in this particular post. Well done.

Because a major league baseball game doesn't take long enough yet?

No, so we don't have to keep hearing about blown calls for two weeks

That's quite impressive, you making the call from a couch. There is not a single person on Earth arguing that Jeter was really out. Thanks for playing though.

Lol, leave smoke alone. He made the right call!

YEP!