Alex Rodriguez made major league history last night…And I promise it won’t be the last time we put these two together in the same sentence!
Last night the Tampa Bay Rays hosted the New York Yankees for game 2 of a 3 game series. It was the top of the 9th, 6-3 and A-Rod stepped up to the plate with one on and 2 down. A-Rod hit a bomb, and I mean it was a shot! He stayed at home and watched not to pose or showboat, but mainly to see if it was staying fair or foul. After it hit the catwalk, A-Rod looked for the signal and he got it…HOMERUN! But then the Rays catcher (Dioner Navarro) exploded out of his catchers position in discuss over the call, so you knew it was about to be history!
Watching the game at home, I thought it was a no brainer, but Navarro had a different opinion. The umpires went to instant review and history was being made. It took a quick 2 minutes and 15 seconds for the umpires to make the decision and it stood…HR number 31 on the season for Alex Rodriguez.
Some said that the instant replay would slow down the game, and it is already slow enough, but forget slowing down, it had me sitting on the edge of the bed in anticipation wanting it to be a homerun. I was anxious and excited to see the ruling and I didn’t want to change the channel because I didn’t want to miss a thing. It was the fastest 2 mins I think I have ever witnessed.
The only thing that bothered me one the whole situation was the commentary, because the view they kept showing to the television audience was of a side angel that made it look like the ball was foul the whole way. They didn’t show an angle straight down the line(but maybe there aren’t camera angles that way), but then they just kept talking about it being foul and blah blah blah. Anyone who plays let alone watches baseball knows that balls when hit can end up hooking. This ball obviously was hit extremely well and high and had some hook on it as it carried over the foul pole and hit the cat walk in foul play, but that didn’t matter one bit, it was in a fair ball the whole way til it hit and the ruling stood!
“I’m the first player. Next time I’m going stealth and go under the radar screen,” Rodriguez said. “It’s very fitting I’m involved. I was just glad we got the right call.” “I had the best view because I was at home plate. I saw what Brian saw, and for sure I knew this was going to get replayed,” Rodriguez said of his 549th career homer that moved him ahead of Mike Schmidt for sole possession of 12th place on the all-time list. “I saw the way Navarro jumped and then Maddon jumped out of the dugout and I said, ‘Here we go.”’
Umpire crew chief Charlie Reliford said Maddonasked plate umpire Greg Gibson to discuss the call with Runge.
“We all believed it was a home run, but since the technology is in place we made the decision to use the technology and go look at the replays,” Reliford told a pool reporter, adding that the umpires watched the video several times.
“If there had been no argument, obviously we wouldn’t have because all four of us believed the call was correct on the field,” Reliford said. “Because he disputed it, and it was very close, and now the technology is in place, we used it.”
“Technically, it’s up to the crew chief. But when the ship sinks, everyone drowns. We operate as a crew, we do everything as a crew, and we make decisions as a crew,” Reliford said. “If it comes down to a split decision, then the crew chief is going to have to decide which decision is most likely correct.”
All in all, I’m glad they put instant replay into baseball, and it actually didn’t talk that long. Great decision on the homerun dispute, good call on instant replay, and good call all the way around. I’m just glad I was watching the game to witness history!
