Dale Scott had someplace to be
Posted on May 12, 2010
Filed Under 2010 Season | 2 Comments
The Red Sox had a chance this afternoon to go for a 3 game sweep of the Blue Jays. Unfortunately home plate umpire Dale Scott had other plans in mind. Check out this strike-zone plot of the bottom of the 9th inning provided by Brooks Baseball:
The inning saw David Ortiz take a called 3rd strike 8 inches off the plate. The next hitter, Adrian Beltre, checked his swing and asked for some help from the 1st base umpire when Dale Scott improperly called it a strike. The arrogance of Scott took over and he refused to ask for a second opinion. Terry Francona came out to argue and was promptly tossed.
The call on Beltre ended up not meaning much but the absurd strikeout on Ortiz definitely affected the game. These plays were in the bottom of the 9th alone. The other 8 innings saw a handful of balls called strikes including a few at-bats that left JD Drew just shaking his head in amazement.
Dale Scott’s insane strikezone was all over the place for both teams and didn’t really cause the Red Sox to lose the game but the point remains that players should dictate the final result, not an umpire. Here is what a few people had to say about the game:
Dustin Pedroia on why it seemed like the umpire was trying to rush the 9th inning: “They must have had a flight. I’m going to check on that. We’re going to make sure it’s delayed. I have that kind of pull.”
David Ortiz on the called 3rd strike outside the zone: “Thank God I wasn’t hitting right-handed because that would have hit me in the ribs.”
Tom Caron: “The assist [on the Blue Jays' win] goes to Dale Scott.”
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Haha I just checked out Dale Scott’s wiki page and this is what somebody added:
5/12/2010 – Home-plate umpire Dale Scott helped Toronto’s resurgent gunslinger, Shaun Marcum, snag a win at Fenway today.
All day Wednesday, JD Drew found himself simmering back to the dugout after being called out on strikes, and every time the pitches were anywhere from six inches to a foot-and-a-half outside the strike zone.
In the ninth inning, David Ortiz found himself called out on ball four, a pitch that was so wide of being a strike that catcher Jose Molina had to slide left to pull it in.
Adrian Beltre couldn’t get an appeal on a check swing. He clearly didn’t go around; not even close.
Terry Francona was ejected for arguing balls and strikes, and it’s incredible it took until the bottom of the ninth. Francona dutifully sat on his hands the whole afternoon while Dale Scott gave the Toronto Blue Jays every advantage.
When Beltre’s appeal was denied, Francona couldn’t take it any more.
Having watched thousands upon thousands of games, I personally cannot recall ever seeing a strike zone so outrageously inconsistent with the rules of baseball. Nor have I ever seen a game called in such a one-sided fashion.
Dale Scott was very consistent on 5/12/2010 in Boston. He was consistently the worst home plate umpire in baseball. He should be reprimanded by the league.
And here is the rest of the game:
http://sox.balloflightning.com/images/2010_05_12_dalescott.png