Angel's Not Robbed

By Val Thompson

Can we please put an end to all this talk about how A.J. Pierzynski and the "called third strike" controversy won Game 2 for the Chicago White Sox? Reporters, on-air personalities, and baseball players alike act as if the game was won when Pierzynski reached first base. Though filled with controversy, Pierzynski's "stealing" first base was not even the most significant play of the inning. It may not even be the most significant stolen base of the inning.

Everyone conveniently forgets the series of events that transpired after Pierzynski reached first base that allowed the White Sox to win. After all, a man on first with two outs, no matter how he got there, is still just a man on first with two outs. The two plays that followed are of considerable more importance than how Pierzynski got on first base.

Event number one: Pablo Ozuna steals second base. Consider this achievement. First of all, White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen had to gamble by removing one of his best postseason hitters with the game still tied. Then, Ozuna had to attempt a stolen base against a team that gunned down both Pierzynski and speedy Scott Podsednik in Game 1. Granted, it was Bengie Molina who threw out those two potential base stealers, and backup Josh Paul was behind the plate in the ninth. Guillen, obviously, knew that. And he knew he could exploit it.

Paul is taking a lot of flack for not tagging out Pierzynski on his way to first. Yet no one seems to care that he stood up slowly in the box and didn't even manage a throw to second as Ozuna easily swiped the base. He must have still been frustrated from the previous play. But does that give him permission to let the winning run move into scoring position without a fight? He gave Ozuna second base as easily as he "gave" Pierzynski first base.

Event number two: Crede hits a game-winning double: Consider how Escobar was looking on the mound. He had struck out five of the last seven batters he'd faced (including Pierzynski). He made Tadahito Iguchi look like he was swinging a bat for the first time in his life with an ugly strikeout in the eighth. He blew past Paul Konerko in three pitches. Yet, for some reason, Joe Crede had Escobar's number.

He doubled off Escobar in the seventh, and did it again in the ninth. Why is there no mention of Escobar throwing a cheese ball with an 0-2 count? How can Pierzynski be the hero and not Crede? Pierzynski said it best in an interview after the game. "Give Crede all the credit," he said. "I didn't do anything. I just struck out."

If Pierzynski had not swung at that pitch, it would have been ball four, and he would have reached first base anyway. Then, with all the controversy aside, Crede and Mark Buehrle would be the heroes of last night's game. They still should be.

I don't mean to take anything away from what Pierzynski did. His heads-up hustle extended the inning for the White Sox and made it possible for them to win the game without going into extra innings. But I do want to eliminate the argument that the umpire lost the game for the Angels. Instead, a mental breakdown lost the game for the Angels. Paul was too frustrated to try to make a play on Ozuna stealing second. Escobar was too frustrated to pitch something off the plate with an 0-2 count to Crede.

Arguing with the umpire is like arguing with the sun. The ump is baseball's absolute. The game is set up in such a way that whatever the umpire says happened, happened. It is the responsibility of baseball players to play the game within this framework. To stretch the analogy further, the movement of the sun allows for a day to exist. The outcome of that day is entirely up to us and in our control. Likewise, the umpire allows for a baseball game to exist. What players do with that game is entirely up to them. An ump's call is concrete and permanent, and it's up to baseball players to treat it as such and move on to the next play.

The Angels didn't move on. They let the call fester. And they let the winning run score. All on their own. I was pleased to see that Angels manager Mike Scioscia understands this. In his press conference following the game, after discussing the controversial play, he put all the blame on his team "playing bad". The bottom line, as with any baseball game, is the losing team didn't execute. The winning team did.

Nothing controversial about that.