Rockies Celebrate… But He Still Has Not Touched Home Plate!
I am in shock. But I don’t know what I am more shocked by… obviously, Trevor Hoffman having this happen twice in three days is wild. A game that instantly gets placed among the all-time greatest games ever, equivalent to a game seven in every way. Scott Hairston coming through again, a guy traded to the Padres for a pitcher with a broken throwing hand.
But I still can not believe that after everything that has happened this year, an umpire still has managed to take something away from San Diego. I just don’t like the whole conspiracy theory thing. I always am one of the first to shout it down. I go to Snopes and forward people the truth about their spider-in-the-toilet e-mails. I educate people who are scared of Halloween candy or believe in the “Magic Bullet theory.” But I played catcher for a long time, friends. And as much as I despise what I am about to say, I have to say it because I absolutely believe it to be true and the video supports my assertion.
Matt Holliday never touched the plate and Tim McClellan knows it. He absolutely knows it. He stood back and did not make a call because he knew it. A thought process happened, and then he made the call in slow motion. They are interviewing Matt Holliday on TBS at this very moment and even he won’t say he touched the plate. Quote, “The umpire said I did, so…”
I know the way that call works. I’ve been that catcher, scrambling to touch the runner because I know what the umpire’s silence means. Runners may forget, and I’ve seen their eyes get big as they realize their mistake. Watch any game, especially an extra inning game. When that umpire sees a man touch the plate he goes ballistic calling him safe. McClellan did not ever see him touch the plate. Of course, he could not have done so because he still has not done so.
What’s more, I am flat out, right now accusing Tim McClellan of making a call that, if not downright influenced by a desire to punish Sandy Alderson and the Padres, was at the very least a call that ended a ball game which he had no evidence to make. A call that ended a team’s season. I can’t prove that it was consciously or subconsciously influenced by any bias. But I believe it. See, the non-call was already a call. It was saying he did not touch the plate. Never seen an umpire reverse a call? Guess what? You just did.
David Wells. Milton Bradley. Profanity and insults toward players from umpires, even before Mike Winters. Deliberate, pre-meditated provocation. More ridiculous short-fused ejections than I ever seen in a single season against a single team. Umpires walking away from the plate and toward a dugout to argue with players on the bench. Not even with the manager, with players!
I am very upset with the failure of our team leaving runners stranded, with the all time saves leader solidifying an unfortunate reputation for failure in crucial games (a rep that ignores far too many times he did come through, especially in 1996 and 1998). I am upset with the injury problems and the absolute collapse, injury related or not, of Chris Young. All these things upset me and steal from me the enjoyment of having just witnessed one of the greatest games in baseball history.
But I am absolutely disgusted with the umpires.
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46 Responses to “Rockies Celebrate… But He Still Has Not Touched Home Plate!”
October 1st, 2007 at 10:34 pm
wow….the catchers foot blocked the plate…amzazing play and then the catcher has the smarts to tag him past the plate….unreal…i knew of some of the problems between the padres and the umps…but come on…don’t do that crap…that ump needs to be fired…i am very pissed off…if the ump could not call that one right even when he was in position to call it correctly, he should be fired…naw…he should be castrated…”don’t call it like you think it should be-call it like you saw it”….bunch of bull stinking crap…
October 1st, 2007 at 10:49 pm
I have no attachment to either the Pads or the Rockies. The Padres got hosed on that call. The game should still be on.
October 2nd, 2007 at 3:49 am
uh, what about the rockies HR that wasn’t? Did the umps blow that one just to make it close so they could ultimately screw the Padres in the 12th inning?
I know it’s painful to lose games like this, but this is a prime example of why you should wait 24 hours before writing and publishing something like this. It just looks really, really small and it embarrasses your fan base. The Padres didn’t miss the playoffs because of some umpiring conspiracy, they missed the playoffs because injuries and poor personnel choices had them start a must-win game with guys like Brady Clark and Geoff Blum in the lineup. I’m not an NL West guy by any means, but it was clear that the Rockies were the better team, and that’s nothing to be ashamed about.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:17 am
Shut up you f-ing crybaby.
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:19 am
This is exactly why they need to install a mandatory ten-minute “potty break” for the blues any time a game goes into extra innings. Minimize the incentive to make a call for any reason other than to get it right, and give the teams involved an opportunity to regroup. On the league’s side of things, it will also make for more commercial air time to sell. There’s really no down side.
I’ve been that guy behind the dish for the second game of a double header, when my gut started yelping at me before the first pitch. That’s why there’s always four stalls in the umpire’s locker room at any pro park. In that now infamous time lapse after Holliday passed by home, Tim McClellan probably wasn’t asking himself whether or not he touched the plate, but instead was wondering whether his sphincter could handle the pressure of another inning!
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:06 am
[…] did Matt Holliday really touch home plate with the winning […]
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:19 am
For everybody calling me a crybaby… what do you want to say to David Justice, who just told the largest sports radio station in Southern California that Matt Holliday never touched home plate and that Tim McClellan knew it and was waiting for Holliday to start scrambling back. Then, when Holliday was hurt and it looked like the game would extend, he took it into his own hands. Justice professed admiration for McClellan, calling him the “best balls and strikes umpire in the game”, but also said “if he saw him touch he would have called it right away. If he touched, there is no reason for that delay.”
This was one of the greatest games in baseball history, but we may have been robbed of a chance for it to become THE greatest game in baseball history. In a game like that, we will always have to wonder what would have happened next.
…oh, and the home run call was reviewed by all four umpires. If they missed that call, and after viewing it multiple times I’m still not sure if it hit the wheelchair or bounced off the yellow, at least the responsibility is shared and a best effort was made.
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:25 am
Chris, you are dead on about the reason for the swoon. What bothers me the most about that is that it was Mike Winters instigation that created the freak injury which prevented us from having Milton Bradley in center. In which case, we never go past nine… maybe. We’ll never know. And I absolutely do not absolve Bradley of the responsibility for keeping his temper. But to have this happen 8 days later is extremely painful. My pain is showing.
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:30 am
I don’t know where you’ve seen a angle that shows Holliday’s hand touching or not touching the plate, but in the 4 million replays I haven’t seen one. It was a close call. Get over it. I think he was in there. Giving all this weird, whiny, circumstantial evidence is pathetic. And you KNOW the Rockies got absolutely f*cked on that home run that bounced off an object in the stands and came back in. Game should have never made it into extra innings in the first place.
And who cares what David Justice says? Dude dumped Halle Berry. I don’t value his opinion.
October 2nd, 2007 at 7:42 am
Rich I don’t quite follow your logic here. Because the responsibility is SHARED for blowing the home run call (and it was blown), that somehow makes the homeplate call more egregious or wrong? Both calls may have been iffy, but the homer ruling was even more of a joke. The ball bounced 20 feet in the air when it hit a metal object behind the fence. That type of bounce couldn’t have happened on foam padding. I guess I’m just waiting for Part 2 of this post, where you thank the “shared responsbility” umps for letting you go to extra innings in the first place.
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:29 am
Hey Rich, maybe if your team had done its job and taken the series from Milwaukee, it wouldn’t even have been in that position to begin with. Face it, the Padres choked both their season and the game away. Secondly, it’s a lone call in a lone baseball game, not the end of the world. Stop projecting your self-worth through the lens of a baseball team and grow up.
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:43 am
Rich — well, one of us would be feeling pain last night regardless of the final outcome. Team loyalties aside, though, the call was correct even though Holliday may or may not have touched home plate. It appeared on replay that Holliday didn’t touch home plate because Barrett’s foot was in the way. The ruling (I’m assuming) was based on Rule 7.06 of the official rules, part of which says that the catcher isn’t allowed to obstruct a runner attempting to score unless he has the ball in his hand. Barrett moved his foot to block the plate when he thought he caught the ball, but he dropped it. That was why McClellan delayed for a moment before calling him safe; he was waiting to see if Barrett had caught the ball cleanly (if he had, the play’s still alive until Barrett tags him out or Holliday touches home plate.) When McClellan saw the ball roll away from Barrett, he called Holliday safe because that meant that Barrett didn’t have the right to block the plate.
It sucks for you guys, but the call was right.
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:20 am
I love the explanation above that the missed HR call was “reviewed by 4 umpires”, implying that they actually reviewed a tape and concluded it was a double. More accurately, 4 umpires discussed the call, and agreed they didn’t have a clue. Nice positioning, left field ump. Way to stand 10 yards behind the 3rd base ump so you could essentially see whatever he sees, but not deep balls, which is your responsibility. That was so clearly an HR it’s ridiculous. So all the whining about the 13th is moot, because it never should have gotten to that point.
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:30 am
The relevant portion, from the MVN Rockies blog:
Was he safe or out? Setting aside Rockies homerism for a minute, replay showed pretty clearly that Holliday did not touch home plate. But let’s have a look at the rulebook for a moment. Let’s look at the note under Rule 7.06(b):
NOTE: The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand.
If Holliday didn’t touch home plate, it was only because Michael Barrett’s foot was blocking the way. Barrett received the throw and put his foot in front of home plate in an attempt to block Holliday from scoring. Except, well, Barrett didn’t have the ball. Watch the replay, and you’ll see Barrett drop the ball immediately before he moves his leg to block the plate. Then you see Holliday slide past home plate — not touching it, since it was blocked — and the ball get away from Barrett.
That was the reason for the delayed call by McClellan. McClellan was waiting to see if Barrett had the ball or not. If Barrett catches the ball cleanly, then it’s a perfectly legal play and Holliday hasn’t touched home plate (but hadn’t been tagged, either, so he still had an opportunity to go back and touch home plate.) As soon as McClellan saw the ball get away from Barrett, though, he knew that Barrett hadn’t caught the ball and therefore wasn’t allowed to obstruct Holliday’s path to the plate — which made Holliday safe. So the correct answer was no, Matt Holliday never touched home plate. But Tim McClellan still made the right call, and it was a call that put the Rockies in the playoffs.
And as mentioned, if the umps didn’t blow an even more obvious call several innings earlier in the other direction, this play isn’t even up for discussion.
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:33 am
Rich and company—The full text of Rule 7.06(b) Note: The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score. The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand.
Two replays showed Barrett lacking full possession of the ball, including the second replay showing the ball rolling behind Barrett. I couldn’t tell whether Barrett dropped the ball or it rebounded off his glove, but McClelland got the call right. This isn’t even close to Don Denkinger II.
—Jeff
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:35 am
Of course, the umps blew the call on the home run - the fourth time that’s happened to the Rox this year. What Holliday should have done was knocked Barrett into the first row of the seats. Remember Bo Jackson? Pete Rose? The catcher is blocking the plate, you make him pay. Hey, the Pads had several chances to win before the 13th, including in Milwaukee over the weekend. As for tags at the plate? Elrod Hendricks (RIP) still hasn’t tagged Bernie Carbo (1970 WS).
October 2nd, 2007 at 9:48 am
Dont be blaming the UMP for Hoffman blowing two games that WOULD have you in the playoffs RIGHT now! You guys got a 2 run lead and THEN he gives up 3 runs to lose the game! Were the Padres as mad about that call as YOU are? I doubt it! Because Hoffman blew it and when HE blew it they KNEW they deserved to lose that game! MAYBE if you guys would have BEAT us more than 2 games out of 7 yall would have made the playoffs! Let me repeat this: Yall played us 7 games and ONLY won 2 games! How big is that now! NOT sayin we are an awful team, but we did not make the playoffs! Blame the Padres NOT the umps!
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:05 am
Rule 7.06(b) - The base line belongs to the runner and the catcher should be there only when he is fielding a ball or when he already has the ball in his hand.
Michael Barrett was “fielding the ball” he had every right to block the plate.
So your little Rule 7.06(b) only proves that Barrett had every right to protect the plate.
Holliday(learn to slide dude) was out plain and simple, this was a textbook play by the catcher that he executed to perfection.
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:11 am
Sadly, I went to bed before the game was over, know when I went? When Scott Hairston his a two run homer to take the lead in the top of the 13th.
It didn’t even don on me that Hoffman would get belted like that.
Yes the play at the plate may have been close Rich, but you can’t absolve Trevor for his share of the blame. 2 doubles and a triple after you’re handed a 2 run lead? Good lord! And Peavy pitched horrible as well. Padres deserved to lose this game.
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:14 am
Dont be bitter that the rockies beat you, when your team blew a sizeable lead in the tail end of the season. We beat the pads, fair and square, and if the umpire called the home run earlier in the game that was ruled a double correctly, then your bitch ass team wouldnt have had a chance to even to to extras.
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:24 am
rich,
i’m sorry.
and brad lidge is most likely calling trevor to offer a shoulder to cry on…
not sure whether or not the garret atkins call was right or wrong, but i don’t think calling it a double was a deliberate thing against padres…
- your point about the bizarre behaviour of mike winters and other umps picking fights with players still stands. and it isn’t just padres players neither
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:43 am
You’re all wrong about the play on Holliday at the plate. This column points out a rule that make McClellan’s call correct:
http://mvn.com/mlb-rockies/2007/10/02/rockies-make-playoffs-in-photo-finish/
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:46 am
Mike- Not really. The rule seems to say that if the catcher’s attempting to make a play on the runner, he can block the plate all he wants, but it’s a judgment call as to when he’s considered to be making a play. Apparently McClellan’s view was that if Barrett didn’t catch the ball, he couldn’t make a play, and therefore blocking the plate was obstruction. That’s probably why McClellan waited a couple of seconds before calling Holliday safe. Or else maybe Holliday did swipe a corner of the bag. I don’t know. I was confused about the call last night myself, but when I read that rule I assumed that’s what McClellan was thinking.
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:15 am
Rich,
Despite the fact that I believe that it was the correct call, one thing that everyone seems to forget on plays like these that even if Holliday had been called out, the inning wasn’t over, as there still would have been a runner on and two out and Brad “Quit Intentionally Walking Me!” Hawpe at the plate. With the way the inning was going…I’m confident he would have hit a jack.
Honestly though, epic game that had bad calls go both ways (no extra innings in the first place if Atkins’ HR gets called correctly) and it was damn fun. Next year’s West is going to be just as insane as this year’s.
October 2nd, 2007 at 11:41 am
Mike—You forgot about the first part of the note to 7.06(b). The part that says, “The catcher, without the ball in his possession, has no right to block the pathway of the runner attempting to score.” Barrett did not have the ball in his full possession as Holliday came past the back of the plate.
It’s an open question, of course, whether Barrett dropped Brian Giles’s one-hop throw or whether the ball might have ricocheted off his glove—I saw several replays of the play in question and I can’t be sure whether it was a drop or a ricochet—but Barrett having no full possession of the ball while his leg continued blocking the plate, verified by the angle that showed the ball rolling away from Barrett as Holliday came across the back of the plate, made the difference, it says here.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:02 pm
WAAAAAAAAA-It’s all the umpires fault. They don’t like us. This whole season. See, there was this massive conspiracy. Richie is right. Can’t you all see it?
The umpires provoked model citizens into loosing their cool.
They were provoked!
They tossed folks who were doing nothing wrong.
Tossed them, I tell ya!
And then, Peavy gets no calls from McClellan all night! It was obvious that he had it in for the Padres- He intentionally called the incorrect call.
Intentionally!
You could almost see McClellan twirling his handle bar moustache and laughing!
And I think I know why. There was a conspiracy after all. You don’t need a Zapruder film for this one.
And it was to save the Padres the embarrassment of playing a third consecutive year of awful, can’t hit, can’t pitch, downright bad, you’ve seen better in T-Ball, playoff baseball.
Today we should be thanking the umpires, not crying out against them. They did mankind a favor.
Look at it this way Richie- now you’ll have some free time to whine and cry about how the NFL is working against the Chargers, especially the steroid cheats on the team….
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:08 pm
There was no replay that DEFINITIVELY showed that he did or did not touch home plate. You’re talking with your heart and not your head. So even if baseball had instant replay, the ruling on the field would stand. It’s possible that a finger or two brushed the plate, and no replay angle could dispute it. If you look at the dirt around that corner of the plate before and after the play, the way it’s brushed up along that edge after the play, would lead me to think he grazed it with at least a finger. It doesn’t look like it would if the catcher had moved the dirt with his foot, though he did move some, but not backwards toward the plate.
October 2nd, 2007 at 12:42 pm
I hear what you’re saying about the way the call was made being bizarre and/or suspicious. It’s a huge, extra-inning, season-deciding call- you’d expect the ump to be all over the place, hopping up and down or pointing at the ball rolling away or the plate where Holliday just barely touched it…instead he’s just standing there like a statue. That means only one thing on a play like that- he’s not out or safe, yet. Then the catcher looks up at him and he has second thoughts and makes the easy “he got there first” call.
Kind of reminds me of the Pierzynski play…if you’re going to make a call, make it. I’d rather an ump was wrong than indecisive and making it up as he goes along.
October 2nd, 2007 at 1:28 pm
[…] Holliday did not touch home plate last night. If I were a Padres fan, I would be so angry, like this guy. And, I’m calling ‘roids on Matt Holliday’s forearms. Are you kidding me? They […]
October 2nd, 2007 at 6:36 pm
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!! ROCKIES WIN! HAHAHAHAHAHA PADRES SUCK!
October 2nd, 2007 at 8:08 pm
Is Bradley gonna miss ALL of next year?
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:05 pm
http://firejaymariotti.blogspot.com/2007/10/cry-about-it-some-more-pussy.html
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Quoting Jonathan: I’d rather an ump was wrong than indecisive and making it up as he goes along.
I totally agree with this.
Hey guys, thanks for proving to me that it is far better to put my emotion into my columns. This is the most comments I’ve ever had and I’m getting quoted on blogs from here to Albany.
and BTW…
Matt Holliday STILL hasn’t touched home plate and Tim McClellan still knows it.
October 2nd, 2007 at 10:37 pm
From the Denver Post:
http://www.denverpost.com/sports/ci_7057912
“And Matt Holliday still has not touched home plate.
As the crowd at Coors Field chanted “M-V-P!” and fireworks exploded over a scoreboard declaring victory, Holliday bled from the chin and the greatest reliever in baseball history dropped his head in disgust.
With a three-run rally in the bottom of the lucky 13th inning, the Rockies beat San Diego 9-8 to grab a spot in the playoffs for the first time since 1995.
Anybody not believe this is anything less than magic?
In a moment that is destined to take a prominent place in the scrapbook of Denver sports for drama and controversy, Holliday scored the winning run with sleight of hand.
When folks retell this story 100 years from now, he still will not have touched home plate. ”
~Mark Kizla, Denver Post
October 3rd, 2007 at 4:38 am
I didn’t know Mariano Rivera was pitching for the Padres now.
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:21 am
Braves#1
Is Bradley gonna miss ALL of next year?
Most likely, considering he’s injury prone, I would assume a torn ACL would keep him out for quite
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:50 am
Sure, I think the Padres got hosed on that play. That play. The Rox got hosed on the Atkins home run call - they get that one right and the game doesn’t go beyond 9.
Hey, look, funky stuff happens all the time. I’m a Red Sox fan - I know all about funky stuff. Of all the comments here, I’ve only read a couple that talk about that blown home run call and little discussion on the fact that Hoffman just blew it. You still have to make the plays. Seems to me the Padres got a gift even getting to extra innings and then to complain about a blown call in the 13th after Hoffman has already given up 2 runs (with no out) on successive doubles and then a triple is a little sour grapes.
October 3rd, 2007 at 5:52 am
Oh, that and even if the call is made, there’s two out and the game is tied.
October 3rd, 2007 at 6:55 am
Thanks for the comment, Rich. I was in San Diego for 5 years in college, and it’s a good thing people in SD are so laid back because if that happened in NY or Boston, oh man, hell would have broken loose by now! I would be very afraid for Mr. McLellan.
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:48 am
Look at it this way, Rich–the nation is spared yet another postseason of T-Ball level playoff baseball from the Padres. So it can’t be all bad.
October 3rd, 2007 at 7:12 pm
Wow. I just love how people will hang themselves given a chance. Who wants to point out where I said anybody sucked, or delved into profanity, or decided to say that someone showing the same amount of passion about their team that I would show about mine is an infant? Nope, just gave my opinion and let you all go off…
Love it. Thanks for doing yourself so proud. Stop by the nurse on the way out for your sticker and lollipop.
October 3rd, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Rich, where do you find these people? Your article was great, but some of these comments are downright hilarious. Thanks, man, I needed the laugh. Keep the faith…
October 5th, 2007 at 5:49 am
[…] Rockies Celebrate… But He Still Has Not Touched Home Plate! (San Diego Spotlight). Not to dwell on it, but Rich offers his thoughts regarding the Matt Holliday/Tim McClellan fiasco that ended the Padres season. Be sure to read the comments; unintentional humor is the best kind. […]
October 12th, 2007 at 5:29 pm
Mike, I think you are misconstruing the rule, particularly when read together with the sentence immediately preceding it. To carry your argument to its extreme, a catcher could stand on home plate and block it for the entire time that an incoming throw is in the air on its way to the plate, purporting to be “fielding” the ball. That dog don’t hunt. Barrett probably had no choice but to stand where he did, but when he failed to gain possession of the ball, that was the end of the story.
October 14th, 2007 at 12:23 am
Grabit:
I played the position for years. I was never called or even warned about a potential interference call in all that time. THAT is the dog that won’t hunt. Even Tim McClelland has not referenced the interference rule. If that was what he was going to call, he would never have made the safe motion. The motion preceding interference is hands straight up to indicate play is dead.
October 23rd, 2007 at 8:45 am
Holliday definitely did not touch home, but your assertion that McClellan called him safe to get back at the Padres for the Bradley incident is absurd. McClellan blew a call, it’s that simple. I think the pause came because he honestly didn’t know what to call.
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