[chumdawg]

Five-o, thanks very much for the insight. But I'm still not sure I know the answer to that one question. What is the umpire supposed to do on a swinging strike three where the ball hits the dirt? What motion is he supposed to make? Is he supposed to say something?

If he's supposed to say something, then why doesn't he say something when the runner is safe at home but misses the tag? He doesn't say "No tag!", does he?

Or maybe he does. That's what I am trying to figure out. It was my impression that the umpires have no responsibility to say anything until the play is OVER. And in the case last night, the play was still live.

I mean, there is a certain amount of things that the umpires just do not intercede on, right? It is up to the defense to appeal when, say, a runner leaves early on a sac fly. The ump knows he did it, but he won't do anything about it unless the defense asks him to. So why in this case should the ump be compelled to step in and help the defense out.

Paul was an absolute idiot on that play. One of the most brain-dead plays I have seen in a long time. And they can't be blaming it on any "mechanic" by the ump. Paul didn't even see the ump. He acted completely on his own.

And at the very least, he had to know it was close. And after watching more replays last night, I'm convinced that it bounced in. ESPN News showed me a good still shot picture of the ball in contact with the dirt. And from the side angle shots, if you watch the shadow of the ball, you see that it's pretty much meeting the ball a split second before the ball disappears behind the glove. And from the front shot, it seems pretty clear that the ball changes direction.