Jim Palmer: “Ed Rapuano Embarrassing”
After watching the Red Sox win in 11 innings at Toronto I turned my attention to the Yankee - Orioles game. Down by a run but with a runner on first and Jay Payton at the plate New York brought in Rivera to get the third out.
Payton would eventually look at a third strike without lifting the bat off his shoulders. He had no choice. The pitch was unhittable. Not because it was a perfect pitch, but because it was 8 inches inside. Even with the break of the cutter after the pitch passed Payton it wasn’t close to being a strike.
Good pitchers get close calls; that’s common knowledge. But this wasn’t close. This wasn’t borderline. It was a ball. Jay Payton had no chance.
The theory when it comes to blown calls is that they balance out over the course of a game; in the end, it’s fair. Against a team like the Red Sox, with similar star power and payroll, I might agree. But against the Orioles, already fighting with inferior talent and less than a third of the money, it sure didn’t feel fair.
After coming back from the break Oriole color man Jim Palmer had obviously viewed a replay and called home plate umpire Ed Rapuano’s call “embarrassing”. And it was. I didn’t watch the 9th inning. The game had already been decided.
