Lousy call, lousy game, lousy system: A lousy Braves’ exit
This was a warm and fuzzy moment. The rest of the night stunk. (AJC photo by Curtis Compton)
Why to hate baseball’s newly minted play-in game: Because you can be, as the Braves were over the course of six months, the demonstrably better team and still give a performance that fuses the three-error Brooks Conrad game of October 2010 and the Epic Collapse of September 2011. Because you can go home having sipped from the postseason cup for all of 189 minutes. Because you can put yourself in position to be rooked by those darn replacement umps.
Wait. These aren’t replacements? These are the real umpires? Is this a real sport?
Had Andrelton Simmons’ pop that dropped been allowed to stand, the Braves would have had the bases loaded and one out. When you’re trailing by three runs in the eighth inning, that’s rather different than having men on second and third with two out, which is what they wound up having. But not before the game was halted for 19 minutes as the field was cleared of the cups and bottles that had been flung, with somewhat greater accuracy than the Braves’ infielders displayed this night, by incensed patrons.
Pete Kozma, the St. Louis shortstop, was positioning himself to catch Simmons’ meek fly when he stopped running and chose to leave it to left fielder Matt Holliday. And here we note the incongruity: A shortstop deferred to an outfielder on what left-field umpire Sam Holbrook adjudged an infield fly. It was a horrible call, indefensible at the moment and more ludicrous after further video review, but this is baseball and replay can be applied only to home runs. (The Braves registered an official protest. Summarily denied.)
And thus, in its first manifestation, was baseball’s play-in game rendered a bigger joke that it appeared on paper. A team that won 94 games is gone; a team that won 88 gets to go home and play twice against the National League’s No. 1 seed. One bad performance. One lousy bit of umpiring. Season over.
“You’ve got to judge a team over the 162-game season,” said Braves’ manager Fredi Gonzalez, classy in bizarre defeat. “Anyone can have one bad call [go against them] or one bad game.”
His team was guilty on the latter charge. The team that made the fewest errors among National League teams offered up three in the span of four innings, leading to four unearned runs. Each was on a throw, each by an infielder. First Chipper Jones, playing his last game. Then Dan Uggla. Then the aforementioned Simmons, a rookie shortstop at the center of nearly everything Friday night.
The errors turned a two-run lead — and Chipper, speaking before the game, had suggested the game’s first run could be the determinant — into a 6-2 deficit after 6 1/2 innings. By then the unbeatable Kris Medlen was gone, having yielded only three hits and two earned runs but about to become a loser as a starting pitcher for the first time since 2010. That left the Braves in comeback mode, and there were moments when they appeared capable of climbing the mountain. But Chipper swung at the first pitch and grounded out in the seventh with two men in scoring position, and Michael Bourn struck out with the bases loaded to close the infamous eighth, and Uggla, representing the tying run, ended the season by grounding to second.
Said Gonzalez: “We didn’t score runs, and we didn’t handle the baseball.”
Said Chipper: “You give a good team extra outs and it ends up lightning.”
To his credit, the man who will play no more faulted himself above all. “Ultimately when we look back on this loss we have to look ourselves in the mirror,” Chipper said. “We put ourselves behind 6-2. Three errors cost us the ballgame, and mine [a fourth-inning throwaway of a cinch double play] was probably the biggest. I’m not willing to say a call cost us the ballgame.”
Because he always been a stand-up guy, you wanted it to end better. Still, in his final at-bat the great Chipper Jones managed to block out the deafening ovation and the applause from the Cardinals’ dugout — he tipped his helmet to the crowd and pointed to the visiting team — and the flashes from camera-phones and remind us why he was so great. He worked the count to 3-2 against the heat-bringing Jason Motte, and finally he put bat on ball (breaking said bat) and legged out an infield hit. Down to his and his team’s final strike, he got a hit.
We’re lucky that, as time does its work, we’ll have our memories of Chipper Jones to keep us warm. And maybe someday we can get past the strange doings on a lousy night in October 2012, when a good team played badly and got unlucky to boot, and thanks to this silly professional “system” it was eliminated. At least in the College World Series they play double elimination.
By Mark Bradley
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516 comments Add your comment
Day Old Fries
October 5th, 2012
10:24 pm
nats wooda swept them anyway.
Birdhair
October 5th, 2012
10:25 pm
Personally, I am disappointed because I know this was our last chance to make a playoff run for the foreseeable future. As long as we have Frank Wren there is no hope.
KK failure, Dan Uggla failure, Nate McOut failure, Drunk Lowe failure. Michael Bourn mediocre player. $155M funds wasted. Unacceptable for a middle market franchise.
Frank wren should be fired tomorrow.
Drexel Gal
October 5th, 2012
10:25 pm
As a former Orioles fan, I have two words for suffering Braves fans: “JEFFREY MAIER”.
Phillip Barton
October 5th, 2012
10:26 pm
It hurts … it always hurts … to see a team you live, breathe and bleed with daily go out with a whimper after having a great season.
Regardless of the call by the umpire the Atlanta Braves will always be in my heart forever and I look forward to bleeding with the team in the coming years as they try to win another World Series.
Well done Chipper!
I will miss you … and God bless you and yours (weeping)
How Bout Them DAWGS!
How Bout Them Falcons!
How Bout Them Braves!
Hawks ? Just go back to sleep
tyler
October 5th, 2012
10:27 pm
In my 25 years of watching MLB I’d say I have seen probably 100 bloop singles or more. That is all that was. And to hear the umps at a press conference say they made the right call after watching the replay is so insulting I’m not sure MLB will get me back this time. I’m already down over 50% from my peak interest before the strike, and the reality is I can definitely do without people insulting my intelligence over a game I’ve already become jaded to. Ah, it’s great getting old, huh.
Basically, from now on, any time a team has runners on 1st and 2cnd with 1 out or less and a flyball is hit between the outfielder and infielder, the infielder need simply run backwards and wave his hands in order to record an out. Oh, as long as the outfielder at least meanders his way toward the ball as well.
I can take a bad call, but I am to old to have some out of shape, incompetent, dishonest, fame seeking, and quite frankly after his press conference completely lacking in integrity umpire tell me to my face I am incapable of understanding the rules of baseball. MLB might think they needed to show solidarity, and for all I know or care, maybe they did. I’m out the door with Chipper, and I can promise not one dime of my money will ever go directly to MLB again.
Tom
October 5th, 2012
10:28 pm
Paul White for the USA Today is about the only person who is saying it is a correct call. Everyone else recognizes you don’t call IFR that late… it defeats the spirit of the rule which is to communicate a situation where an infielder can easily make a catch and let everyone else know that baserunners can only advance at their own peril. It’s a horrible execution of a call in an iffy situation since the infielder was clearly not making a simple catch (otherwise the outfielder wouldn’t be potentially calling him off).
E.O. Wheeler
October 5th, 2012
10:29 pm
I
Glen047
October 5th, 2012
10:30 pm
From Sports Illustrated article:
To put Friday’s controversial play into context, in the past three seasons, there were six infield flies that were not caught, according to Baseball Info Solutions, the longest of which was measured at 178 feet.
Friday’s infield fly was measured at at 225 feet from home plate, according to Baseball Info Solutions.
Art Fowler
October 5th, 2012
10:31 pm
Artties Insight: I think worse ways to end the year like if the whole team had bad diareah. My uncle Booster said that has happened because the 1988 Red Sox ate bad peanuts.
Choppinmama
October 5th, 2012
10:31 pm
Enter your comments here
Marcie holt
October 5th, 2012
10:31 pm
Chipper did it right and he has a great set of parents that helped.
cloudodust
October 5th, 2012
10:32 pm
Tom — When the IF’er pulled off the ball, the late call from Ray Charles the Ump was a gift to ST Louis. He’s due a 12 pack of Bud. That being said, Thanks Chipper.
Bowie Kuhn
October 5th, 2012
10:32 pm
Single game and done? Who thought of this stupid system?
Why play 162 games for a single sudden death playoff?
If this is such a great idea, then put all the teams in the playoffs (which would start on Labor Day), and play the entire playoffs as single elimination tournament. Imagine the fun when Houston or the Mets gets lucky and knocks out a top tiered team in the first few rounds.
No more of my money MLB – this system sucks!
Let's Go Reds
October 5th, 2012
10:32 pm
Had the infield fly call not been made on the play, neither the Cards nor the Braves would have ever protested that it should have been made. And that’s why it was the worst call I’ve ever seen in a baseball game.
Glen047
October 5th, 2012
10:32 pm
I have been umpiring for 25 years in some form and fashion……and the rule says “comfortably camped under the ball.” He was closer to left field position than shortstop…….horrible call………
Choppinmama
October 5th, 2012
10:32 pm
And the two MLB Joe’s (both with Cardinal ties) were left to handle the Braves protest. Denied! Wow, I’m so surprised!!
Should be best 2 of 3
October 5th, 2012
10:33 pm
It was a bad game but if winning meant we would have had to play the Nationals – there would have been no chance anyway. We can not beat them.
JS
October 5th, 2012
10:33 pm
Another fine article, Mr. Bradley, couldn’t agree more.
Answer this
October 5th, 2012
10:33 pm
Cant hate the system…last year we cried because the system was not there to protect us, this year we cry because it kills us. Can’t have it both ways!
1. Win games you supposed to win during the season it does not come to this
2. Don’t make errors and it does not come to this! Especially my hero the veteran, playing what could have been and turned out to be the last game for you! Can’t make that error Chipper…simple!
3. If you do make the error don’t come up first pitch swinging when you have a chance to make up for the error you made….that killed us also!
4. Never leave the game in any officials hands….we the new Green Bay!
5. What manager tries to squeeze with a slow catcher on third when your rookie SS got a hit his last at bat…….you get one guess!
6. Never let a crowd like that down…..can you see why its so hard for us to keep showing up?
7. Leave all those runners on base and you don’t deserve to win…..simple! To many chances to only get one run……1?
8. Medley gave up 4 hits, 3 hard hit balls one of which Heyward robbed, one left the park and the other was a double…..only thing he did not do well was hit…..but do we have to pay him to do that also?
9. Not what Bourne…..don’t know if we pay you now or not!
10. McCain you may have lost your job if you don’t come back healthy!
sorry guys I am a huge fan and I am hurting right now..so I had to vent….on to the Falcons
E.O. Wheeler
October 5th, 2012
10:33 pm
Interleague play, unbalanced schedule, all-star game that counts, one game play in. What will
they come up with next? MLB, what a joke.
Brooks Conrad
October 5th, 2012
10:33 pm
If you guys see Chipper, Uggla, and Simmons please ask them to return the gloves I loaned them.
Marcie holt
October 5th, 2012
10:34 pm
Chipper was a stand up person. And had great parents guided him.
Yankee
October 5th, 2012
10:35 pm
And a lousy pimp to scribble the whine. Bradley isn’t a journalist; he’s a pimp. But, hey, Jake, it’s Atlanta and the crumby Dunwoody Journal-Constitution.
Should be best 2 of 3
October 5th, 2012
10:35 pm
Day Old Fries – absolutely agree.
Mark
October 5th, 2012
10:35 pm
Despite the earlier comment that this was the correct call – a review of the rule book clearly shows it was NOT the correct call. The first point, it is supposed to be made “immediately” – not when the ball is 20 feet from the ground. And the infielder has to be able to make the play with normal effort – that was not normal. The third base umpire did not call it – which the “infield fly” probably should be called by the infield umpire. It was not immediate – which is intended in order to allow the runners to tag and not get caught half-way, as they were here. Horrible call and Torre showed he no longer has the guts he displayed in Atlanta so many years ago.
Highly Respected Southern Troll
October 5th, 2012
10:35 pm
Highly Respected Southern Troll …are you ready to cum out of the closet yet?
superiorblogman
October 5th, 2012
10:36 pm
Horrible. The errors, the lack of hitting with guys in position, and the officials in every facet of life. From the mythical religion figures that never help anyone to parents who can not raise there children, to teachers having sex with kids, to elected officials, to sports officials and authorities.
People are not built to regulate other people and myths don’t directly do anything for sensible people. Civilized society needs to get it together
Dawgeer
October 5th, 2012
10:37 pm
If this protest isn’t upheld, why have a protest system at all? By the way, has a protest ever been upheld?
JC
October 5th, 2012
10:37 pm
THE BRAVES DID WHAT THEY ALWAYS DO IN THE POSTSEASON AND THAT IS TO “CHOKE”!!!
YOU CAN’T BLAME A “PHANTOM” CALL BY THE UMPIRE AS THE REASON THE BRAVES LOST..EVEN WITH THE BASES LOADED AND 1 OUT IN THAT SITUATION THE BRAVES WOULD HAVE FOUND A WAY TO LEAVE MORE RUNNERS ON BASE..AS IT IS, THEY LEFT 10 ON AND HAD ONLY 3 RUNS ON 12 HITS..UNACCEPTABLE!! THE PEOPLE I FEEL THE MOST SORRY FOR IS THE BRAVES’ FANS WHO FOR YEAR IN/YEAR OUT HAVE COME TO WATCH THIS TEAM CHOKE CONSTANTLY IN THE POST SEASON!! THE FANS DESERVE BETTER THAN THIS, ATLANTA..SEEMS LIKE THE TEAM IS UNDER SOME KIND OF CURSE OR SOMETHING!!
Choppinmama
October 5th, 2012
10:37 pm
I ask, was that the shallow outfield or the deep infield umpire that made that call? Or, as it shall ever be referred to in the Braves annals, The Call.
A whole season done in by The Throwaways and The Call in The Play-In Game.
sam
October 5th, 2012
10:37 pm
Been watching baseball since i was 8 years old, and I’m an AARP member now. THIS was the worst call I’ve ever seen. Ever. Who knows what would have happened if the crew chief had the stones to overturn this call, or if MLB did the stand up thing and upheld the protest. But now, all you young folks are going to be hearing about this the rest of your lives.
billydawg
October 5th, 2012
10:37 pm
MLB should be held accountable for this pathetic excuse for officiating.
Chipper
October 5th, 2012
10:38 pm
C H O K E !
dave
October 5th, 2012
10:39 pm
John Remelius- the call was not correct, he was not supposed to wait till the ball was a foot off the ground to make the call. asshat!
Mark
October 5th, 2012
10:39 pm
This should answer the question as to whether the Braves pony up to keep Bourne next year. Go with Costanza – at least he puts the bat on the ball most of the time. Never saw a lead-off man strike out as much as Bourne and it killed us tonight. We knew it all year – Wrenn did not address the weaknesses we had last year and they cost us Friday night. With the replacement umps, we never had a chance.
superiorblogman
October 5th, 2012
10:40 pm
Only protest ever successful is Ryan Braun’s. LMAO.
Something special about that guy.
JSS
October 5th, 2012
10:40 pm
You worse nightmare has come true…
Clusters was right!!! Y’all got live with it!!! Delicious!!!
Beachdawg
October 5th, 2012
10:41 pm
So right Choppinmama….forgot THAT connection. Torre’s a punk
Rickey Reynolds
October 5th, 2012
10:41 pm
Hey Braves fans it’s simple win the division and you don’t have to play an extra game to get in the real playoffs.
Chipper
October 5th, 2012
10:41 pm
C H O K E !!
Choppinmama
October 5th, 2012
10:43 pm
Mark: all what you said and………there was no way the Cards outfielder would have been able to make the double play…….the other part of calling the “protective” infield fly rule. Deliberate infield drop enabling the defense to make a double play on the runners who, when the ifr is called may “andvance at their own risk.” Absolutely no way a db would have been made.
Todd Grantham
October 5th, 2012
10:43 pm
Yankee, it takes a slut like you to so easily identify a pimp
a
October 5th, 2012
10:43 pm
1. Was there 2 men on and less than 2 outs? Yes.
2. Was the ball popped up on something other than a bunt or a line drive? Yes.
3. Was the 3rd basemen making a clear and obvious attempt to catch the ball with ordinary effort? Yes.
Then the rule applies.
The rule does NOT say it has to be caught in the infield or outfield or even in fair territory. The rule does NOT say the ball has to be caught. All the rule says is that it must be an obvious catchable ball, AND the umpire should make that decision sooner rather than later. If the umpire makes the call, and the guy routinely just dropped it, it still doesn’t matter the batter is out. It was not a horrible call at all, professional ball players are taught (or should be) that if the umpire makes that call, that you DROP it because the runners still have the option to run, and the fielder has the option to try and get a second out. For all we know the third baseman acted like he was giving up on the play inentionally because the call was made in an attempt to get the base runners to run.
Ptc dawg
October 5th, 2012
10:43 pm
Bad call, bad showing by the Braves, terrible format for the playoffs. Just bad
Dawgeer
October 5th, 2012
10:45 pm
I will look forward to the examples MLB can dig up showing a similar call in a similar situration. In my many years of watching baseball, I’ve not seen one.
Cletus Van Damme
October 5th, 2012
10:45 pm
I’m sick and tired of hearing Braves fans complain about the playoff format. Under the old system, the Wild Card winner in each league qualified the same as the division winner with the 3rd best record (opening on the road in a 5 game series).
Now, the two Wild Card qualifiers in each League have to survive a “one and done” playoff game…in order to qualify for a 5 game series.
I dont care how much better the Wild Card team with the best record played over the other Wild Card team. I feel that the fair thing to do…is to reward the division winners with automatic bids into the Division Series…while the 2 Wild Cards in each League fight it out in a “winner advances” play in game.
Yeah, we had some bad calls today. However, we have ourselves to blame for putting ourselves in a “sudden death, susceptible to bad calls” plan in game! It took Braves management 17 Randal Delgado starts to realize that he sucked (Braves went 5-12 in his starts)…..even though Kris Medlen had excelled as a starter in 2010 (before his elbow went out).
Our clutch hitting was a joke! If it wasnt for outstanding pitching….we may not have made the playoffs (our offense took the month of September off).
With a dominant bullpen (and a resurgent starting rotation led by the dominant Kris Medlen) we should have won the division. Instead, we found ourselves in a truly “Wild Card”, wild card type play in game.
When you dont take care of business….you end up putting yourself in a position of getting unlucky. That…plus the three errors and lack of clutch hitting throughout the game……let to us losing.
Fredi Gonzalez made a heroic decision to start David Ross over Brian McCann. I guess he decided that his job managing was done…because he took the rest of the night off. Our guys on the field were mentally not prepared to play ball tonight.
Yadier Molina was right after the game. He said that they (the Cardinals) play the game to win…while we (the Braves) play to not lose.
STL
October 5th, 2012
10:45 pm
Die hard cards fan here, I will be the first to admit it was a botched call in the 8th and the Braves should have had bases loaded with one out. But what about the Lohse stricking out Ross in the 2nd only to have the ump call time right as the pitch is thrown??? Next pitch, yep 2 run HR. Can’t expect to win with 3 errors in the game and 10+ LOB. Two years in a row the braves have choked to the Cardinals… on behalf of Cardinal Nation THANK YOU!!!
Michigan Brave Fan
October 5th, 2012
10:45 pm
Worst call of all time. Holbrook’s facebook page probably has him wearing a cards jersey. Of course the Braves sucked tonight because they always choked tonight, but to add that on top makes it even worse. And to think that a league that has 162 games has a 1 game playoff, that’s retarded.
Beachdawg
October 5th, 2012
10:45 pm
On ESPN web page..every state, except Missouri, in the nation thinks it was a bad call by nearly 80%. You’ll not see that umpire any more THIS season.
Ptc dawg
October 5th, 2012
10:45 pm
Simply a seeing eye bloop single, simply a blown call.
No wonder Mlb is losing viewers, the refuse replay to get calls correct.