It's funny.

I was listening to the Rockies' feed on MLB Audio Thingy, and they were complaining for, oh, most of the game about the blown call earlier and how MLB needed instant replay "for situations just like this". :-)

Still, good times were had by all. What a game!

Greatest single-game playoff of all time? Shot Heard Round The World my arse, this was much better.

Great game! I was rooting for the Pads, but I'll take that game any day.

David,

You seem to suggest that this was an okay call. It's pretty clear the guy didn't touch the plate. So, why was he safe? Can you explain?

Very fitting to see a season with such horrible officiating end on a miss call by the umpires. I like the rockies but they need to do something about this because it is simply out of hand.

The Pads' catcher also tagged Holliday when Holliday was laying a few feet from the plate in pain. Not sure if that tag happened before or after the ump called it safe, though.

Just to bring up a point other than the blown call..... Brian Giles' throw from shallow right was a total lollipop. Not that it excuses the umpire, but you'd expect a better throw from your right fielder, especially when it's that shallow.

what. a. game.

Remember, the ump didn't have the instant replay. If you look at the play, it does look like Holliday's hand gets under Barrett's foot. The ump may have thought it got under far enough.

Yeah, but at least the throw was on line unlike the starting center fielder's earlier throw. That guy was awful, and I couldn't help but feel bad for him out there. Still, what a terrible throw, and he played Holliday's earlier hit the at-bat before into a triple--I guess it was a good attempt, but he probably should've played the wall and held him to a double.

The umpire couldn't really see the hand from that angle. And even if there was instant replay, don't know that there was enough evidence to overturn the call. The dirt obscures where his hand went. It looked like Hollidays hand moved the foot back over the plate so it might have touched it, thats probably what the umpire thought he saw. But it doesn't matter, what a great game.

Ivan

The umpire couldn't really see the hand from that angle. And even if there was instant replay, don't know that there was enough evidence to overturn the call. The dirt obscures where his hand went. It looked like Hollidays hand moved the foot back over the plate so it might have touched it, thats probably what the umpire thought he saw. But it doesn't matter, what a great game.

Ivan

It's pretty clear the guy didn't touch the plate.

Not sure which game you were watching, but I've seen thre play about 10-12 times, and its not at all clear if he did or didn't touch the plate. When TBS finally slowed down the angles enough times, it appeared as though one of Holliday's fingertips got the plate as he pushed Barrett's foot out of the way.

I've seen way worse calls than that, and there's no way that call is indisputable, to borrow a term from football. The ruling on the field would stand if MLB had a challenge system. But, hey, what's another round of baseball playoffs without the same old instant replay debate?

Can the catcher even block home like that without possession of the ball?

And by "thre play," I meant "the replay."

Ben K.... you have to expect at least some sort of reaction to the call. It came on the deciding play of one of the best tiebreaker/playoff games in recent memory. That the call was wrong -- OK, probably wrong -- sort of kills it to some degree. As a fan, I'm not just gonna say, "There've been worse calls. Let it go."

The Padres didn't react to it. Maybe Barrett knows that Holliday got his hand in there when Matt pushed his foot back.

I wonder whether the award voters waited until after this game to fill out their ballots or not. I wonder if that'll affect Holliday's MVP chances and/or Tulowitzki's ROY chances.

When the Padres went up 8-6 I was thinking, wow, the Rockies got Bill Bucknered (Holliday) and Bucky Dented (Hairston) in the same game. Ouch.

Have to feel bad for the Padres, especially after watching the replay, but Barrett did not help the cause. The ump look undecided, Barrett reacting a bit quicker could have influenced the call the other way. Maybe not though, it was a long day and the Rockies crowd would have went crazy if they lost it after calling him out. Dinner would have been room service, and even then, he would have had to wonder if the food was poisoned or something. Playing at home has it's advantages.

What's odd about this game is that there were two controversial plays (Atkins' double/homer and Holliday touching/not touching home) and NEITHER of them could be settled by instant replay. I watched both plays many times and still don't know if that ball Atkins hit touched the top yellow line or something behind it, nor can I tell if Holliday missed the plate entirely or if some part of his hand, hip, or leg brushed by it. (If I had to guess I'd say Atkins' shot was a double and Holliday missed the plate.) Goes to show that even instituting instant replay isn't a cure-all.

As for your question, Andy, regarding whether it's legal for Barrett to block the plate w/o possession of the ball, the MLB rulebook says of obstruction:

"If a fielder is about to receive a thrown ball and if the ball is in flight directly toward and near enough to the fielder so he must occupy his position to receive the ball he may be considered 'in the act of fielding a ball.' It is entirely up to the judgment of the umpire as to whether a fielder is in the act of fielding a ball."

That leads me to believe that it's fine for Barrett to do what he did, esp considering precedent. Oddly, Bill James mentioned obstruction of home plate as a vague rule 20 years ago, and predicted that there'd be some notorious incident involving its (mis-)application, much like the infamous Pine Tar Game. This game won't generate controversy involving Barrett's role, but everyone else (Holliday, McClelland, and Giles for his loopy throw) will catch some heat.

This game didn't involve the Yanks and Red Sox. It wasn't for a pennant. It will most likely fade in collective baseball memory in the coming years. But I won't forget it. It's the most exciting thing I've ever seen, topping the 18 inning Braves/Astros marathon in 2005 and Ryan Zimmerman's walkoff homer against the Yankees in 2006. Someone in the previous thread said it best: I love baseball, the only sport I'll ever really give my heart to, because it produces games like this.

C'mon... the evidence was clear on the Atkins homerun!!! How many of you have spent much time at a ballpark!?

When a ball hits the spongy padding on a wall, it doesn't ricochet like that ball did. He hit it basically to LF and the ball took a wicked bounce into CF at an odd angle. It clearly hit something hard. Metal or concrete. Since the yellow line was painted on the spongy padding it obviously hit something beyond that. Case closed. Since Atkins didn't come around to score, the Rox should have been up 1 run from that point on. I'm not bitching about the umpires not being close enough to the fence to make the call, I'm not bitching that they should have been able to see the ball hit the railing behind the fence, I'm bitching because people (umpires and announcers) who've been around a baseball stadium all their life don't know the different between a baseball hitting metal/concrete or foam. That's ridiculous. My friend said Orel Hershiser commented on it, congrats to him for being the only one with three living brain cells on that network.

As for the play at home, we've got to remember the umpire has a split second to see that. That was an incredibly tough call. And from his vantage point he probably saw Holliday's hand sneak in underneath Barrett's foot. Or perhaps he just made the call based on the fact that Holliday basically beat the throw. 99% of the time umpires will just make the call based on who gets to the base first, the runner or the ball. A lot of those quick 'phantom' tags actually miss, and I always think about that when they show a runner surprised he was called out mouthing "he didn't tag me." True he didn't tag you, but the ball beat you, so I guess he doesn't have too. That seems to be how the rulebook is called. It's easier to judge from an umpires point of view.

Lastly, shame on the announcers. The color guy was terrible! No one talked about the missed HR call. And at the end they didn't once mention the huge mistake that Holliday made by sliding headfirst into home. Anyone who has played should know you NEVER slide headfirst into home unless you're trying to knock the catcher over. He wears armor, which means if you're likely to get hurt. I've heard half a dozen coaches tell me that over the years. It would have been a great opportunity for the announcers to sooth the nervous public (because ESPN/FOX/et al does such a great job at sustaining controversey and myth). Here's how that final play should have been announced:

- Rox win! What a game!!! Let's take another look at the final play.
- It was a really tough call for the umpire because Holliday's hand was under Barrett's foot.
- He was probably out, but Holliday basically beat the ball so that's why he got the call.
- "Makes up" for the earlier blown call on Atkins HR.
- For all you youngsters at home, this is a great example of why you don't slide headfirst into home. From the video, it appears Mr. Holliday did some serious damage to his shoulder, hand, or possibly both. He might not be able to play in the postseason because he didn't follow this basic fundamental. Sliding headfirst into home is very dangerous and doesn't help you beat the throw. If the catcher opens up part of the plate, then slide for that. If he blocks it, then slide around him with a hook slide.
- Show/comment on happy Rox players/fans.

Is Holliday hurt? It looked like he recovered OK last night.