Umpire chooses sleep over integrity.

In the 19th inning of a game that would just not end, umpire Jerry Meal takes it upon himself to end it.   The Braves had players on 1st and 3rd with one out, pitcher Scott Proctor at the plate.  Proctor hit a grounder to third and Julio Lugo charged home.  In routine fashion, Pedro Alvarez fielded the ball and threw a strike to Michael McKenry who was able to tag Lugo twice, on the leg and then the arm, clearly about three feet up the line from home plate.

Safe.

Unbelievable.  Meal should be suspended for such blatantly poor judgement.  That game deserved better.  The game overall deserves better.  Clint Hurdle, “You’d like to see the game finished by the players, win or lose, and for it to end that way, is as disappointing as it gets in a game.  You had every player in the game and for it to end that way… the game deserves better than that. The game tonight deserved way better than that.”

I normally feel bad for umpires.  They have a thankless job that only gets recognized when they do something wrong.  The fans owe umpires in general much thanks for what they do.  But, I hope Pirate fans remember Jerry Meal, and if he should ever come to PNC Park, that they boo him from start to finish whenever he is involved in a call that goes against the Bucs.  Boo him no matter how obvious the call may be correct.  Because it is obvious to me that making the correct call does not always matter to Meal.

Boo!