Instant replay made its debut at Wrigley Field last night, signaling a new era in baseball and a new tool for umpires. But if you needed a reminder that the element of human error was, is and will continue to be a big part of the game, the vice president of MLB umpires told the St. Petersburg Times Thursday that Doug Eddings got that A.J. Pierzynski call wrong after all."Mike Port, MLB's vice president of umpiring, told the St. Petersburg Times on Thursday that it was "a missed call" and that in making the split-second decision, Eddings thought he saw runner A.J. Pierzynski "impeded more than he was" by Aybar, the Rays' third baseman.
"Looking back at that occurrence, for the first and last time, it was a missed call," Port said. "And it was not because Doug Eddings, an umpire with 10 years' experience and 10 before that in the minor leagues, didn't know the application of the rule, but just that in the moment in applying the rule, he saw something he thought was more than it turned out to be."
Eddings was the first to admit that he had made the wrong call, apparently.
"Port said that after watching replays, Eddings was "the first to admit" he was wrong and said so to MLB officials who regularly review controversial plays. There is no recourse, however, for the Rays.
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