Why do the Umpires Hate the Phillies…
Posted: August 9, 2009 Filed under: Dailies | Tags: Bako, Chicago, Confessions of a She Fan, Cubs, Defense, Ed Rapuano, Feliz, Helms, Howard, infield, Lopez, Marlins, Moyer, Nats, offense, outfield, phillies, Rollins, RSBS, sweep, Umpires, Victorino, wanted 15 Comments| What can anyone say about a game that your team gets demolished 12-3 to complete a sweep, in your own ball park, by a team that just got swept by the Washington Nationals. Just about the same as has been said for the last couple of weeks, offense, defense and pitching, without these you don’t have a ball club. A little unfair to Jamie Moyer, since he put in a good performance, held the Marlins at bay, between a couple of bad located pitches and some bad located fielders, the Marlins edged a small lead and Moyer was replaced by the bullpen. Not so bad 2 runs down the Phillies have come back from worse. So with 2 outs and a runner on 3rd and a runner on 1st, who else but Ryan Howard could come to the Phillies rescue, he’s been the hottest hitter the last couple of days, so now the Phillies have a chance, one big hit and it’s back in the lead, or he could walk then we would have bases loaded for Ibanez, almost as good, you would think….
That’s when the home plate umpire, Ed Rapuano decided the Marlins needed some assistance, so he called Howard out on strikes, wrong call, okay I am biased, so you decide…
The home plate umpire had been having issues with his strike zone depending who was on the mound and who was in the batters box, but that wasn’t it, this was a critical call and he got it wrong (in my opinion), the interesting thing was before Howard came up to the plate, you could hear the audible of Ed saying to Howard “it’s hot out here big fellow” I’m sorry but out of context that sound bite could be very damaging for Ed… You’d think that would be the end of it, ‘in Philadelphia’ I hear you saying, okay so the crowd probably won’t let him forget it, but they didn’t get the chance. With the Marlins now batting and Helms at the plate and Lopez on the mound the sequence of balls and strikes went something like this…
You guessed it the crowd went absolutely crazy, as you can imagine the Phillies players weren’t that impressed either… Rollins shows his displeasure…
Look closely in the back ground behind Feliz you can see Victorino, who also shows his displeasure…
And then… it can only be described as all hell breaking loose, I may have only been watching baseball for 24-25 years, but I have never seen an outfielder be ejected for raising his arms, and needless to say it upset Victorino…
He came racing in from the outfield, almost threw Bako to the ground to get at the umpire, fortunately for Victorino, Howard is bigger and stronger and man-handled Victorino to the dugout, otherwise he would have surely ended up with a suspension. That sort of put a damper on things, the Marlins went on to score 6 runs in that inning, and yes you guessed it, the crowd let Ed know of their displeasure at every opportunity. The Phillies managed to scrap back just 2 runs and the Marlins went on to add another 3 runs in the 9th. So to finish a brief message to Ed Rapuano, stay out of Philadelphia, the fans have long memories, and if the league have any sense they will not assign him a game with the Phillies for sometime or this poster could become the norm around the City of Brotherly Love.
The Phillies go on the road to Chicago, they have a day off Monday, which if they are wise, it will be used to find their missing offense and defense. Then on Tuesday we will find out if the fact that, “Jesus hates the Cubs” according to the book of Psalms, or was that RSBS, I sometimes find it hard to distinguish between them, they are on occasion both full of useless, but humorous information. The point being we will find out if the umpires take pity on them for the curse cast upon them by this #2 blogger, yes it’s true and fortunately for everyone here, we would never live it down if there wasn’t a she fan with a confession to keep the combined efforts of a lonely Tigers fan and a (insert your own word here) Cardinal fan in their place.
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Phillies Outside Archive Vault 
I saw the important highlights and all I can say is a) ouch b) ouch and c) Victorino has some real balls and I definitely admire his reaction. Never seen a CF thrown out before while playing defense. Amazing series of events right there… glad it wasn’t against my guys.
–Jeff
http://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com
http://mtrredstatebluestate.com
Good luck in Chicago. Hope the Umps are better there!!
Ginny
http://watercooler.mlblogs.com
Peter: I hate it when umpires take control of the game like that. The Yankees always get bad breaks, but nothing like what your guys went through! What was the ump trying to say by ejecting Victorino? That is just stupid. Maybe that ump will get in trouble. That Queztech thing they have, where they check all the calls, should come back to bite him. Those calls were just ridiculous. I sympathize for you. -Virginia
http://southernbelle.mlblogs.com
Yeah, umps do seem to hate us this year. It’s like winning the series put a huge target on us and they are all coming out firing.
Jenn
http://philliesphollowers.mlblogs.com/
This whole series was disgusting, we just need to forget it and go to Chicago and win a couple games. What i’m bothered by, was that Lidge has been looking better as of late, and then they bring him in in a game that is out of reach so he can get tagged again, that was unnecessary. Regardless, i’m glad it’s over. I’m concerned about whats going to happen with the rotation, in the argument of Happ v. Pedro, I think we know who should start, honestly Charlie.
http://thepitchersduel.mlblogs.com/
turn it around against teh cubs! i really dont wanna see them in the playoffs
http://pittpeas.mlblogs.com
Haha, nice entry. There is some guy named CB Buckner, or something like that, who umps, & he stinks! He never calls strikes , strikes. & Then, all of a sudden, he will just call the same pitch he called a ball, a strike!! It’s confusing. http://tribechick.mlblogs.com/
-TC
Amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like that either. In general, the umpiring has been abysmal this year. I’m not sure why. It just seems that there has been an unwillingness to check with other umpires on controversial calls and the balls/strikes calls have been so questionable. Maybe they’re threatened by instant replay. Or maybe they all need a trip to the eye doctor! Good luck against the Cubs.
– http://janeheller.mlblogs.com
I don’t know if the umps hate the Phils, but after seeing the pics showing where ‘ball four’ on Howard was, and where ‘strike three’ on Wes Helm was located, as well as the picture showing JayRoll’s more blatant response to it, I can see why Victorino was so livid over it. Shake head. Of course, that idiot isn’t going to get reprimanded for it.
Well, the best cure for this weekend? Take it out on the next team in their sights. I hate to be the Cubs right now if I Phils decide this week to wake up.
http://philliesredpinstripes.mlblogs.com/
That is some crazy stuff right there. You should’ve seen a call on Friday night during the Angels/Rangers game. The homeplate umpire actually “consulted” with the Rangers’ catcher and then called Maicer Izturis out on strikes. One of the strangest things I’ve ever seen. I always try to believe that bad calls all even themselves out by the end of the season. Post season’s another story. (2005 ALCS vs. White Sox…that one still hurts.)
Lori
http://luckylori.mlblogs.com
Umpire Bias in Philly? That’s strange. I think Shane Victorino’s ejection is much more strange. Hopefully the Phillies will turn the tables on the next opponent the Cubs. I don’t think the umpires should be a big problem there.
Matthew Tang
http://matt7.mlblogs.com/
I have said this about some of your previous posts, but jeez man, impressive. Great breakdown of the umpire situation. Showing the pitches and all, wow. You set the bar there.
Can’t with you luck in Chicago, though. My Cubs need the wins more than you do. You guys seem fine in your division. The Cubs have to catch the Cards (Jesus may hate the Cubs, but everybody else things the Cards are wankers) and knock them down where they belong–2nd. The Cubs have been pretty hot lately and if the last series these two teams played is any indication, this is going to be pretty competitive.
http://raysfanboy.mlblogs.com/
A lot of umps these days seems to be completely off. It’s incredibly annoying. It makes me want to go out and buy contacts for all of them, and scream “BE CONSISTENT!!!!!” at them numerous times.
– Lisa
http://perennialpinstriper.mlblogs.com/
Peter, good luck tonight. Hope the umpires do a better job for you guys!
Ginny
http://watercooler.mlblogs.com
This is an awesome post! I loved your analysis of everything with the pictures. It gave me a real picture of the game by seeing all those snapshots. But really, how can an ump do such a bad job in one game!
-http://the3rs.mlblogs.com/