October 12, 2005: In Boston, it's Larry Barnett (1975 World Series Game 3). In St. Louis, it's Don Denkinger (1985 World Series Game 6). In Baltimore, it's Rich Garcia (1996 ALCS Game 1). In Atlanta, it's Eric Gregg (1997 NLCS Game 5). In Orange County, California, the most hated of all umpires is Doug Eddings.
Game 2 of the American League Championship Series is being played at U.S. Cellular Field (now Guaranteed Rate Field) in Chicago. The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim are up 1 game to none, and are tied 1-1 with the Chicago White Sox.
The Sox are batting in the bottom of the 9th, with 2 out. Catcher A.J. Pierzynski faces Angels relief pitcher Kelvim Escobar, who quickly gets 2 strikes. Pierzynski swings at Escobar's 3rd pitch, a split-fingered fastball that comes in very low. Angels catcher Josh Paul says after the game, "I caught the ball, so I thought the inning was over."
Eddings later said the ball had not been legally caught, but he made no audible call that the ball hit the ground. Pierzynski, already having had a reputation as a rough player, takes a couple of steps toward the dugout, but then, noticing that he had not heard himself called out, turns and runs to 1st base, while most of the Angels are walking off the field. He makes it to 1st safely. A pinch-runner, Pablo Ozuna, replaces Pierzynski, steals 2nd base, and scores on a base hit by 3rd baseman Joe Crede for the winning run.
The controversy surrounding the play concerns both whether Eddings' ruling (that the ball hit the ground) was correct, and the unclear mechanic for signaling the ruling. Eddings did not indicate no-catch signals during the game. In fact, in the 2nd inning of the same game, Eddings had ruled "no catch" on a 3rd strike to Garret Anderson of the Angels, but the White Sox were not aware of the ruling until Eddings called Anderson out as he entered the dugout.
At the time, professional umpiring mechanics did not dictate a specific no-catch signal or a "no catch" verbalization after an uncaught third strike. A mechanic was added for the 2006 season.
After the game, Eddings explained his actions: "My interpretation is that was my 'strike three' mechanic, when it's a swinging strike. If you watch, that’s what I do the whole entire game… I did not say, 'No catch.' If you watch the play, you do watch me -- as I'm making the mechanic, I'm watching Josh Paul, and so I'm seeing what he's going to do. I'm looking directly at him while I'm watching Josh Paul. That's when Pierzynski ran to first base."
Angels fans remain convinced that Eddings screwed them over and cost them a Pennant – and, since the ChiSox went on to sweep the Houston Astros in 4 straight, that Eddings also cost them the World Series. They are wrong: The video clearly shows the ball touching the ground, and Paul should have tried to throw Pierzynski out at 1st. He didn't try, and therefore Pierzynski was entitled to the base. Eddings was right, and Pierzynski acted within the rules of the game.
And here's the key: The series was still tied. While the next 3 games were going to be in Chicago, theoretically, the Angels still had as much chance to win the Pennant as the Pale Hose did. They could have shut their traps, gotten their acts together, and gone out and won Game 3 in Chicago, taken a 2-1 lead in the series, and it would have been a very different story.
Instead, like the 1996 Baltimore Orioles on the Jeffrey Maier play, like the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals on the Don Denkinger/Jorge Orta play, and like the 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers on the Reggie Jackson "Sacrifice Thigh," they let the incident get into their heads. They lost 3 straight and the Pennant. They did not deserve to win that one. The White Sox, thinking clearly, did.
Eddings later said the ball had not been legally caught, but he made no audible call that the ball hit the ground. Pierzynski, already having had a reputation as a rough player, takes a couple of steps toward the dugout, but then, noticing that he had not heard himself called out, turns and runs to 1st base, while most of the Angels are walking off the field. He makes it to 1st safely. A pinch-runner, Pablo Ozuna, replaces Pierzynski, steals 2nd base, and scores on a base hit by 3rd baseman Joe Crede for the winning run.
The controversy surrounding the play concerns both whether Eddings' ruling (that the ball hit the ground) was correct, and the unclear mechanic for signaling the ruling. Eddings did not indicate no-catch signals during the game. In fact, in the 2nd inning of the same game, Eddings had ruled "no catch" on a 3rd strike to Garret Anderson of the Angels, but the White Sox were not aware of the ruling until Eddings called Anderson out as he entered the dugout.
At the time, professional umpiring mechanics did not dictate a specific no-catch signal or a "no catch" verbalization after an uncaught third strike. A mechanic was added for the 2006 season.
After the game, Eddings explained his actions: "My interpretation is that was my 'strike three' mechanic, when it's a swinging strike. If you watch, that’s what I do the whole entire game… I did not say, 'No catch.' If you watch the play, you do watch me -- as I'm making the mechanic, I'm watching Josh Paul, and so I'm seeing what he's going to do. I'm looking directly at him while I'm watching Josh Paul. That's when Pierzynski ran to first base."
Angels fans remain convinced that Eddings screwed them over and cost them a Pennant – and, since the ChiSox went on to sweep the Houston Astros in 4 straight, that Eddings also cost them the World Series. They are wrong: The video clearly shows the ball touching the ground, and Paul should have tried to throw Pierzynski out at 1st. He didn't try, and therefore Pierzynski was entitled to the base. Eddings was right, and Pierzynski acted within the rules of the game.
And here's the key: The series was still tied. While the next 3 games were going to be in Chicago, theoretically, the Angels still had as much chance to win the Pennant as the Pale Hose did. They could have shut their traps, gotten their acts together, and gone out and won Game 3 in Chicago, taken a 2-1 lead in the series, and it would have been a very different story.
Instead, like the 1996 Baltimore Orioles on the Jeffrey Maier play, like the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals on the Don Denkinger/Jorge Orta play, and like the 1978 Los Angeles Dodgers on the Reggie Jackson "Sacrifice Thigh," they let the incident get into their heads. They lost 3 straight and the Pennant. They did not deserve to win that one. The White Sox, thinking clearly, did.
This remains the only LCS that Eddings has umpired. He had previously umpired in Division Series in 2000 and 2002, and in the 2004 All-Star Game. Since then, he has umpired in the 2017 All-Star Game; the 2014 and '20 Wild Card Games; a 2022 Wild Card Series; the 2018, '19, '20 and '21 Division Series; and the 2019 World Series. So, clearly, MLB hasn't held the 2005 ALCS incident against him.
*
October 12, 2005 was a Wednesday. Game 1 was played in the National League Championship Series, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Houston Astros, 5-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium. Seven days later, in what would be the last event at that stadium, the Astros would win Game 6 to take the Pennant.
The following season, the Cardinals opened the 3rd facility to bear the name "Busch Stadium" in one form or another, following the last one to bear the name "Sportsman's Park" (1909-1966, with the name being changed to Busch Stadium in 1953) and Busch Memorial.
Football was in midweek. The NBA season hadn't started yet. There were 5 games played in the NHL:
* The Carolina Hurricanes beat their arch-rivals, the Washington Capitals, 7-2 at the RBC Center (now the Lenovo Center) in Raleigh.
* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Atlanta Thrashers, 2-0 at the Philips Arena (now the State Farm Arena) in Atlanta.
* The Minnesota Wild beat the Vancouver Canucks, 6-0 at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minnesota.
* The Nashville Predators beat the Colorado Avalanche, 5-4 at the Pepsi Center (now the Ball Arena) in Denver.
* And the San Jose Sharks beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 4-1 at the HP Pavilion (now the SAP Center) in San Jose, California.
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