Jays lose in 6, the terrible call that “caused” it, and why I’m not upset and you shouldn’t be either.
The Toronto Blue Jays played a phenomenal [last half of the] season. A season which resulted in the team reaching the ALCS (and playoffs in general) for the first time in 22 years by going on a magical run that allowed fans to watch as they went from a barely .500 team, to the top of the MLB power rankings in only a few short months.
Acquisitions of All-Stars like David Price and Troy Tulowitski, coupled with season long stellar play from Josh Donaldson and Kevin Pillar left us all with high hopes going into October, and maybe too many of us with too high of expectations.
The Jays played a tough series against the Rangers in the ALDS, and from that poorly officiated series came one of the most shameful things I have ever seen (https://www.change.org/p/royal-canadian-mounted-police-investigate-mlb-for-match-fixing-and-conspiracy-against-the-toronto-blue-jays).
I wouldn’t say there isn’t some merit to the claim, but we started coming off as the whiny, uppity, soccer-moms of the North when bullshit like this comes up. Bad calls happen, suck it up, and don’t give them the opportunity to screw you over in the future. And that’s what the Jays did. They came back and took three in a row to win the series in convincing fashion, proving they don’t need MLB or umpires on their side to win games when they can knock balls out of the park, and indisputably record outs and score runs.
This all brings me to game six of the ALCS. Moreover, the Moustakas “homerun” that will in no doubt result in some online bullying after it’s already popularized meme:
(img from: i.imgur.com/y20uIOp.jpg)
This is the only thing I really wanted to talk about after tonight’s loss. I saw a lot of disgruntled and upset faces as I came into work for my night shift. People were abuzz about the “bullshit home run”, but seemed to quickly forget after Jose Bautista homered for the second time to tie the game at 3-3, but after the loss it all reverted back to that “bullshit home run” again.
I can not argue whether or not that ball would have gone over the wall had that Amish kid not reached out to catch the ball. All I can argue is this: If a ball in play is at all interfered with by a patron to the stadium, that play should be limited to, and ruled as an automatic double.
Now, I’m not arguing that the ball wouldn’t have gone over the wall, but no one got to see what the actual outcome would have been due to fan involvement. If the ball would have cleared the wall, if it would have hit the top and bounced over, or if it would have fallen just short and stayed in play, we will never know.
The problem here, is that the evidence (video and photographic) are ambiguous. I can not say with 100% certainty that that ball would have gone over the wall. I also can’t argue that it would have stayed in play, and therein lies the problem. The bearded KC fan, who will likely be heralded as a hero in some circles, made contact with the ball at a point when it was still in play.
We could argue all day whether or not the call was the correct call, but the FAIR call would have been an automatic double/ground rule double. The Royals wouldn’t have been hindered by the call (still getting a runner in scoring position), more importantly, they wouldn’t have been awarded a questionable home run that should probably have an *. The fan is a loser in either regard, he either cost the Royals a home run, or put the Jays down another run.
Part of the allure of attending a game is the possibility of catching a home run or the less glamorous foul ball. As a result, stadiums put seating as close to the action as possible which leads to the undesirable outcome of fan interference. In this case, the fan reached out and his glove crossed plane of the wall dividing the spectators side and the in-play side. His glove also obstructed the plane, leaving the only fair decision to award an automatic double, as neither Bautista or Pillar were close to catching it.
We will never know what could have happened had that play been ruled differently (Correctly), but I’m not angry about it. And the reason is this: in the top of the 9th, Jays had the tying run on 3rd with no outs and failed for the 12th time in the game to bat in a runner in scoring position...
What this loss comes down to is simple, and probably unpopular opinion North of the border; The Jays didn’t have it tonight.
A deep enough fly ball would have scored a run, why not try a bunt with runners on 2nd and 3rd with only 1 out? Sure you may get thrown out at the plate, but you still advance a runner to 3rd and there’s no threat of ending the inning with a double play.
But I digress.
The Jays, their fans, even the fair-weathered bandwagon hoppers, have nothing to be angry about. The Blue Jays made it to a point none of us could have envisioned in July. The American League Championship Series. They ended a 22-year playoff drought, acquired some top tier talent that will hopefully stick around long term, and united an entire country. #ComeTogether
All-in-all a great year for baseball, a fantastic year for the Jays, and a magical year for the fans.
Congratulations to the Kansas City Royals. See you next year!