Extra Innings Excruciation
If only I overestimated the extra time this game took when I activated my DVR. Usually 30 minutes is enough, but not for this particularly frustrating fiasco. My recording ended after Ramon Ramirez escaped the ninth, so I thankfully missed the game-winning hit by Kevin Kouzmanoff.
Home plate umpire Bob Davidson called David Ortiz out at home when the slugger came rumbling in to score on Kevin Youkilis’s double to the wall in the first frame. Video replay showed that Ortiz got his hand on the dish before Kurt Suzuki applied the tag. I’m sure Ortiz’s reputation played into the call; it’s easy to justify such a decision when the runner isn’t exactly a speedster.
Had Davidson made the correct call in the first he wouldn’t have to deploy the Incredible Enlarging Strike Zone and the Random Balk Call to shorten the game as it limped into extra innings. Coco Crisp was ejected in the tenth for disputing Davidson’s strike calls and John Farrell was tossed as well.
Crisp might have a reputation based on initiating the brawl against the Rays on June 8, 2008, but Farrell is slow to anger.
Some good news came to light: the Red Sox organization hopes to upgrade the Jumbotron in Fenway to a $10M high definition screen measuring 17 feet by 99 feet. The Landmarks Commission will review the plans July 27. The commission should only allow the massive screen if it shows replays of controversial calls. Maybe then umpires will get a better view of the game.
| Game 94: July 20, 2010 ∙ 10 innings | ||
| Red Sox 53-41 | 4 | L: Ramon Ramirez (0-3) |
| 2B: Kevin Youkilis (23), Mike Cameron (9), Marco Scutaro (24), Darnell McDonald (11) | ||
 Athletics47-47 | 5 | W: Andrew Bailey (1-3) |
| 2B: Coco Crisp (5), Jack Cust (8) | ||
