Yankees 7, Phillies 3. History does not repeat itself.
BY MIKE WOLVERTON SPORTS GUY Here’s all I’ve got to say about Game 6 of the World Series: it pissed me off when third base umpire Brian Gorman rang up Chase Utley to end the 7th inning. And I’m not even a Phillies fan, I’m just a baseball fan. Why do they even appeal to the base umpires on a checked swing? It’s not as if the “line of demarcation” is the third base (or for that matter the first base) line, you don’t have a definitive view from that angle. You’d be better off asking the guy in the on-deck circle. The definition of a checked swing is vague at best — the rulebook calls it a “half swing” but doesn’t clarify where a half swing begins and ends. It’s strictly a judgment call, and as such I’d rather have it made by the guy five feet away than by the guy 100 feet away with no angle. The Utley checked swing was a 50/50 call (or in my opinion 65/35 no swing). It was the Phillies’ last, best chance to get back into Game 6. It deprived us of the excitement of Utley, the hottest hitter in the World Series, batting with a couple aboard. If he reached, Ryan Howard was in the wings for the tying run. The last drama of the 2009 World Series ended with an umpire’s call 100 feet away from a half swing. Sad but true as blue.