SELLING IT….Umpire Doug Eddings’s blown call in the bottom of the ninth of Wednesday’s Angels-White Sox game was indeed a blown call for the ages. On the bright side, though, I’ve learned something new: umpires are supposed to “sell” their calls. I had no idea. Here’s what the ump himself said:
“The only thing I’m down on myself for is I should have sold it either way,” Eddings said, which is umpire language for making a big deal out of whatever call he makes. “I should have said, ‘No catch,’ or if I did have a catch, that he was out. But I never said he was out.”
Here’s former Angels manager Buck Rodgers:
When it came time to sell the biggest call of his life, Eddings appeared to panic.
….”The kid caught the ball, the umpire rang him up, and it would have been fine if the umpire had just kept selling the call,” Rodgers said. “The minute he stopped selling the call, all hell broke loose.”
I suppose this is common knowledge among serious baseball fans, but it’s news to me. I’ll be watching tonight’s game intently to see if the umpires redouble their on-field theatrics.
