Minor League Umpire blows it - Ryan Howard Ejected - Oswalt in LF? WTF

(Philly.com Sports)SCOTT BARRY will be the second-base umpire and Greg Gibson will be checking checked swings at third when the Phillies resume their thrilling series with the second-division Houston Astros tonight at Citizens Bank Park.

For fans unable to take their eyes off the two after the events of the last 2 nights, be forewarned: This might be one of the last chances to see the two together on the same field. That's because when he's not ejecting major league stars for the first or second time in their careers, Barry spends most of his time umpiring minor league games.

Six days after handing Washington star Ryan Zimmerman his first career ejection during a game against the Cubs, Barry threw out Ryan Howard in the 14th inning for tossing his bat following a second awful checked-swing reversal from third base.


When Howard rolled his head after the first, Barry took a step toward him and leered back. It seemed like goading to me. Incensed after the second, Howard marched toward Barry as players, coaches and even Gibson attempted to impede his momentum.


"I've never seen him upset like that," Phillies manager Charlie Manuel said after the Astros beat the Phillies, 4-2, in 16 innings. "I've seen him mad, but never like that."
Two nights, two controversies for the Big Piece, whose ejection came the night after Gibson blew a base-line tag call, compounded it with what Manuel described as the most liberal interpretation of what a base line is, then hid behind his crew chief as the media sought clarification afterward.
Howard's ejection, so late in a game in which both teams had depleted their benches, forced the Phillies to play Roy Oswalt in leftfield and Raul Ibanez at first.\




What... the... fuck - Just a day after discussing blown calls by umpires - a minor league stroke job flexed his big boy muscles and called 2 checked swing strikes on Howard... The first one, maybe... the strike 3 call defines bullshit.  This chode had it out for Howard and couldn't contain himself sitting on edge waiting to call him out. Video here: Philly.com Sports

This guy should stick to AAA where his calls don't fucking matter and nobody is there to see them.

Did anyone else see how fucked the game was after this?  A pitcher making $15 million in left field, and the bullpen empty.  I was glued to the game for 5+ hours, and for it to pretty much end because Scotty wanted to play in the big leagues is horseshit.


k-mac's take: 

I'll let BigGuy get his jollies out about the umps and what not. Not even close to important in the discussion of this game. How about we don't complain about the umps and we start the M-V-P chant for Ryan Howard who put up a miraculous 0-7 with 5 K's. I haven't picked up a baseball bat that wasn't yellow and made out of plastic since 2002 and I could've put up better numbers. So let's get off the umpire's back for once and chalk up the loss to King K for not doing a damn thing for 7 at bats. The biggest issue is that we lost 2 in a row to the god damn Astros for christ's sake and are now tied for the Wild Card with the Giants. Might as well let the Mets climb back in it too while we're at it.

 

P.S. Was that Roy Oswalt shaggin that fly ball or The Say Hey Kid, Willie Mays? Such grace in the outfield from Big O