ANAHEIM -- The A's dropped their protest Friday of the opening game of this series with the Angels, believing they had no chance to win it, a point on which umpiring crew chief Gerry Davis heartily agreed.

Davis said his crew studied the video of a controversial play in the ninth inning of the A's 4-3 loss Thursday night and came away strongly believing they got the call right.

The A's protested the obstruction call against first baseman Brandon Moss, but after a morning of talks between the A's brain trust in Oakland, manager Bob Melvin in Southern California and the Major League Baseball offices in New York, the A's decided not to go ahead with the protest of the call made by home plate umpire Greg Gibson.

Davis suggested the A's wouldn't have won even if a protest had led to a review of the play.

"We felt even after looking at the play that Moss did hinder and impede the progress of the runner," Davis said less than an hour before the start of Friday's game. "And that was the call, obstruction."

Davis said that it was immaterial that Erick Aybar, who was running from home to first, was out of the base line when A's pitcher Dan Otero, standing next to Moss, caught the ball and tagged Aybar, who fell down after the collision.

"(That rule) is on a ball being thrown," Davis said. "That rule isn't in effect when it's a batted ball.''


As for the A's other contention, that Aybar deliberately ran into Otero to draw the obstruction call, Davis said the umpiring crew wasn't looking for that, even when watching the replay.

"You'd have to ask (Aybar) that," Davis said. "Our concern is if anyone who has not fielded the ball is impeding the progress of the runner. That's what our concern was."

Oakland management and Melvin believe the A's case had merit, but there is no way in MLB rules to protest a judgment call, which is how Gibson's decision was classified.

"Based on my calls with the front office and the front office's talks with MLB, it seemed pretty much we had no chance," Melvin said. "It's not reviewable.

"Should it be reviewable? Yeah. When I first saw it (from the dugout), it wasn't as extreme as it was seeing it on video."

Because the Angels' 4-3 win stands, the A's (78-55) headed into Friday's game two games behind the Angels (80-53) in the American League West.

Davis said "it would help" the umpires if plays like that were reviewable, but that would extend the time of games.

"Anything that's reviewable helps us. For the sake of time there have to be some plays that are and some plays that are not," he said. "The way I understand it, that's a work in progress. The concern is the time it would take if you wind up reviewing every single play, the game is going to be four hours."

The A's players felt they'd been wronged on the call.

"(Aybar) was clearly out of the lane," Moss said. "He went out of his way to force obstruction. There was room down the line for him to run. But we're taught in that situation to go for the interference. I don't blame Aybar. It was a good play for him."

Not so for the A's. Oakland managed to escape the ninth inning but lost on Howie Kendrick's sacrifice fly in the 10th.

"I understand why it wasn't pursued," Moss said. "My question is this: What if this was to happen in a wild-card game? Or in Game 7 (of the World Series)? Are you telling me they wouldn't review it?

"This is what the review rules are for, to get the calls right. If there was replay, there's no question it gets overturned. I don't blame Greg. Everything happened in a flash. Slow it down, take the real time out of it."
