Laz Diaz Blows An Obvious Call, Ejects Bob Melvin In More Time Than It Would Have Taken To Look At A Replay

Laz Diaz has one of the largest strike zones in baseball. So presumably A's starter Brandon McCarthy thought he was getting a pitcher's umpire. That kinda didn't work out on Elvis Andrus's bunt in the sixth inning, a rare true suicide squeeze.

McCarthy caught the ball on the fly and doubled the runner off third, which should have ended the inning. But Diaz ruled the ball had dropped, the go-ahead run scored, and everyone was safe. McCarthy said he "flew off the handle." McCarthy's wife Amanda called it some "fucking bullshit." Manager Bob Melvin presumably had similar sentiments, arguing with Diaz and getting ejected for his trouble.

Look, umpires get the calls right 99 times out of a hundred. But sometimes they're wrong and are stubborn buttholes about asking for help. Not once did Diaz consult his crewmates at first or third. But even that would be unnecessary if baseball joined the 21st century and had a normal, logical replay process in place. It's not that hard. Put monitors showing both teams' broadcasts in the camera well. NBA officials consult courtside monitors all the time. Worried about slowing down the game? Make it a challenge system, so only important calls are scrutinized. A tie game against the division leader would probably qualify as important.

Oakland came back to win this one, because bat doesn't lie. But at this point neutral fans should be actively rooting for a horrid and crucial blown call in a World Series, because that's the only way things are going to change.