Brian Runge Revisited

[longflyball]

Remember Mr. Runge and his 10-foot wide strike zone. How could you forget?

Moments ago Washington starter Shawn Hill struck out Houston's J.R. Towles looking on three pitches...but all three were called balls by the home plate umpire. Towles eventually walked. After I finished cussing at the TV I looked to see who was calling the game. It's Runge. All three pitches were belt high and over the plate. Runge seems to have taken the strike zone, which is supposed to be taller than it is wide, and laid it on its side, so it is wider than it is tall.

Does anyone remember better than I whether or not Runge's zone was large vertically that night against Seattle? Or was it only large horizontally?

As I was about to send this off he called a strike on a pitch about 6 inches off the ground. Is this baseball or golf?

MLB's bad umpires detract significantly from the joy of watching a baseball game. At least for me. Rant over.

[byrdz]

No one can be worse than tonights ump, C. B. Bucknor.