Controversial call on check swing ends the Giants season against the Dodgers in the NLDS

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

I'm no fan of the Giants, but I don't agree with ending this series on a check swing where it looks like the batter held up.

 

[O's84]

The batter clearly held up.  Such a shame it ended the game and the series from these two titans.  I would be extremely pissed if I was a  Giants fan.

[Sports Guy]

Its like watching an Os/Boston game in Fenway.

 

[LTO's]

Hopefully they develop some way to fix the check swing calls. Seems to be one of, if not the most, inconsistently called things in baseball. I personally don't think this being called correctly would've changed the outcome of the game though I'm sure Giants fans are going to convince themselves otherwise as all fans would. 

[Frobby]

Yeah, terrible call.   But Fangraphs said the Dodgers’ win probability was 90% before the AB started and higher than that when it got to 1-2.   So it probably didn’t change the eventual outcome — but we’ll never know for sure.   It really is a shame to see a tight, crucial game end like that.   

[LA2]

It was a bad call and the ump was a jerk for ending it that way. Well, now there are no teams left that I like. Maybe I cd force myself to root for the Braves, but TBH I'll be disappointed in myself if I watch any of the remaining postseason games.

Let me add that I was in a bar where all the people were Phillies or Yankees fans (actually most of them had originally been there for the Eagles game) and the immediate gut reaction to the call was very vocal disbelief. Things like this shouldn't be allowed to happen. Is the logic behind giving umps immunity on half-swings because there would be too many challenges? If so, why not just limit them to one or two per game?

[LA2]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Yeah, terrible call.   But Fangraphs said the Dodgers’ win probability was 90% before the AB started and higher than that when it got to 1-2.   So it probably didn’t change the eventual outcome — but we’ll never know for sure.   It really is a shame to see a tight, crucial game end like that.   

A one-run game with a runner on base and a home team batting that had beaten the odds all season--Giants fans still had some legit hope.

[Frobby]

6 minutes ago, LA2 said:

A one-run game with a home team batting that had had beaten the odds all season--Giants fans still had some legit hope.

Can’t argue with you.   Stranger things have happened, by far.

[Spy Fox]

The check swing rule has always seemed like one of the most vague and inconsistently applied rules. Similar to balks, but it should be more objective than balks. The rule should be clarified and also made reviewable. 

[OsFanSinceThe80s]

1 hour ago, Frobby said:

Yeah, terrible call.   But Fangraphs said the Dodgers’ win probability was 90% before the AB started and higher than that when it got to 1-2.   So it probably didn’t change the eventual outcome — but we’ll never know for sure.   It really is a shame to see a tight, crucial game end like that.   

I don't think it would have made a difference with Scherzer pitching, but let the players end the game and not on a judgement call by an umpire. 

[SteveA]

27 minutes ago, OsFanSinceThe80s said:

I don't think it would have made a difference with Scherzer pitching, but let the players end the game and not on a judgement call by an umpire. 

Yeah, and Flores was 0/17 career vs Scherzer and still had two strikes on him.   Probably didn't alter the outcome, but such a shame for a game and a team's historic season to end on a clearly bad call like that.   Almost as bad as not using your best pitcher in a do or die situation and losing on a walkoff home run.   At least Roberts had the balls to use Scherzer and all his other best pitchers in the game that mattered.

[O's84]

There was probably only a ~10% chance the Giants comeback and win that game, but that's better than 0%. Just wish it had been decided on the field, that's all.

[LA2]

20 minutes ago, SteveA said:

Yeah, and Flores was 0/17 career vs Scherzer and still had two strikes on him.   Probably didn't alter the outcome, but such a shame for a game and a team's historic season to end on a clearly bad call like that.   Almost as bad as not using your best pitcher in a do or die situation and losing on a walkoff home run.   At least Roberts had the balls to use Scherzer and all his other best pitchers in the game that mattered.

Yes, Flores coming through then, had he gotten the call, would have been even more unlikely than...Cody Bellinger and his .165 season batting average knocking in the winning run for the Dodgers!

I think it's telling that in post-game interviews the umpires crew chief, Dave Roberts, and a few LA players couldn't bring themselves to stating agreement that it was a swing. Even Morales used the excuse that he can't resort to video replays on the field. Kepler was classy and said, as Showalter often did after Orioles losses, that there were other reasons the Giants didn't win, such as well-hit balls that were caught and going 0 for 5 with RISP, and Ruf even said it evens out a crucial call he benefited from earlier in the season against LA.

Quote

When asked after the game, if after watching replays of the call, if it was a swing, umpire chief Ted Barrett did dance worthy of a Washington politician.

“Yeah, no, we, yeah, yeah, he (Morales) doesn’t want to say,” he stammered.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/controversial-nlds-game-5-checked-swing-call-will-linger-among-giants-fans-for-generations/ar-AAPzasD

Quote

Dodgers manager Dave Roberts was asked about the check swing after the game.  

 "I'm trying to sell it as much as I possibly can. So it's baseball and, it's baseball, and ultimately we won a ball game," Roberts said.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/dodgers-giants-game-5-ended-in-controversial-fashion-here-is-how-the-baseball-world-reacted/ar-AAPzhqQ

The Giants seem to be a classy team in general, with, of course, fine personalities like Posey showing the way. I wish them a fine 2022 season, although one would think it's nearly impossible for them to match what they accomplished this year. Ditto for the Rays, who I really wish had eliminated Boston.