Welcome to the Ump Show!

I was ready to write a completely different post today, but that will have to wait. Instead, I’d like to discuss the officiating we just witnessed this series. A bit asinine to be complaining about umpires after your team just won 2 of 3 on the road, but sometimes you can’t avoid the elephant in the room.

And boy, did we have a doozy of a crew on our hands these past three days. Gary Darling and company were well on display from game, starting with refusing to review a foul ball hit off the pole here:

Notice anything different about this photo? Let's have a closer look:

The left side of the Western Metal Supply building doesn't have an off color yellow stripe, does it? That's because this photo was taken in 2008. That means that the Padres decided they needed to paint a pointless stripe on the foul side of the building AFTER home run replay was instilled.

Even still, the flat out refusal by the home plate umpire to use a tool developed to make his job easier  was borderline juvenile.

Then the next night, Darling blows a strike call behind the plate, then appeals down to his third base umpire who also misses call. Oh, and then Roenicke gets ejected for arguing without stepping a foot out of the dugout.

Yes, the third base umpire thought he held up here.

And finally in game 3, the boys in black added a cherry on top by squashing the Brewers rally with this whopper:

I do get unnerved now and again by officiating, and there are times when I’m wrong. I’ll openly admit that. But this time? I think I speak for both the Brewers and Padres fan bases when I say that the all around umpiring was nothing short of abysmal.

Behold the strike zone from last night for Marco Estrada:

The right corner of the plate was closed for construction, apparently.

I understand each umpire dictates a ball and a strike in their own way, but good lord, Estrada couldn’t get the right side of the plate if he tried. It’s a minor argument that happens almost every game, but it's still ridiculous how badly the zone can fluctuate to this degree. And all of this doesn't even include the calls at first base, where any Padre or Brewers who wasn't clearly safe stood no chance of being called so. And actually, it was the Padres who got more of the raw end on these calls.

Look, I’ve never umpired in my life. I imagine it’s a bit of a stressful job, and it’s a national pastime to give grief to the guys who actually do it. But man, there’s making questionable calls, and straight up refusing do your job correctly. We unfortunately had to witness the latter the past few days.