FanHouse DougEddings

On Sunday, A.J. Pierzynkski bailed himself out of some atrocious baserunning by manufacturing a B.S. interference call that not only saved the White Sox an out but also awarded him third base, where he eventually scored the winning run.

I saw it, you saw it, everyone in the stadium saw it (here's video - fast-forward to the 3:13 mark) but the umpires. Second base umpire Doug Eddings is the one who blew the call, but third base umpire Ted Barrett came to his defense after the game:

"As a runner, you're allowed to (make contact). What Doug ruled at second base was, even though A.J. did kind of stick his arm out to make contact, Aybar was still in his way, so A.J., if he would have turned, he wouldn't have been able to continue on to third. So after making the throw, Aybar is no longer in the act of fielding and he can't obstruct the runner, which is what Doug ruled happened.

Yeah, nice try, Ted. On Thursday, Mike Port, MLB's vice president of umpiring, came clean to the St. Petersberg Times, admitting (albeit in a nice way) that Eddings did in fact blow the call:

"Looking back at that occurrence, for the first and last time, it was a missed call," Port said. "And it was not because Doug Eddings, an umpire with 10 years' experience and 10 before that in the minor leagues, didn't know the application of the rule, but just that in the moment in applying the rule, he saw something he thought was more than it turned out to be."

Hooray! And as a consolation, Port tweaked the standings to take away Chicago's win and give it to Tampa Bay! Oh wait ... he can't do that? Funny enough, I think that probably annoys fans in Minnesota more than Tampa Bay.

He's one of the most hated players around the league, and I understand the the thought process behind every fan that boos him when he steps to the plate or is introduced to the crowd. He is A.J. Pierzynski and he may have just saved the White Sox season on Sunday afternoon.

The Sox were on the verge of being swept at home for the first time this season and possibly falling even further behind the Twins when some heads up thinking by Pierzynski saved the day. After Paul Konerko singled home Brian Anderson with two outs in the ninth inning and sent the game into extra innings, A.J. led off the bottom of the tenth with a single.

That's when the odyssey of A.J. began. First he showed once again that he's the smartest base runner the White Sox have by tagging up from first on a deep fly to center by Carlos Quentin, and getting into scoring position with one out. Then a few seconds later he became the dumbest base runner in the world when he took off for third on a Jermaine Dye grounder to short.

A.J. was quickly caught in a rundown when the gears in his brain began grinding. There's no way a slow-footed catcher was going to be able to outrun a bunch of middle infielders, so he needed a new plan.

The Fanhouse's look at the day's most intriguing matchups

Detroit Tigers (9-8) vs. Chicago White Sox (9-7)-1:05PM Est.

The Tigers have led in the first two games of this series, but everytime they've gotten that lead, they've given it up. On Saturday Carlos Guillen hit a 1st inning grand slam off of Jose Contreras and the Tigers still lost 7-5 in extra innings. The White Sox have now won four games in a row as their bats have come out of hibernation to join the pitching. It's going to be up to Justin Verlander to keep Jon Garland and the White Sox from a sweep in Detroit.


Colorado Rockies (7-11) vs. San Diego Padres (11-7)-3:05PM Est.

The Padres have beaten up on the Rockies in the first two games of this series by a combined score of 18-4. In their last three games the Rocks have been outscored 26-5. They're what we call "struggling." Greg Maddux will take to the mound looking to finish off the sweep for San Diego, and avenge David Wells' round mound. Is it a coincidence that the Padres haven't lost since Doug Eddings called Wells fat? Probably, but the real reasons are no where near as fun.


Boston Red Sox (11-5) vs. New York Yankees (8-8)-8:05PM Est.

Okay, so I don't really want to include this game for the third day in a row, but it meets all the "qualifications" for today. The Red Sox are one game away from sweeping the Yankees right out of Boston. If they pull this off Red Sox fans will cease their pizza and beer wars and focus all their time on hating the Yankees, which is what they should do. Not to mention Daisuke Matsuzaka is going to the mound for the BoSox and he doesn't have to face Felix Hernandez this time, so he's bound to be the star.

Come on kids, what are we, in 6th grade? Apparently so. Long after making his exit from Wednesday night's game in San Diego, Padres starter David Wells was in the dugout when there was a disputed play on the field. Alberto Callaspo grounded a ball to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez, who flipped to pitcher Mike Thompson who was covering first. Only problem was Thompson missed the bag, allowing Callaspo to reach safely. It was at that point, that David Wells, who was already upset over controversial calls earlier in the game, blew up at umpire Doug Eddings, prompting his ejection from the game. David Wells explained his reaction:

But he said Eddings took it a step further as the umpire "rubbed his belly" as if to call Wells "fat."

Said Wells: "I thought (Thompson's) foot was on (the bag). Replay shows it did and that's where the frustration comes out ... I understand they're trying to do their job as well. You get riled up. I got riled up. I said, 'You didn't miss one, you missed two.' Things started heating up and he was over there chirping and chirping and he tossed me out. Then he made a gesture ... that to me is stepping over the line. I take it personally."

"That's false. I would never ..." Eddings told the Associated Press.

I don't know what Eddings did or did not do, but check out Wells' reaction to being ejected:

I'm not a lip reader, but I know Wells was not happy.

Previously at FanHouse:
David Wells Would Head-Butt GM Kevin Towers
David Wells Is Giving Up Beer Because of Diabetes
David Wells Is Changing His Lifestyle