Doug Eddings

It's really not fair to either team to blame the outcome of last night's Game Two of the ALCS between the Angels and White Sox on an umpire, but.... Doug Eddings, last night's home plate umpire, made a terrible call in the bottom of the ninth inning on a third strike swing-and-miss by Chicago's A.J. Pierzynski with the score tied at 1-1. Angels catcher Josh Paul caught the low pitch from Kelvim Escobar. Eddings pointed to Pierzynski and called him out. Pierzynski glanced back at Eddings and then took off for first base as the Angels were walking off the field -- he then stole second base and scored three pitches later on a Joe Crede double. The series is now tied at 1-1 with the action heading back to California. The biggest problem was the confusion caused by Eddings. He raised his fist to make the out call and also admitted to not making a "No Catch" call to the catcher. Paul naturally assumed the play was over, rolled the ball out to the pitchers mound and headed to the dugout. Hopefully this will not take anything away from what has been so far a terrific ALCS. Both the White Sox and Angels deserve more than a memory of an blown call in a critical moment.