Everyone was tired. It was a few minutes before 2 a.m. ET on Wednesday. A rookie catcher named Mike McKenry barely could summon enough oomph to toss the ball back to the mound. Daniel McCutchen(notes), a reliever, was throwing his sixth inning. He hadn’t gone more than three all year. On third base was Julio Lugo(notes), a veteran who went unsigned all spring and didn’t arrive in the major leagues until a month ago. Scott Proctor(notes) was at-bat. He’s a pitcher whose last plate appearance came June 23, 2007. This was bizarro baseball, for the insomniacs and werewolves.
Behind the plate stood a man named Jerry Meals. He turns 50 years old in October and has umpired baseball games for more than half that time. He stood alone, then and about five seconds later, when he made what in the immediate aftermath was deemed the worst call ever.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...assan_pirates_braves_blown_call_replay_072711
Behind the plate stood a man named Jerry Meals. He turns 50 years old in October and has umpired baseball games for more than half that time. He stood alone, then and about five seconds later, when he made what in the immediate aftermath was deemed the worst call ever.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news;_y...assan_pirates_braves_blown_call_replay_072711
