The WBC Outrage Mob Is Crying Over A Pitch You Simply Cannot Take

Well, we've officially reached insufferable levels of fake outrage over the final pitch of Sunday's WBC semifinal between the USA and Dominican Republic. 

I knew it would happen eventually, but I figured we'd AT LEAST get to Tuesday until I was annoyed by it. But, we didn't even get close. 

Everybody is complaining about the strike three call that ended the game. Everyone is shouting about ABS this and ABS that. I haven't seen the outrage mob this upset since Team USA beat Canada a few weeks ago to win gold. 

It's stunning, really. But, also, not stunning at all. Frankly, it shows that a lot of the #MOB has never played an inning of baseball in their lives. If it wasn't obvious before, it's extremely obvious now. 

Yes, the 3-2 pitch from Mason Miller was a ball. Yes, it was low. And, yes, it was way too close of a pitch to take. 

Not in that spot. Not in that count. Not after seeing the umpire call the EXACT same pitch a strike the inning before. 

Any baseball player worth his salt will tell you the same thing today. 

Baseball has always been an imperfect game 

I could go on and on. It's a cesspool. And, of course, it's so typical. Least surprising thing ever. I get it. 

And, by the way, I understand the outrage … to an extent. It looked bad at the time. In the moment. I've been as hard as anyone on MLB umps for years now. I believe, at one point last season, I proposed a rule that allowed managers to eject THEM if the call was overturned. 

I'm not telling you that they're great, because they are most certainly not. I've seen a lot of bad calls in my lifetime. 

But this one? This call? Nope. It was fine by me, and I'd be saying that if the shoe was on the other foot, too. Because I'm a baseball guy. I played the game for years. I played for travel ball teams in Florida. I played high school baseball. I played in college. I caught major league pitchers. I hit with major league hitters. 

And by the way, I'm not saying I was some great player, because I wasn't. I was fine. Out of us three brothers, I was probably the worst. 

But I still grew up in the game, and I played it for 15+ years. And let me tell you what Dominican Republic manager Albert Pujols did NOT do after that call last night. 

He did not go to the clubhouse and bitch and moan about the call, because any hitter who has ever played an inning of baseball in their lives knows you simply don't take that pitch with two strikes. It's really that simple. 

I can promise you that ALBERT PUJOLS knew that, too. 

Bingo. 

Do you know what Albert DID tell the team after the game? The same exact thing ANY baseball coach/manager would tell his guys after losing a game like that. 

Here, I'll give it to you, word-for-word, because I've heard it a million times:

"That wasn't a strike, but that's not why we lost the game. THIS is why we lost the game."

Yep. Again, I've lived through the scenario a billion times over my life. Sure, it wasn't on a stage like that, but it doesn't matter. Baseball is baseball, and for decades – a century! – the mindset hasn't changed. 

You cannot take a pitch that close with two strikes. And if you do lose a game like that, it's your fault for putting the game in the umpire's hands. 

Look at all those chances the DR had to win that game. They had runners all over the place in every single inning. They crumbled. 

A bad call from an umpire, who literally just called that exact pitch a strike the inning before, was not the reason the Dominican Republic lost. 

We're going to dumb down the game this season with ABS, and I get it. The technology is available to us, so why wouldn't we use it? The AI boom is here, and this is just the beginning. Trust me, I get it. 

But baseball has always been an imperfect game. Last night was a perfect example. 

Real ball-knowers know the ump didn't blow that game for the DR. 

Not swinging did.