Home-plate umpire Phil Cuzzi did not enjoy chirping from the Houston Astros’ dugout during Saturday’s game against the Texas Rangers at Daikin Park. And the audio of his frustration was heard on the Fox Baseball Night in America broadcast.
In the top of the eighth inning, Marcus Semien was at the plate for Texas and had a check-swing on the first pitch of the plate appearance. But Cuzzi called the pitch a ball before appealing the check-swing to first-base umpire Clint Vondrak, who ruled that Semien did not go around.
Jason Benetti and Eric Karros had the television call for Fox.
After seeing the replay, Karros said, “Oh my goodness!”
The Astros’ players and coaches couldn’t believe the call, and they let Cuzzi hear about it.
Cuzzi asked the Houston dugout, “WHAT ARE YOU YELLING AT ME FOR?!”
“Well, [Cuzzi] could’ve called it a strike. He could’ve just called it a strike,” Karros explained.
Cuzzi’s response also implied that the Astros shouldn’t be blaming him when Vondrak had the better view of a right-handed swing down the first-base line.
“I don’t know how Clint’s going to feel about that,” Benetti said while laughing.
Later in the at-bat, Semien crushed a homer to get the Rangers within one run. And the game went into extra innings, with the Astros finding a way to hang on in a 5-4 win. So, the call could’ve been a meaningful one had the Rangers won.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.