...and now pitching...

[D. Bergin]

Originally Posted by jingram058

Not the same as putting a position player in to pitch, but now that it, too, is history, and because it was fun, how about Rollie Fingers striking out Johnny Bench during an intentional walk in a World Series game?

https://youtu.be/nR0jGrfQCu4


Pretty cool. That said, we complain about umps today, but can you imagine the uproar, with tv strike zones, instant replay and social media today?

That pitch was like 3 inches outside (AND poorly framed by the catcher), and Bench just walked right back to the dugout, like it wasn't the slightest bit unusual for a pitcher to get that pitch called in his favor back then. Doesn't hurt that he's a catcher, and he wants his guys to get that call to.

I can't scroll through my news feed in any given day without seeing an "Ump gets roasted on twitter for worst strike call of the year", "News" post. In most cases, it's some pitch that on slow motion replay, lands about 1 inch outside of the computer perfected televised strike zone, and is perfectly framed by the catcher behind the plate.

Comment section is littered with "This ump should be fired/killed/strung up/eviscerated/sent back to Single A ball" posts, as if they should have some sort of "Black Mirror'esque" robot eye schematic device in their heads in order to get every borderline call correct, and match up with the television feed that everybody's getting back at home sitting on their couch.