Japan Vs Curacao

I don't often openly criticize an ump, but the guy behind the plate at the Japan/Curacao game left a lot to be desired!

In the top of the 1st when the kid laid down the bunt, he not only was running to the left of the foul line, but he was running on the grass which was at least a foot inside the foul line! the batter/runner did move to the outside about 2 steps from 1st, but by then it was too late! The pitcher who was trying to make the throw had absolutely no chance to get the ball to the 1st baseman. This was the same ump who made another "no call" on exactly the same play in an earlier game.

Another call he made was awful. He called a 3rd strike on a ball from a right handed pitcher to a left handed batter, with the catcher setting up outside that the catcher couldn't reach! This wasn't a hook from a lefty, it was a FB from a righty. I'm sorry, but that call sucked!

In the area of brilliant announcing, one boy got a hook and managed to dump it into right. Harold tells us how great that kid did by recognizing the pitch and then going with it and driving it to right. OOPS! Harold, should have told the director not to replay that one.

As they were replaying it in slo mo, you could see the kid recognize the hook ok. You couldn't miss it because he started bailing out as soon as the ball left the pitcher's hands. I have to give the kid credit though, even though he was pulling his head and shoulders out and had his foot stepping towards the 3rd base coach, he did get his bat on it.

I noticed that the pitcher from Curacao didn't make eye contact with his coach when he came to the mound in the 1st. Obviously that kid was raised poorly and is disrespectful. I think they should have pulled his Visa and had INS give him the boot!

Hey! How 'bout those Japanese kids lining up on the 1st base line to cheer for the defense? And did you notice how they had their hat bills bent almost into a "V"? What's the matter with that coach and those kids? That's a terrible thing to do! One of the most disgusting things I've ever seen on a ball field was watching those Japanese kids hollering during an at bat! Made me want to puke! That's not how real baseball players act! INS should get them too!

But probably the thing that made me the most angry was when they told us about what the Curacao team did when a team they were playing was stealing signs from them. They actually started hollering the signs out loud, in Dutch! That's an insult to the other team to flaunt their ignorance like that! Forget the INS! Get out the firing squad!

If anyone looks hard enough at someone else, its easy to spot differences and flaws.