OT: Celebrating the worst calls in sports history

[LittleOzzy]

1. Extra seconds: As the U.S. team celebrates its gold medal in basketball at the 1972 Olympics, officials clear the court and put three phantom seconds back on the clock. The USSR team floats in a Hail Mary (the same play that hadn’t worked a moment before) and scores on a layup. The Soviets win 51-50, in what is still widely perceived as a fix.

According to legend, the silver medals belonging to the U.S. team still sit in a Munich bank vault, where they will never be collected.

6. The non-triple play: In Game 3 of the 1992 World Series, the Blue Jays got so close to history they could touch it. In fact, they did.

The Braves’ David Justice clobbered a ball into centre field. It was brilliantly snagged by centre-fielder Devon White. Baserunners Terry Pendleton and Deion Sanders crossed paths in their confusion, resulting in the second out. Sanders was then caught in a rundown and tagged out by Jays third baseman Kelly Gruber.

Inexplicably, umpire Bob Davidson judged that Gruber hadn’t touched Sanders. Replays clearly showed that he had. It would’ve been only the second triple play in a World Series game and the first since 1920.

The call had no bearing on the game – the Jays won that night, and won the series. But it robbed them of a little piece of history.

Read them all here...

http://www.thestar.com/sports/baseball/ ... ts-history

[Duffman100]

I remember watching that triple play and LOOSING MY MIND when Deion was called safe.

[distracted]

I remember watching that triple play and LOOSING MY MIND when Deion was called safe.

I remember the next day when the front page was a blown up image of the tag.

[Michael Bradley]

[Kaizen]

To be fair the ump didn't get a good look at the play. ^

[Michael Bradley]

I think Gruber made it a tougher call because instead of continuing the run down he tried to catch Sanders himself, which resulted in him diving to reach Deion's foot.

I thought a bigger blown call in that series was Game 2 when Smoltz threw a wild pitch and Alomar ran home from 3B. The throw beat Alomar there but he was clearly safe based on the replays. Cost the Jays a run. The Jays were down 1 in the 9th that game, so if Sprague didn't hit that 2-run HR in the 9th, that blown call may have cost the Jays the series (down 0-2 instead of 1-1) or at least made it more difficult to win it.

[RapsFanInVA]

To be fair the ump didn't get a good look at the play. ^

[J-Roc]

I thought a bigger blown call in that series was Game 2 when Smoltz threw a wild pitch and Alomar ran home from 3B. The throw beat Alomar there but he was clearly safe based on the replays. Cost the Jays a run. The Jays were down 1 in the 9th that game, so if Sprague didn't hit that 2-run HR in the 9th, that blown call may have cost the Jays the series (down 0-2 instead of 1-1) or at least made it more difficult to win it.

I've been watching baseball for decades now, and I was introduced to a new term by Pat Tabler the other night. The "neighbourhood play". I've been telling everyone about it. It was the play where the Jays player was called safe at second two nights ago on a double play. Tabbie mentioned that "we all know about the neighbourhood play..." That means it's understood in baseball that tags don't have to be right on. It just has to look good. So if the throw beat Robbie to the plate, then I guess that's the call.

[J-Roc]

Don't know about you guys, but all I can focus on is that mullet.

And I remember that play. He should have thrown the ball. It's a neighbourhood play. He didn't make the "right" play, so he doesn't get the call. lol

[J-Roc]

#2 with Brett Hull in the crease was pretty bad. That was a season where the NHL had a hard rule that said if even the tip of a skate is in the crease, it's called goalie interference and goals don't count. Even if the skate is a player who doesn't affect the play. The purpose was to have a hard rule with no argument. And just like you hear people say with any controversial rule "what if it happened in Game 7 of the.....", well this happened in Game 6, but it was OT and the series ended on the goal. The rule changed eventually.