Chris Russo wonders if MLB wants Yankees to win after replay snafu

Chris “Mad Dog” Russo wants to know what’s going on at the MLB Replay Operations center in Chelsea, New York.

Everyone has problems with replay , but for one reason or another, Major League Baseball has decided to adopt a philosophy that it won’t overturn any call on the field if it’s anything close. Instead, those in the replay booth in Chelsea will stick with the call on the field. And that’s what happened in Game 1 of the American League Division Series between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees.

In the bottom of the seventh inning, Jazz Chisholm Jr. stole second base after a leadoff single, or rather, he was ruled to have gotten in before the tag. Upon further review, Chisholm didn’t slide into second base very well, and his foot popped up about six inches before the bag. Royals infielder Michael Massey tagged him out.

Well, much to the dismay of Russo , that’s not what the call was on the field.

After Anthony Volpe and Oswaldo Cabrera struck out, Chisholm went on to score the game-winning run on an Alex Verdugo RBI single. The Yankees would take Game 1, 6-5, though the Bronx Bombers lost 4-2 in Game 2 on Monday night.

That’s beside the point, as Russo was beside himself on his Monday radio show.

“These umpires and this baseball replay system is an absolute disgrace,” said Russo. “How does anybody who’s at Chelsea — some umpire who’s blind — how does anybody sit there and look at that replay with Chisholm on Saturday night on the slide in the seventh inning at 5-5… How does anybody, on a replay, not overturn that play? How the hell is he safe? I mean, what game are you watching? You want the Yankees to win? Is this the deal?

“The baseball’s instructing that we must have New York in the World Series. I mean, how in the world can you tell me, when you have watched that over and over and over again, (Ron) Darling said it, (Bob) Costas said it; the world saw it. How in the world can you tell me that Chisholm isn’t out, and it wasn’t indisputable evidence?

“What angle are you looking for? TBS spends a billion dollars to televise these games; they got a million cameras. We saw all the angles. The angle that you needed to see, Chisholm is out. The Yankees don’t score in the bottom of the (seventh) inning if they overruled that — which they should have. They don’t score. The next guy struck out in the inning, Cabrera. Verdugo never gets up with two outs and a man on second and lines a single to left field.

“I mean, that is mind-boggling that they screwed that up in this situation. I mean, I can’t believe it that these idiots at Chelsea — and I’m sorry, call them what you want — you gotta do the job right. If you’re gonna do replay and take nine minutes, and the whole world sees that the guy is out on the slide at second base, you can’t say, ‘Well, there’s not enough evidence,’ or have some guy tell me the call stands. The call doesn’t stand! He’s out!”

[ Chris ‘Mad Dog’ Russo ]

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