In sports, referees and umpires often make some brutal mistakes. They often catch too much flak in my eyes as they are only humans. However, the five blown calls in this article are unforgivable and should have never been missed.
1. 19th Inning Mistake
While players and umpires alike ae probably worn out and exhausted after nearly 19 innings of a ball game, this blown call should never have happened. The Braves and Pirates were knotted up at 3-3 and then Braves had a man at second and third. When a ground ball was hit, the catcher caught the ball and tagged out the Braves runner a few feet before the plate. But for some reason, Jerry Meals (the umpire) called the play safe despite the play not really being close at all.
2. 1985 World Series Mistake
While mistakes during the regular season happen and are often forgiven or forgotten, but when these mistakes happen in the playoffs or god forbid the World Series, the sting lasts a bit longer. In game 6 of the 1985 World Series it was the bottom of the ninth and the Cardinals were three outs away from winning a world series. A play at first base that was clearly out was called safe, the Cardinals lost the game and ended up losing the series, with the blown call likely at least part of the reason why.
3. Galarraga’s Perfect Game Ruined
This is one of the most recent examples of a horrifically blown call and one that never should have happened. Jim Joyce is largely seen as one of the best umps out there, which makes this call even crazier. Armando Galarraga was putting on the performance of a lifetime and was only one out away from a perfect game. And with a ground ball and throw to first, the perfect game looked completed. But Joyce called the runner safe (when he clearly wasn’t), and thus ruined the perfect game. Joyce realized his mistake after the game and apologized profusely.
4. Knoblauch’s Ghost Tag
(source: realclearsports.com)
Plays such as a double play are almost always a very close play, which can often go either way. However, this was not one of them. When trying to tag a runner and complete a double play, Yankee’s Chuck Knoblauch reached to tag him, but missed him by multiple feet. Despite this, the runner was called out by the ump who clearly didn’t have a good line of sight as pictures and videos show how hilariously far away Knoblauch’s tag was.
5. Todd Helton Misses the Bag By Two Feet
Now for pretty much everyone in the stadium, this was an absolutely routine call to make. A ground ball was hit to the shortstop and thrown to the first baseman, who was clearly wayyyyy off the bag. So the player was obviously safe on first, right? Wrong. The umpire was apparently one of the only people in the stadium who saw it safe. Either the guy didn’t see the play or wasn’t paying attention and just guessed, becase it was clearly far away from being an out.
