Ryan Howard

[Written by, David J. Miller]

The Phillies trailed the Houston Astros by one run heading into the bottom of the 9th last night. Down to their final out, Jimmy Rollins hit a solo home-run to tie the game at two.

The Phillies has won their last seven extra inning games so I was feeling pretty good about making it eight straight. The Braves and Cardinals had already lost. We could maintain (and extend) our lead in the Wild Card and gain a game in the tight NL East race.

And then, it happened. Batter after batter, and pitcher after pitcher entered the game for both teams, and neither team could produce even a single run.

It would have been so sweet for Carlos Ruiz to hit a walk off on his bobblehead night, but alas, he did not.

Several innings later (in the 14th) Ryan Howard came to the dish with two outs and ducks on the pond. It just felt right. Howard is in the midst of a slump after being so hot at the plate before his stint on the DL and this would have been the perfect moment to break out of it.

With one strike, Howard attempted to check his swing. The appeal went down to the third base umpire who called it a strike. No arguments there; Howard clearly went around. The umpire, Scott Barry, is a replacement ump, called up because the regular umpires were on vacation (in late August during a pennant race).

Howard cursed and Barry was not happy. Howard clearly told the home-plate ump that he was just angry at himself. Barry put his hands on his hips and stared Howard down. How dare Ryan Howard, former Rookie of the Year, Home-Run Derby Champ, MVP, and World Series Champion show up Scott Barry, an all important replacement umpire?!

With two strikes Howard checked his swing. This time he clearly did not go around. The appeal again went to Barry who called Howard out on strikes. The call was not made by Barry’s eyes but rather by his ego. Howard tossed his bat and Barry immediately threw Howard out of the game.

Howard was livid! He had to be restrained by teammates. To add insult to more insult, Ross Gload was also ejected from the dugout. Gload is currently on the DL.

Without any position players left, the Phillies were forced to play a pitcher, Roy Oswalt, in left field (first time that has happened since 1971) and move left fielder Raul Ibanez to first base (a position he hadn’t fielded in over five years). While Oswalt made the first out of the 15th inning, and Ibanez made the final one on a great play (he dove to reach first base before Michael Bourn, who is so fast that he leads the league in stolen bases, could reach the bag) the Phillies still had to let a pitcher bat in the bottom of the 15th. In fact, the Phillies now had two pitchers in their line-up.

In the 16th inning, forced to use pitcher David Herdon after everyone else had been exhausted, the Phillies finally allowed two runs to score. Ibanez could have ended the inning on a double play before the second run scored but he dropped the ball at first base.

In the bottom of the 16th inning, with two outs, Placido Polanco walked. The Astros then intentionally walked Chase Utley to get to Roy Oswalt who was forced to bat. That would have been Howard’s spot. The Phillies lost the game 4-2.

It was bad enough that replacement ump (and full time chump) Scott Barry called Howard out on strikes but to run him out of the game was just terrible. This culture of umpires today is worse than the culture of steriods. These clowns act like the are gods of the game and if any player dare defy them then they just toss them out without a second thought. Scott Barry may have cost the Phillies a valuable game last night and the worst part is, he will still get to umpire the final two games of the Phillies vs. Astros series.

I put together a Facebook group to protest umpire Scott Barry’s ability to call any more games against the Phillies this season. He clearly now has a chip on his shoulder and will not call the game fairly. If you’re on FB, please check it out and sign up: http://www.facebook.com/home.php?sk=lf#!/group.php?gid=151048864922209&ref=ts

Roy Halladay takes the mound tonight to face off against former Phillie J.A. Happ who was sent to the Astros in the Roy Oswalt trade.

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