(Photo by Jared Wickerham/Getty Images)

Fair or foul?  Tim Cuzzi, the left field umpire, called it foul.  Guess what, it was fair.

While I understand that an umpires job is extraordinarily difficult, and I myself would make many mistakes, the umpires this ALCS have been proficiantly bad.  In the last inning (top of the fourth) of today's Yankee-Angels match-up, I counted three bad calls:

1:  Nick Swisher called safe on a pickoff throw where he was clearly out by a foot.

2:  Derek Jeter takes ball four on a pitch nearly down broadway.  (Even Jeter did a double take on that one!)

3:  Nick Swisher called out because he tagged off third base before Torii Hunter had the ball.

That's three in one inning.

Being a Yankee fan, I'm not going to complain too much:  The calls are going for us!  But it is annoying:  I'd prefer a good, fair baseball game be played, even if it means a Yankees loss, then an arguable victory.

UPDATE:

Top of the fifth inning.  Groundball hit softly in the infield.  Posada takes off from third, Cano from second.  Posada gets caught in a rundown between third base and home.  He's tagged out behind third.  Cano, standing off the base, is also tagged by Mike Napoli.  Despite his foot is clearly off third base, he is called safe. 

Literally, Napoli planted the tag on him, and then Cano moved his lazy foot onto third base.

For 100 years of baseball, that has been an out.

Now, in the 21st century, I guess not.

This really upset Mike Scioscia.

Luckily, as well as being very leniant on safe/out calls, these umps will let you argue all you want.

It upset me, a Yankee fan, too.

FURTHER UPDATE:

Kendry Morales hits a home run.  I could swear I saw Tim Mclellen signal foul ball.

Mercifully, there'll be new umps for the World Series. 

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