We Know What You Did Last Night, Eddings

Any umpire will tell you that if, when the game is over, you haven't noticed them and you don't know they're name, they've done their job. By this measure, Doug Eddings had a poor day at the office. As the world wakes up this morning to a steady stream of vitriol at the umpire for his strange call last evening that might have cost the Angels a two-game lead, Eddings has gone from a guy whose name usually just showed up in box scores into one of the most well-searched men on the Web. In the span of about nine hours.

The disgust with Eddings appears to be less with the call itself and more with his signalling of the play, which made catcher Josh Paul think the batter had been called out. No matter what you think of the call — well, all right; it was lousy, and we all know it, let's not pretend — it's clear that Eddings isn't going away. People are digging into his past as a replacement umpire, pointing out that he's 36 and single and been blasted for being inconsistent and a liar (this argument, by Angels blogger Chronicles of the Lads, is rather convincing, actually). No matter what happens in this series, it seems obvious that Eddings will be the most lasting memory.

Fortunately for Eddings, the call went against the Angels rather than, say, the Red Sox. It's not like their fans can really get all that fired up. What, they're gonna go after him with ThunderStix?

Breaking It Down [Chronicles Of The Lads] Bad Call In Chicago [Baseball Musings] Doug Eddings, Replacement Umpire [AmericaWantsToKnow.com]