The Mockingbird

What must have made Kevin Mench’s walk off hit last night all the sweeter was that he had been getting jerked around by the umpire all night – in hs first at bat, a strike was called about 5 inches off the plate. Then in the 7th inning, Mench two identical pitches for strikes to start the at bat that probably looked more ridiculous by the time they hit the catchers glove than they were because of all the sink on them, but were the sort of borderline low strike that is very rarely called:

After he grounded out, you could lip read the home plate umpire shout back something along the lines of: “That wasn’t bullshit! You’re bullshit!”. (God I hate it when umps yap back. Absorbing abuse is in the job description). Mench didn’t give him a chance to make a call in the 9th, jumping on a first pitch slider from Huston Street that was one of the hangiest sliders that has ever hung…