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October 19, 2007
BY JOE McDONALD
Journal Sports Writer
CLEVELAND -- Manny Ramirez thought he had a home run.
''I thought it was out,'' he admitted, ''but what can I say?''
Terry Francona wasn't sure . . . but he knew what he wanted.
''I think there's a point as a manager where you don't care if [the umpires get it] right,'' he said. ''You want the run.''
In the end, neither Ramirez nor Francona got what they wanted. A long drive by Ramirez in the third inning that bounced off the very top of the wall over the glove of Indians center fielder Grady Sizemore was ruled -- correctly, it appeared on TV replays -- to have stayed in play. David Ortiz was able to score from first, but Ramirez, who had gone into his home-run trot, only got to first, prompting the Fox announcers to call it ''the longest run-scoring single in the history of baseball.''
The umpires originally ruled the ball to be in play as it happened, then got together and discussed it. After they'd talked it over, they stayed with their original decision.
''The hard thing is there's so much emotion . . . when you think you have another run,'' said Francona. ''[The umpires] hustled, they talked about it, and from my understanding, even on replays it's a little bit hard to distinguish.''
Even so, Ramirez' would-be-homer-turned-single drove in what proved to be the winning run. It put Boston ahead 2-1 at the time, and the Sox cruised to a 7-1 win.
Posted by Joe McDonald 
at 2:00 AM | Permalink
ed gaul | October 19, 2007 7:08 AM link
It's not about the HR its about the lazy bum who didn't run, who didn't slide, who doesn't care, it's not the end of the world. Hopfully, it's the end of him in Boston.