Mark Teixeira's walk off home run in the 11th inning ended one of the most exciting baseball games this long time Yankees fan has seen in a while. This game will more likely remembered for another blown call. In the top of the 11th, Umpire Phil Cuzzi called a ball hit by the Twins' Joe Mauer foul. Replays show that the ball landed in fair territory, costing Mauer a double. He ended up with a single instead. The Twins did end up loading the bases with no outs and still failed to score a run, so who knows if this bad call really made any difference in the game's outcome.
There is an excellent article in today's Star Ledger, "An ump's life means living on a fine line". This article discusses Cuzzi's journey to become a MLB ump. What I like about Cuzzi is that he is a stand up guy who admitted his mistake Friday night.
It turns out that Cuzzi is a Jersey guy. He lives in Nutley, no more that 20 minutes from OCLI! Once more extend my offer to a ref in need. If Phil Cuzzi wears glasses or contact lenses, and if LASIK could improve his performance on the field, I would be more than happy to provide the LASIK free of charge. Even if that call did benefit my Yankees!
