First base umpire C.B. Bucknor was at the center of the storm, blowing two calls -- one in the fourth inning and one in the sixth -- that replays showed were clear outs for the Red Sox. The Angels also took exception to one of Bucknor's calls in the fifth, and while it's easy to make a target of an umpire who has been voted the worst in the league by the players on multiple occasions, the entire crew was poor on Thursday night.
He no longer appears to have the incredible bat speed to pull that off.Crew chief and home plate umpire Joe West called interference on catcher Jeff Mathis in the third inning. It was difficult to see where he interfered on replays. Boston reliever Takashi Saito
limited the damage in a potentially disastrous seventh inning with 5-2-5 double play, only the video on that play showed third base umpire Greg Gibson incorrectly ruled that Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell made the tag on the back end of that two-fer. He now needs to sit on or cheat on the fastball inside and open up his front side earlier. By doing so, he is unable to stay on his back leg long enough to drive the outside pitch with any authority.
He no longer appears to have the incredible bat speed to pull that off.Crew chief and home plate umpire Joe West called interference on catcher Jeff Mathis in the third inning. It was difficult to see where he interfered on replays. Boston reliever Takashi Saito
limited the damage in a potentially disastrous seventh inning with 5-2-5 double play, only the video on that play showed third base umpire Greg Gibson incorrectly ruled that Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell made the tag on the back end of that two-fer. He now needs to sit on or cheat on the fastball inside and open up his front side earlier. By doing so, he is unable to stay on his back leg long enough to drive the outside pitch with any authority.
