Home plate umpire Laz Diaz didn't exactly help his credibility by changing a strike call to a ball during Saturday's Washington Nationals game against the visiting Texas Rangers.
It happened in the top of the fourth inning as Rangers batter Elvis Andrus had a 1-0 count. The next pitch from Nationals pitcher Doug Fister was called a strike by Diaz, with Andrus and some coaches in the Rangers dugout voicing their disagreement as they felt the pitch was low. However, without warning, Diaz suddenly turned to both dugouts and changed the count to 2-0, essentially changing the strike on the previous pitch to a ball.
The changed strike call by Diaz is highly unusual, to say the least, as this would be the first time that we've ever seen it happen in a game. Let's hope this doesn't become a trend. In our opinion, players and coaches would probably rather have the home plate umpire stick with a call that they got wrong rather than changing the call after the fact. If this happens, it could create complete chaos. People don't need another reason to not trust baseball umpires.
Video via MLB.
Moonlighting as a blogger to pursue my interest and enjoyment of sports. Former high school and Division I athlete (now a "retired" family man) that loves watching and discussing all sports. Follow me on Twitter (@HoldoutSports) and like Holdout Sports on Facebook.
