Umpire Jerry Meals Screws Over Pirates Because He Wanted to Go Home

If there’s one thing I know about umpires, it’s that we shouldn’t know their names. As long as they’re doing their job well there’s no reason to know anything about them.

Unfortunately Jerry Meals no longer falls into that category.

Meals made one of the worst calls of the season Tuesday night, sending the Braves home with a win over the Pirates in the bottom of the 19th inning. Check out the video to see the play:

What was Meals’ excuse after the game? This was his explanation:

“I saw the tag, but he looked like he ‘Oléd’ him [like a bullfighter waving a cape at a bull] and I called him safe for that,” Meals said. “I looked at the replays and it appeared he might have got him on the shin area. I’m guessing he might have got him, but when I was out there when it happened I didn’t see a tag.

“I just saw the glove sweep up. I didn’t see the glove hit his leg.”

Meals didn’t see it because he didn’t want to see it. The game lasted six hours and 39 minutes. It was 1:50am in Atlanta when the game finally ended. Who didn’t want to go home by that point?

Still, it’s no excuse to screw one team over with an awful call. As Pirates manager Clint Hurdle put it, “The game deserved better.”

Amen.

No need to end a game on a horrible call just because you want to go home. That’s the sort of thing that will land you in the same category as Joe West if you’re not careful, Meals.