Bugs should not decide the result of a baseball playoff game.
With a cloud of bugs reminicent of a biblical plague harrying his face, eyes, nose and mouth, Joba Chamberlain, relief pitcher for the New York Yankees, threw a wild pitch that allowed the tying run in the Eighth inning of the second game of the Yankees-Indians ALDS series. The game went to eleven innings where the Indians eventually won the game.
The umpires should have stopped the game before the wild pitch and not allowed it to continue until the insect infestation had stopped. I am not suggesting anything that is new. I recall games that umpires halted due to excessive wind where the wind was causing dust to be blown into players eyes. That was less disruptive than the insects were in tonights game. The insects were completely visible via the telecast in the air and on the players faces and bodies. Players were waving their hands in the air at the insects and shaking their heads to attempt to get relief. Several times, the trainers for the teams were called out in a vain attempt to improve the situation by applying insect repellant to the players. These are not the conditions in which to play a game.
Without the insects, Joba shuts down the Indians in the Eighth inning, Rivera comes in in the ninth inning as he did and closes it out. Joba threw only one wild pitch in the entire regular season and is known for his control. In the seventh inning, before the insects became a problem, Joba Chamberlain had completely silenced the Indian hitters. The Yankees should protest the game. Insects should not be the determining factor in a baseball playoff game.
