First base umpire Gabe Morales, with a better view than just about anyone else, managed to cheat one of the best season-long division chases in MLB history with a terrible, god-awful ruling that will go down in baseball infamy. He took the bat out of Wilmer Flores' hands at the end of Game 5 of the National League Division Series and prematurely ended the Giants' season.
Flores knew he didn't swing. Max Scherzer, who threw the pitch in question, knew he didn't swing. Everyone watching at home knew he didn't swing. And upon seeing a replay, the TV announcers, too, were quite positive he didn't swing.
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"I didn't think he went on the slider from Max," TBS color commentator Ron Darling said of the non-swing that was. "Gabe Morales thought he did ... Oh, boy, that's bad. That's bad."
"I don't think he went. Can't end the game that way," play-by-play announcer Brian Anderson said. "But, it's over. It's non-reviewable. It's in the books."
"That is going to be talked about for a long, long time," Anderson added. "Cannot end a game on a swing like that, which looked to be a check swing."
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San Francisco Giants
Anderson is correct. This is going to be talked about for a long, long time. And both the Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers deserved so much better than that. It's a true shame that this historic and legendary series will be forever marred by such a scandalous conclusion.