Anthony Rizzo goes off on umpiring: 'That call is unacceptable'

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article_body => "Frustration boiled over for the Cubs and Anthony Rizzo on the final pitch of a hot, humid and disappointing four-game series against the San Diego Padres.<\/p>\nWith the Cubs trailing 10-6 to one of the worst teams in the National League, Rizzo came to the plate with two outs and Jason Heyward on base.<\/p>\nRizzo proceeded to work the count full before staring at a pitch he thought was well outside. Thinking it was far outside and clearly Ball 4, the Cubs first baseman started getting ready to throw his bat toward the dugout and take his base.<\/p>\nInstead, home plate umpire Angel Hernandez rang it up as Strike 3 and the end of the game:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">Angel Hernandez was ready to go home <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/pUmINdnhNS\">pic.twitter.com\/pUmINdnhNS<\/a><\/p>— Robert O'Neill (@RobertONeill31) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RobertONeill31\/status\/1026224343460839425?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">August 5, 2018<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\nRizzo exploded on Hernandez, walking with the umpire up the first base line and passionately pleading his case, but it didn't matter. The game was over.<\/p>\nRizzo had a good half hour to cool off before he met with the media and gave a measured - but bold - statement.<\/p>\n\"I think it's well-documented that I talk to a lot of these umpires all the time and I have the utmost respect for every single one of them,\" Rizzo said. \"I feel like I know them on a personal basis just because long games, long season, talk to them at first. Feel like I have a great working relationship with pretty much the whole league.<\/p>\n\"That being said, that call is unacceptable. He told me to look at it, I looked at it and he was wrong. And I would like for him to confirm that. That can't happen. That can't happen in the major leagues at Wrigley Field or any field.\"<\/p>\nRizzo felt like even the Padres would admit that was not a strike.<\/p>\nBoth sides were unhappy with Hernandez's zone all game. Rizzo said Cubs catcher Willson Contreras came back into the dugout at several points during the contest shaking his head, wondering how some of these pitches were called strikes for<\/em> Cubs pitchers. <\/p>\n\"Things like that can't happen and it happened all game,\" Rizzo said. \"And nothing happens. And I have to answer questions to you guys - why can't you hit? Why are you striking out? Why can't you hit in the clutch in the ninth inning? All these questions. <\/p>\n\"Right there was literally Ball 4. It stinks that now this has to be news, because Angel is such a good guy. I mean, I apologized to the guy in the 2016 NLCS for showing him up. I don't like talking bad about umpires and I'm not talking bad - he just made a really, really unfortunate call.\"<\/p>\nThe moment Rizzo was referring to in the 2016 NLCS with Hernandez was a heart-warming clip caught on TV:<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">Anthony Rizzo and Angel Hernandez have a cool moment. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/zJ4A0wnrvN\">https:\/\/t.co\/zJ4A0wnrvN<\/a><\/p>— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheBlogfines\/status\/788942728117653504?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">October 20, 2016<\/a><\/blockquote>\n<script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n\nRizzo was fair, and pointed out how umpires have to deal with the heat all afternoon and have a tougher travel schedule than even the players do, working five or six weeks straight on the road.<\/p>\nHe called Hernandez a \"great guy\" and said he hopes to hear from the umpire on the call, after both guys have had an opportunity to take a look at it now that the dust has settled.<\/p>\nThe call obviously didn't decide the outcome of a 10-6 ballgame, but despite the low likelihood that they could come back, the Cubs would've preferred to have at least had the opportunity to try.<\/p>\nA Rizzo walk would've put them one more baserunner away from bringing the tying run to the plate on a day when the wind was blowing out 16+ mph at Wrigley Field. <\/p>\n\"You saw both sides,\" Joe Maddon said. \"You gotta play it straight right to the very end and I'm not accusing anybody of not. It's egregiously a bad call. We can all see that. <\/p>\n\"I think that's why Anthony definitely wanted to say something, because he was trying to point out how bad the call was. And I know he talked to [crew chief Fieldin Culbreth] about it, also. We're fighting right there. The way the wind is blowing out, you get a couple more baserunners, anything can happen. You saw that they took advantage earlier. So yeah, it was a tough call to end the game on.\"<\/p>\nRizzo agreed.<\/p>\n\"This team's never out of it,\" he said. \"We've shown that time and time again. So it makes it even more frustrating that a game can be called on that bad of a pitch.\"<\/p>\n"
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Frustration boiled over for the Cubs and Anthony Rizzo on the final pitch of a hot, humid and disappointing four-game series against the San Diego Padres.

With the Cubs trailing 10-6 to one of the worst teams in the National League, Rizzo came to the plate with two outs and Jason Heyward on base.

Rizzo proceeded to work the count full before staring at a pitch he thought was well outside. Thinking it was far outside and clearly Ball 4, the Cubs first baseman started getting ready to throw his bat toward the dugout and take his base.

Instead, home plate umpire Angel Hernandez rang it up as Strike 3 and the end of the game:

Angel Hernandez was ready to go home pic.twitter.com/pUmINdnhNS
— Robert O'Neill (@RobertONeill31) August 5, 2018

Rizzo exploded on Hernandez, walking with the umpire up the first base line and passionately pleading his case, but it didn't matter. The game was over.

Rizzo had a good half hour to cool off before he met with the media and gave a measured - but bold - statement.

"I think it's well-documented that I talk to a lot of these umpires all the time and I have the utmost respect for every single one of them," Rizzo said. "I feel like I know them on a personal basis just because long games, long season, talk to them at first. Feel like I have a great working relationship with pretty much the whole league.

"That being said, that call is unacceptable. He told me to look at it, I looked at it and he was wrong. And I would like for him to confirm that. That can't happen. That can't happen in the major leagues at Wrigley Field or any field."

Rizzo felt like even the Padres would admit that was not a strike.

Both sides were unhappy with Hernandez's zone all game. Rizzo said Cubs catcher Willson Contreras came back into the dugout at several points during the contest shaking his head, wondering how some of these pitches were called strikes for Cubs pitchers.

"Things like that can't happen and it happened all game," Rizzo said. "And nothing happens. And I have to answer questions to you guys - why can't you hit? Why are you striking out? Why can't you hit in the clutch in the ninth inning? All these questions.

"Right there was literally Ball 4. It stinks that now this has to be news, because Angel is such a good guy. I mean, I apologized to the guy in the 2016 NLCS for showing him up. I don't like talking bad about umpires and I'm not talking bad - he just made a really, really unfortunate call."

The moment Rizzo was referring to in the 2016 NLCS with Hernandez was a heart-warming clip caught on TV:

Anthony Rizzo and Angel Hernandez have a cool moment. https://t.co/zJ4A0wnrvN
— Matt Clapp (@TheBlogfines) October 20, 2016

Rizzo was fair, and pointed out how umpires have to deal with the heat all afternoon and have a tougher travel schedule than even the players do, working five or six weeks straight on the road.

He called Hernandez a "great guy" and said he hopes to hear from the umpire on the call, after both guys have had an opportunity to take a look at it now that the dust has settled.

The call obviously didn't decide the outcome of a 10-6 ballgame, but despite the low likelihood that they could come back, the Cubs would've preferred to have at least had the opportunity to try.

A Rizzo walk would've put them one more baserunner away from bringing the tying run to the plate on a day when the wind was blowing out 16+ mph at Wrigley Field.

"You saw both sides," Joe Maddon said. "You gotta play it straight right to the very end and I'm not accusing anybody of not. It's egregiously a bad call. We can all see that.

"I think that's why Anthony definitely wanted to say something, because he was trying to point out how bad the call was. And I know he talked to [crew chief Fieldin Culbreth] about it, also. We're fighting right there. The way the wind is blowing out, you get a couple more baserunners, anything can happen. You saw that they took advantage earlier. So yeah, it was a tough call to end the game on."

Rizzo agreed.

"This team's never out of it," he said. "We've shown that time and time again. So it makes it even more frustrating that a game can be called on that bad of a pitch."