Philadelphia Daily News: Phillies not content with knowing umps blew replay vs. Rays

“The first time I see Bob Watson, I’m going to have him sit down and explain that to me,” Manuel said. “I’ve got some questions I want to ask.”

In the seventh inning of the Phillies’ 10-4 loss to the Rays on Wednesday night at Tropicana Field, an umpiring crew led by chief Gary Cederstrom used instant replay to determine whether a fan had interfered with a ground-rule double by Pat Burrell. Had replay determined that a fan interfered with the ball, baserunner Carl Crawford would have been awarded home instead of having to stop at third.

While the review ultimately worked in the Phillies’ favor, keeping Crawford at third base after no fan interference was found, the mere fact that replay was used on a seemingly innocuous play in a game they trailed by six runs angered the Phillies.

Turns out, their anger was justified.

Yesterday, Major League Baseball informed Cederstrom that his crew had erred in using replay. By rule, replay is supposed to be used only on potential home-runs involving boundary calls (whether the ball is fair or foul; whether the ball cleared the wall; whether a fan interfered with the ball).

“I’m sorry about the confusion that was raised,” Cederstrom told the Associated Press yesterday, reading from a prepared statement. “As you know, instant replay is to be used only in boundary or fair-foul calls involving home runs or potential home runs. I regret the error that we had.”