Sometime Friday, before umpire Doug Eddings faces the fury of L.A. Angels fans from his post along the right-field line, his cell phone will ring.
On the other end will be someone who can relate to Eddings’ ordeal of the past two days better than anybody, a fellow man in blue who also alienated a city and its baseball fans one October night by making a split-second call that lingers still, 20 years later.
Don Denkinger does not know exactly what he will say to Eddings; only that he wants the
37-year-old to hear it.
“I just need to call Doug and maybe it would lift his spirits,” said Denkinger, the umpire whose blown call at first base on a Jorge Orta grounder in Game 6 of the 1985 World Series receives credit for the Kansas City Royals rallying to beat the St. Louis Cardinals.
“I can tell him what he has to look forward to and maybe how this will affect the rest of his career,” said Denkinger, 69. “It’s not going to be easy, but he can get through it.”
Denkinger’s experience in handling the hostile fallout that followed prompted a friend in the league office to call him Thursday and suggest reaching out to Eddings. Denkinger already had begun tracking down Eddings’ number.
When Eddings ruled White Sox catcher A.J. Pierzynski safe at first on a dropped third strike that looked snug in the glove of Angels catcher Josh Paul, a call that led to the Sox’s winning run, he forever joined Denkinger in umpire infamy. All the more reason Denkinger finds making a goodwill gesture to Eddings before Friday’s first pitch imperative.
“I don’t know exactly what kind of day [Thursday] was for him, but he was probably depressed,” Denkinger said. “Trust me, something like this is the one thing in an umpire’s life he does not want to happen.”
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Previous calls
1985 World Series
Game 6
Umpire Don Denkinger ruled Kansas City’s Jorge Orta safe at first base in bottom of ninth against the Cardinals, who led 1-0. Replays showed he was out. The Royals scored twice to win the game and won Game 7, 11-0.
1975 World Series
Game 3
Umpire Larry Barnett ruled no interference occurred when Reds pinch-hitter Ed Armbrister attempted a sacrifice bunt and collided with Red Sox catcher Carlton Fisk, who threw the ball into center field. The Reds eventually scored that inning to win 6-5.
1996 ALCS
Game 1
Umpire Rich Garcia ruled that 12-year-old Yankees fan Jeffrey Mayer, who reached over the fence to catch Derek Jeter’s eighth-inning homer before it hit Baltimore outfielder Tony Tarasco’s glove, did not interfere. The Yankees won 5-4 in 11.
1978 World Series
Game 4
Umpires ignored Reggie Jackson’s obvious intent to interfere with a throw by Dodgers shortstop Bill Russell in between first and second that hit Jackson and bounced into right field. The controversial no-call led to two Yankee runs in a 4-3 win.
1957 World Series
Game 4
Milwaukee Braves pinch-hitter Nippy Jones contended a pitch hit his foot in the bottom of the 10th, trailing 5-4. Umpire Augie Donatelli retrieved the ball and awarded Jones first base, based on a smudge of shoe polish on the ball. Jones eventually scored the tying run.–tribune
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Edited by Chris Malcolm (ccmalcolm@tribune.com) and Michael Morgan (mnmorgan@tribune.com)
