It would have saved the umps a lot of grief. competence also could have saved the umps a lot of grief. True. He made a mistake and it came back to bite him big time. How so? If he has to come to Anaheim today, let's just say Southern Californians have threatened to do more than bite him. :o Cuse, there's one inconsistency when you say Josh Paul should have tagged him just in case. Eddings and all MLB umps yell, "NOT CAUGHT! NOT CAUGHT!" when a catcher needs to tag or throw the ball to first. Eddings didn't do that. Don't blame Paul for Eddings screw up. AJP also heard no "NOT CAUGHT!" and yet he went to first base. Is that a MLB rule for the ump to yell that? Also, what compelled AJP to run? AJP is a catcher and he knows the rules and he ran while Paul thought otherwise. There's no rule, but when every umpire, including this umpire does it all the time there's a dropped third strike. Let's not forget, the previous batter, Aaron Rowand, struck out on a dropped third strike. There was a "NOT CAUGHT!" yell on that one. Let's also not forget Eddings "mechanics" were different on that dropped third strike - he waited to pump his fist for the out until Paul tagged Rowand. This time, Eddings did not yell "not caught" and did pump his fist for the out. Honestly? I think AJP ran just to see if he could get away with it. AJ took 2 steps towards the dugout and then ran to first. If you hear the postgame interview, AJP said he ran to first because he didn't think Josh Paul caught the ball. If that was so, why did he take two steps to the dugout first?