Go to baseball-reference and look at the play by play for Game 3 Here it is:NYY A. Rodriguez C. Hamels Home Run (Fly Ball to Deep LF); Teixeira Scores.

Really? Fly Ball to Deep LF. So Jayson Werth plays LF, no he doesn’t. Why isn’t the play listed as RF in the box score? Does baseball-reference get box scores wrong? No.

Go to yahoo and look at the play by play for Game 3 Here it is:Top 4th: NY Yankees
- J. Damon flied out to right center
- M. Teixeira walked
- A. Rodriguez doubled to right, M. Teixeira to third
- J. Posada grounded out to shortstop
- R. Cano fouled out to catcher

2 runs, 1 hits, 0 errors

2 runs? Really? Then who scored? Looks like Yahoo got it right, do you see how it says “doubled” and not “HR”, because A-Rod didn’t hit a home run.

People are starting to realize now that the ball was NOT a home run. And in time the truth will come out. It WASN”T a home run and the umps got the call WRONG.

Next I’m going to post the thousands of comments made by readers saying why it was NOT a home run. Also, notice how all the people who say it wasn’t a home run go into detail and describe the play. And notice how the people who say it was a home run, don’t go into any detail about the play and try to bring up comparisons between the Phillies and Yankees, like it has something to do with the play. It doesn’t. The play has nothing to do with anything else in the world, excpet for the simple fact that the ball WASN”T going over the fence, and NEVER did.

Are you going to answer ALL 15 questions correctly? I don’t think so. Because its not a home run. The ball never went over the fence. There is no PROOF, even to this day.

For starters, try answering question 13 before you think you know where the ball was going.

How about NOT over the fence, how does that sound.

The ball isn’t going over the fence plain and simple. First of all, watch the original replay as it happens in real time. Before the umps go into the dugout they show a pic of A-Rod over at 2nd base, then they switch quickly to show you a picture what leads you to believe that is the exact same right field camera as it was before the ball was hit. Watch it on mlb.com. At 1:46 to 1:47 they show you that pic for just 1 or 2 seconds then immediately change to show you the ump twirling his finger like its a home run. In that pic at 1:46 to 1:47 the camera is higher above the fence then it was when the ball hit the camera.

Every other real time video shows that the bottom of the camera is extremely close to the top of the fence. In fact, the small space between the 1st and 2nd bar at the top of the screen fence is the same space between the bottom of the camera and the top of the fence. When they switch at 1:46 to 1:47 to show you that pic, before the umps have made their decision, the space between the bottom of the camera and the top of the fence is TWICE what it was when the ball hit the camera, and TWICE what it was in every other real game time video when the ball hit the camera.

Just look at the pic from 1:46 to 1:47 that is NOT how high the camera was over the fence. It was much closer than that.

Now take the infamous side angle when Werth retrives the ball. First of all, it is not an EXACT side angle. There is NO exact side angle, no picture or video anywhere whatsoever that shows exactly how far out in front of the fence the camera is. They give you that side angle on the original replay but it is NOT and exact side angle.

Now on that infamous side angle notice how there is no space between the bottom of the camera and the top of the fence. Also notice at the 325 mark, how high the ball is over the fence. Before it hits the camera at the 329 mark, the ball DROPS 8 feet. The baseball DROPS 8 feet top to bottom with only 4 feet left before it hits the fence, so OBVIOUSLY the ball was dropping and it was much closer to going straight downward than horizontilly. Also on that side angle, the camera blocks a large portion of the yellow right field foul pole. If the camera was in foul territory, from NO angle from the left of Werth, would it show the camera blocking any portion of the right field foul pole. From that angle the camera ALSO blocks the bottom yellow bar of the right field foul pole. That not only means the camera is in fair territory, it also means that the bottom of the camera is even with the bottom horizontal bar of the yellow right field foul pole.

When they show you a pic of the camera with nobody in the stands, the bottom of the camera is higher than the bottom bar of the yellow foul pole. When they show you that pic at 1:46 & 1:47 the camera is higher than the bottom bar of the yellow foul pole. HOWEVER, when the ball actually HIT the camera, the camera is EVEN with the bottom of the foul pole.

In conlusion, there is NO conclusive picture, or video ANYWHERE on the internet which shows that this is 100% a home run. There is nothing ANYWHERE which proves through video, pictures or trajectory projections that this is a home run. ABSOLUETELY NO WHERE. I have found several pictures that supposedly show the right field camera and have seen it in 3 DIFFERENT POSITIONS than where it actually was WHEN THE BALL HIT THE CAMERA.

Therefore not only is it NOT a home run, there is no proof ANYWHERE which shows why this ball was going over the fence, because it was not.

I’m not interested in salaries, not interested in anything that happened later in the series either. All I am interested in is the fact that the ball is NOT going over the fence. That’s all.

And I’ve read many comments about what people think about the play, and there were a few by Phillies fans who were in right field that night, and they said there was no way for sure of telling where the ball was going to land. So until there is a picture, video, or something which proves the ball is going over the fence, it isn’t. Even over 2 weeks after the incident WHERE IS THE PROOF???

Because there isn’t any proof. Because the ball didn’t go over the fence. It still hasn’t gone over the fence, it only traveled 329 feet, not enough for a home run, the sign on the wall says 330, not 329 + a camera. Sorry NO home run.

If the camera is less than a foot off the top of the wall, how does the ball clear than more than 1 foot? If it clears less than 1 foot, how is that clearly a home run. This call was 100% bogus.

You can see in the picture itself, when it hits the camera it appears to be at most 10-12 inches higher than the wall. The camera extended onto the field and the ball stopped at the 329 mark, it never went 330 feet. It wasn’t a home run, plain and simple, its just that nobody wants to admit it.

Don’t just sit there and say the ball was going out of the park. Show me the video and show me the proof, because the videos from MLB that day show nothing conclusives. Show me proof that the ball was going over the fence, not what the media says.

One poster wrote that he would like to see the Yankees payroll after “luxury payoffs”…ummmm how does that make the payroll go up? Are you talking about luxury tax or bonuses?

Any Phillies fans here complain about payroll when theirs was $70 or $80 million more than the Rays in 2008?

I feel bad that you watch baseball.

Another thing against Beltre is that he will need to play next season for about 1/3 to 1/2 his current salary. Again, i can’t trust someone like that.

Joedad – your point about Beltre is noted – the guy signed a 5 year $64 million contract after that monster season he had in LA – and never, ever came close to reproducing those stats again but he certainly has demanded the money and who would think he might sign for a significant amount less? Not me..

Then Joedad, your credibility was lost when you started talking about trading Vic, the player who has improved in nearly every stat, year after year. I think his best is yet to come and he is in the right spot to shine. Keep Vic – forget Beltre.

The fans can act differently. And that is one reason why I am a little bit dissapointed in Phillies fans when anylyzing this play. I still haven’t seen proof of the ball going over the fence and that disgusts me. Yet everybody wants to “move on” and “get over it”. To me that is what the players should be doing. The fans should be saying something differently not because what happened in the past, so something like this doesn’t happen again.

I’m from NY and kind of wanted to go to Philly for the game, but I don’t want to drive so I stay home.
Had I been in the ballpark when the A-Rod play went down, I would have ran onto the field no matter where I was sitting and gotten in Gerry Davis’s face, because I do not like calls like that. I do not like when they do that in pro sports, and over the past few years it has been happening alot.

Nobody watched the ball being ruled a double and the Yankees winning the World Series. Nobody. And because that didn’t happen, there isn’t enough for me to say the Yankees are better than the Phillies. It isn’t enough for me to say the Phillies are better than the Yankees either.

For me personally, because of the way the call went down, the 2009 World Series meant nothing and it showed me nothing about who was a better team. Everybody in the world can disagree with me, it doesn’t matter, because as a fan I have a right to feel this way.

That doesn’t mean the Yankees were better than the Phillies this year.
If Tex is called out on strikes which he should have been, A-Rod gets a double, and Hamels gets Posada out, it is a 3-0 game going into the bottom of the 4th. Now, in the top of the 5th Hamels doesn’t face Pettite in a meaningful at bat.

That is only a small change, not too far fetched that gives the Phillies a chance to win Game 3. Also, there was something about Game 4 I didn’t like either, the Phillies playing from behind when they should of been ahead. Something about Game 3 & 4 because of the call I don’t go for. I’ll give the Yankees Game 2 & Game 6, the Phillies Game 1 & Game 5, but Games 3 & 4 were too weird for me and I do not count them as an even competition of what both teams were capable of. That is just me, you can say the Yankees are champs, but to me I don’t say that. I am a fan, not a player so I have that right.

Now you can look at it as being a sore loser, but if fans don’t make a point to get the calls correct, it will keep happening. I am not being a sore loser, I do not want this to happen again, and if you write stories and make comments and act like the A-Rod camera call wasn’t a big deal. Guess what. It will happen again, and the Phillies will be on the wrong side of it again.

You look at the call like this:The Yankees got the call and won the World Series. They didn’t not get the call and win the World Series. To me that would be proof of a real champion. It is the same thing in the Super Bowl with the Steelers vs. Cardinals. The Steelers got the late call with Santonio Holmes and they got the last call with Kurt Warner supposedly fumbling the ball. They didn’t not get the Holmes call and not get the Warner call and win the game. But when the fans talk about the games all they say is stop complaining and being a baby, but the fact is the team that lost didn’t get the call.

Now let me ask you this. When in the last few years has a team NOT gotten the controversal call and WON the game or series? How about never. So even if I was a Yankees fan I would want the call to be a double because I would want to win without controversy.

Then you go back and you say “Well they got the call correct”. But they didn’t get the Tex call right in the at bat before A-Rod. They clearly got that call wrong, it was a strike, Tex should have been punched out on a 3-2 pitch. So saying they got the call right doesn’t mean anything because NOT EVERY CALL IN A SPORTS GAME IS CORRECT.

So all the play means is that AGAIN the team that GETS the controversal call WINS the game or series. Check out the last few years in sports. This is what is happening. Teams aren’t losing the call and winning the game. Nobody is doing that. Had the Phillies won the series it would have proved to me they are the best. However with the Yankees winning the series, it doesn’t prove to me they are the best. It proves they got the big call that gave them a better chance to win.

And the last thing about the play is that it made me sick for 18 consecutive hours I was up 18 consecutive hours after the play. The ball DOES NOT look like it is leaving the park. It drops significantly and is so close to the fence that the call disgusts me. Remember Ryan Howard’s home run in Game 6? That barely made it out, but it was a good 5 feet over the fence. This ball would not have cleared by more than 1 foot, if at all, and because of that it should not have been ruled a home run.

Cole had retired 10 of 11 batters and was pitching a no-hitter. He is the World Series MVP of 2008 and the Phillies were defending world champions. The pitch he made to Tex was a punch out, no doubt. When a pitcher is piching like that, and has not given up a hit up until the 4th, if the ball is borderline it should be called a strike, no doubt. But it wasn’t and then the Phillies got screwed in their own World Championship ballpark.

You can call me a baby, and a sore loser but the bottom line is this. If you forget about the play, it will happen again. Wouldn’t be suprised if I saw something like this again in the 2010 World Series.

You want to give the Yankees a championship that is fine, everybody is doing it. But to me it is half a championship. Let the call be ruled a double and lets see how the Phillies do. If the call is ruled a double and the Phillies win Game 3, or have enough in them to forget about it and not play from behind in Game 4, and end up winning the series, you wouldn’t be saying the Yankees are just the best and are better than the Phillies, you would be saying the Phillies are better than the Yankees because they won the series.

In the end, you are saying the Yankees are better than the Phillies because they GOT the call AND won the series. However, if the Yankees didn’t get the call, you wouldn’t have enough information to say the Yankees are better than the Phillies because you don’t know what would have happened had the score been kept at 3-0.

I truly feel that making your best shot to land Halladay is the best way to go. His price is reduced, you’ll have him for at least one year (hopefully another championship year), and he’s reportedly a great high character guy and one who might be amicable to an extension that’s based on the prospect of winning with the team just as much as it is on the pure dollars and cents aspect. Now a lot of people are expressing apprehension when considering the price, but this team really is in a win now mode. I still remember when we were close but not good enough, and we were watching the young years of Rollins, Utley, Howard, and to some extent even Burrell go by, all the while wondering if this seemingly special group would ever be given a better opportunity to actually achieve something.

Well, they certainly have achieved, and are primed to continue to achieve…NOW. A price of Happ, hopefully Taylor (since he’s a little older as well as lesser in stature as a pure thoroughbred prospect), and another mid-level prospect (maybe Savery?) would be incredible for Halladay. Happ was good this season, for sure, but there is no guarantee that he’s going to continue having better, or even the SAME, success next year and onward. Just as Howard was a ROY and tore up the league when he came up, and then came back to earth in terms of batting average and increasing strikeouts, MLB players are paid the big ones to figure each other out. Pitchers started figuring Howard out, coming up with better game plans on how to approach him (go for the SO or pitch around). It’s a testament to him that he’s still able to put up such huge offensive production numbers given that. The same goes for pitchers. It takes a very special breed to start out good and then remain as good and get even better seamlessly. Just ask Cole Hamels. And guess what, no one ever spoke about Happ in the same parameters as they’ve spoken about Hamels regarding stuff. Happ is also basically a two-pitch pitcher, fastball and slider. He has a serviceable change-up, but this year, he really did it with his deceptive fastball. How long is that going to remain so deceptive? And is Happ going to be good enough to develop that third reliable pitch? I mean, that’s a job that is even facing Hamels now.

Anyway, my point is, I would go with the proven guy with numerous great pitches, rather than a rookie sensation that has just as much chance to become a flash in the pan rather than a continued good pitcher, ESPECIALLY considering the current makeup and objectives of our team. It’s not like during the time that Halladay and/or Lee are hopefully here in a Phillies uniform that the Phillies aren’t going to be developing any more pitchers who could make up for their eventual departure as well as the absence of Happ. You’ve got Drabek, Stutes, etc. as well as drafts over the next couple of years.

So, Ruben, if you can, pull that trigger! Lee, Halladay, Hamels, Blanton, Moyer or whoever as the 5th starter. Make that dream a reality!

As for the other moves I’d really like, totally with the Beltre move. Younger, slightly better at the plate, great defense, AND won’t take compensation to sign, meaning he’s not a Type A free agent (which Chone Figgins is). For the bullpen, I think Putz is definitely worth a flyer, and perhaps even Soriano (but he might be too expensive). Let Durbin walk, get Eyre back in the fold, and make sure to re-sign Chan-Ho! Finally, getting a guy like Garciaparra or Hairston to give Rollins and Utley a break every now and then would be stellar. As for backup catcher, I’m not sure I’m totally with you on Torrealba, but it might not be that bad of an idea considering that he always seems to rake at CBP.

Whatever the case, if the Phillies offseasons moves are headlined by, and even limited to, the additions of Halladay, Beltre, Putz, and a Garciaparra type, I would be ecstatic! Can’t wait for the 2010 to start!

Soriano and Valverde will get big contracts, north of what J.C. Romero and Madson make, and it would be pointless to sign either when you could get essentially the same pitcher in Putz, for far less money.

If you want to talk about injuries/ineffectiveness, remember that Soriano is as injury-prone as it gets, and 2009 was his best season.

I’d actually love having Polanco back, having him hit seventh would be awesome. But his defense at third would be inferior to that of Beltre or Feliz, and it’s hard to imagine the Phils going after him.