It was an obvious check swing in real-time, and one made indisputable upon seeing the replay.
So, now, after the benefit of an additional look, does first base umpire Gabe Morales believe he made the wrong call in prematurely ending the Giants' season?
He doesn't want to say.
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That's right. The man who took the bat out of Wilmer Flores' hands and sent the Los Angeles Dodgers to the National League Championship Series doesn't want to publicly admit what anyone who watched the game already knows.
In speaking with the media after the Giants' 2-1 loss in Game 5 of the NLDS on Thursday night, Morales somehow made the whole situation worse.
When asked if he had seen a replay of the play in question, Morales confirmed that he had. But when questioned as to whether he still felt he made the right ruling, Morales was less than forthright.
"Check swings are one of the hardest calls we have," Morales said. "I don't have the benefit of multiple camera angles when I'm watching it live. When it happened live I thought he went, so that's why I called it a swing."
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Yeah, that wasn't the question, Gabe. So, what about crew chief Ted Barrett? Might he be able to tell the world what Morales was unwilling to admit?
"Yeah, no, we, yeah, yeah, he doesn't want to say."
True profiles in courage. How honorable.
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What's done is done. The Giants season is over, and it ended before it should have. But the least Morales can do, as the man solely responsible for that fact, is be upfront and honest about his critical error.
But apparently, that's asking too much.