Unable to resist, I decided to listen to this clip. Talk about adding fuel to the flames of my anguish. The clip is Dave Campbell, the guy who provided color commentary for ESPN's radio broadcast of the Angel game, explaining to Mike & Mike why he thought that Reggie Willits should have been safe at third on the failed squeeze play.
I will say that everyone I watched with immediately concluded that Willits was out. Varitek seemed to hold the ball long enough. Campbell's point is twofold: 1) The umpires should have at least conferred, especially with the left field ump who also had a good look at the play and 2) If this play had happened in other circumstances (say a play at the plate where Varitek had lost the ball when he hit the ground), Willits would have been unquestionably safe. The rulebook also has a statement that the tagger has to maintain possession of the ball after the tag until the ball is given up intentionally.
He makes good points and if you enjoy torturing yourself with "what ifs," feel free to listen. I did. It doesn't quite convince me to send Tim Welke hate mail, but his secondary point is valid too - if this had happened to Boston, there would be a gigantic uproar in the Northeast. The Angels seem to be content to let it go. Food for dark thought.
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