Ump admits he blew call in game three

ARLINGTON, Texas | It took 26 years, but a blown call by a first-base umpire finally helped the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

In the top of the fourth inning Saturday, St. Louis was leading cheap jerseys free shipping1-0 when the Cardinals’ Matt Holliday hit a grounder to Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus. Andrus got the force-out at second base with a throw to Ian Kinsler, but Kinsler’s throw pulled first baseman Mike Napoli off the bag and into Holliday’s path. Napoli caught the ball and slapped a tag across Holliday’s left shoulder a step before he reached first base.

Kulpa called Holliday safe, and the Cardinals scored four runs cheap football jerseys that inning on their way to a 16-7 victory and a 2-1 lead in the series.

Kulpa acknowledged he blew it. He told a pool reporter the same thing he told Napoli at the time: He thought Holliday already had stepped on the bag when the tag was made.

“I saw a replay when I walked off the field, and the cheap baseball jerseystag was applied before his foot hit the bag,” Kulpa said. “I called what I saw.”

Crew chief Jerry Layne defended Kulpa, saying the wide throw made it “a very tough call.”

Napoli wasn’t about to NHL Jerseys Cheap jump on Kulpa.

“He’s human,” Napoli said. “People make mistakes.”

Kulpa was behind the plate for Sunday’s game, which is the usual rotation procedure.

Kulpa is a lifelong Cardinals fan who was 17 cheap nfl jerseys when Don Denkinger made a mistake that Cardinals fans say triggered a collapse in 1985 against the Royals. The Cardinals were up 1-0 and leading the series 3-2 when the Royals’ Jorge Orta hit a grounder to first baseman Jack Clark, who tossed it to pitcher Todd Worrell covering first base. Replays show that Worrell beat Orta to the bag, but Denkinger insisted he was safe.

The Royals went on to win that game 2-1 and then won the decisive seventh game 11-0.