A whole lot of Giants fans probably wanted to call Rob Drake on his cell phone Sunday after San Francisco's 5-4 loss to the San Diego Padres, but Drake would hear no love on the other side of that call.
The Giants' playoff hopes came to an end thanks to some tough strike three calls from Drake behind the plate. Giants fans erupted on Twitter, with many even calling for robot umpires. And really, it's hard to blame that train of thought after Drake took away four outs from the Giants in the biggest game of the season.
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Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow, however, is not a fan of robot umpires. Not at all.
“Hell no. No chance. Never,” Krukow said Monday on KNBR's "Murph & Mac" show. “I’ll go down to my grave saying that. The umpires are such a great part of this game. All year long we’ve been applauding the type of strike calling we’ve seen on a consistent basis.
San Francisco Giants
“Rob Drake, he’s a bigger strike zone, I’ve always enjoyed his games. Yesterday I didn’t enjoy his game. That’s the thing about umpires, you never know what you’re gonna get. Even guys you have a track record with, guys you know, guys you’ve enjoyed watching work, sometimes they fall short. There was four particular calls yesterday that were critical in the game and it had a lot to do with the outcome of the game, and they were frustrating.
“I’ll never take a shot at what I think is a pretty good umpire. I’ll never demand that he never umpire again or be overly critical about him, I’m just not going to do it.”
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Krukow admitted that at least four crucial strike calls went against the Giants in the one-run loss. Though Krukow spent 14 seasons pitching in the big leagues and surely had his fair share of calls he didn't agree with, he clearly doesn't want to get rid of umpires and the human element of the game.
Good luck convincing Giants fans of that right now.