Umpires Change Call in Angels’ 2-0 Win

Home plate umpire Larry Barnett studied the television monitor intently, watching Angel shortstop Donnie Hill run toward Twin catcher Brian Harper.

“I see the ball now. There he is reaching for the ball,” said Barnett, an American League umpire since 1967. “I didn’t know the ball was dropped. I just saw it now.”

When it actually happened, in the seventh inning Friday night, Barnett never saw Harper reach for Shane Mack’s throw from center field and then apply the tag to Hill.

With his view of the ball blocked by Hill’s legs, Barnett thought Harper tagged Hill in time and signaled Hill out, a call he reversed after frantic yelling by on-deck hitter Luis Polonia and the quick intervention of third-base umpire Ken Kaiser.

“It hit the catcher in the hand and he (picked it up and) put it in his glove,” Polonia said. “I said, I guess they’re going to get away with this.’ ”

Justice prevailed, as even the Twins readily acknowledged. Seeing an umpire reverse a call was one of several rare spectacles for the 22,583 fans, who were also treated to a nine-strikeout, two-hit effort by Angel left-hander Chuck Finley, the winner in the Angels’ 2-0 victory at Anaheim Stadium.

“Harper never had the ball and Kaiser did a good job of getting in there and getting the play right,” said Twin Manager Tom Kelly, whose club’s 2-8 start matches its worst ever.

“Unfortunately it went against us. That’s the bad news, but that’s what you want an umpire to do--get the call right.”

Finley did nearly everything right in the brisk, 2-hour 12-minute contest, an impressive showing that allowed him to match Boston’s Roger Clemens as the American League’s only three-game winners.

“That’s good company, considering the the way he’s been throwing the ball,” Finley said.

Buoyed by that bit of support in the seventh, Finley struck out two in the eighth for a season-high total of nine. He walked leadoff hitter Dan Gladden in the ninth, but persevered to prevail over Jack Morris (0-3) and record the Angels’ first complete game of the season.

Finley beat Morris and the Twins last Sunday, 9-4, in Minnesota, but Friday night’s game was more gratifying.

“I wouldn’t say this was my best stuff as far as velocity, but I was spotting the ball well,” said Finley, who walked two batters.

He gave up a first-inning single to Kirby Puckett and a sixth-inning double to Greg Gagne in earning his first complete-game victory since last Sept. 13 against the Seattle Mariners.

“As far as getting ground-ball outs and not getting hit hard, this was one of my best games,” Finley said. “In games like this, you really have to concentrate. Jack was throwing so well. One bad pitch, one ball in the gap, and things can change.”

The zeroes on the scoreboard changed in the seventh. With two out, Hill singled to right-center and Jack Howell followed with a single to left, moving Hill to second. Junior Felix lined a single to center, where Mack charged the ball and made a throw home that appeared to beat Hill.

“I didn’t see it. I thought he caught it,” Hill said. “Then Luis said he saw it on the side of me. It (the reversal) was a nice surprise. It came at a good time. Morris was throwing great.”

Said Barnett: “Ken Kaiser made a tremendous umpiring call.”

The Angels added a run in the eighth on a double by Joyner, a ground out, and a wild pitch by Morris, who was unsuccessful in his third attempt to gain his 199th career victory. Finley was grateful for that extra help.

“Really, it was a little bit of a load off me to get that second run,” said Finley, whose last complete game was a loss to Morris--then with the Detroit Tigers--last Sept. 18. “After I walked that guy (in the ninth) I kind of felt a little bit tired, but I was so locked in mechanically it overrode that.”

Finley also won his first three decisions last season, when he was 18-9. His success is even more impressive since he had a dreadful spring in which his earned-run average was 9.00.

“I probably wouldn’t have been able to hitch a ride on an A-ball bus with the spring I had,” he said. “But I knew if I came out of spring training healthy and had my arm strength, I’d be all right.”