Catch of the Dazed

On the flight between Chicago and John Wayne Airport on Thursday morning, they were showing the movie “Young Frankenstein,” and an American Airlines spokesperson, who also claimed to be an Angel fan, said it had nothing to do with the fact that umpire Doug Eddings was on the plane.

Eddings was sitting in first class, but for the record I never asked him whether it was compliments of the White Sox.

We did, however, get around to everything else in a baggage-carousel meeting along with four or five other reporters after his game-changing performance in Game 2 of the American League championship series.

Eddings, while walking anonymously through the terminal, travelers all around him talking about his controversial call a night earlier, said he stood by his call while also admitting he could have done things differently.

That might be as close as you’ll ever get to an umpire admitting a mistake.

The night before at U.S. Cellular Field, Eddings called a swinging strike on White Sox hitter A.J. Pierzynski by extending his right arm and then raised his right fist to indicate it was the third strike.

The Angels took that as a sign that Pierzynski was out, which is something that usually takes place when Pierzynski is at the plate.

“The whole argument in the beginning was not whether it bounced or not; it was about mechanics,” Eddings said, while making this surprising admission: “I think I’m going to change my mechanics a little bit now.”

As he’s standing down the right field line tonight, he’ll be working on mechanics while some Angel fans will suggest some gestures of their own.

“The only thing I’m down on myself for is I should have sold it either way,” Eddings said, which is umpire language for making a big deal out of whatever call he makes. “I should have said, ‘No catch,’ or if I did have a catch, that he was out. But I never said he was out. A.J. realized I never said he was out.”

The Angel catcher, Josh Paul, who grew up a White Sox fan, is now a part of White Sox history for rolling the ball back to the mound.

“I should have gave a safe sign,” Eddings said. “Early in the game, if you go back to the replays, I had one in the first and I sold it. That’s why I felt bad. But that doesn’t excuse what happened. A.J. knew it was in the dirt.”

Upon reflection, he said, taking into account all replays and everything else, he said he “absolutely” made the correct call.

“I still feel that way. I want everything to go smoothly; that’s why they pay me to do this job. In tough situations you’re going to have to step above and handle it.”

The situation, though, was not handled well. It was chaos after Pierzynski whiffed, and although Eddings was making all kinds of hand gestures, he never made one to indicate the ball was still in play.

“I was looking at the catcher the whole time because I had some doubt in my mind [that he caught the ball],” Eddings said, “especially when A.J. realized I didn’t say anything, and that’s when he ran.”

So hold on here. Was it Pierzynski’s acting job that influenced Eddings, and if so, then does that make Paul a bad actor -- apparently not convincing enough in his quick exit, which should have told the umpire he had caught the ball?

“I did see it [bounce], but sometimes the things you see and the things you realize, you question yourself,” Eddings said, and I was actually writing this stuff down. “But like I said, sometimes you don’t do anything and that’s why I didn’t do anything, because I did see it. I felt and I still do, the ball bounced. I was just caught off guard with [Paul] running to the dugout.”

And if you understand that explanation, I think we’ve identified a new spokesman for the Dodgers.

Right after the game, Eddings said, “I had a question” whether Paul caught the ball. At the airport he said, “I do feel it bounced.” A few minutes later he insisted, “I saw it bounce.”

I wanted to know whether he saw the ball bounce because he has now had the benefit of replays, but he said, “No, I had the ball bouncing. I was looking right at it.”

I’ve got to believe you’d have to be Shaq looking over the shoulder of catcher Earl Boykins to clearly determine whether the third strike to Pierzynski was caught cleanly, but Eddings said he saw it.

“I wouldn’t have stayed with the call,” if it wasn’t what he thought was the correct call, he said. “That’s exactly what I told Mike [Scioscia] when we were on the field. I still believe after seeing the replays I made the right call.”

Eddings, 37, and finishing his seventh regular season as a major league umpire, said he was “in shock” Paul rolled the ball back to the mound. I was expecting him to say, “I was in shock to see Paul in the game at that time.”

All Paul had to do was reach up and tag Pierzynski, who made a move to go back to his dugout before he took off running.

“Nine times out of 10,” Eddings said, “if [the catch is] questionable, [catchers] will tag ‘em.” Nine times out of 10, Paul isn’t in the game.

Eddings posed for pictures on the plane with a flight attendant and autographed a baseball for her. She wished him well when he left, but an elderly woman at the baggage carousel, after being told the man being interviewed was the umpire from the night before, said, “That man is going to need protection here.” Maybe in Boston and New York, but not Los Angeles by way of Anaheim.

Eddings said he had 20 messages on his cellphone when he landed and had been taking calls earlier in the day from umpires, NHL officials and basketball referees all wanting to give him their support.

“I love my job and I still do,” he said, while also acknowledging, “You feel bad. I’m still human. You want to do your best job, and I know I did my best job last night.”

He certainly has himself convinced.

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T.J. Simers can be reached at

t.j.simers@latimes.com. To read

previous columns by Simers, go to

latimes.com/simers.