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Douglas Leon Eddings (born September 14 , 1968 in Las Cruces, New Mexico ) is an Umpire in Major League Baseball . He came to public attention with a controversial call during Game 2 of the 2005 American League Championship Series between the Chicago White Sox and the Los Angeles Angels Of Anaheim . Eddings started umpiring Little League games at 14, and in his early career worked throughout the minor leagues. He started working American League games in 1998 , and has worked throughout both major leagues since 2000. Prior to the White Sox-Angels series, Eddings worked AL Division Series in 2000 and 2002 , as well as the 2004 All-Star Game . He also was the home plate umpire for Cal Ripken Jr. 's final major league game on October 6 , 2001 . 2005 ALCS The call which brought Eddings national attention came on October 12 , 2005 at U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago . The Angels were up one game to none in the ALCS, having won the previous game despite reputed exhaustion from playing the previous two nights in Yankee Stadium and Angel Stadium . Game 2 was tied 1-1 with the White Sox batting in the bottom of the ninth inning; Chicago had recorded two outs in the inning. Sox Catcher A.J. Pierzynski faced Angels Relief Pitcher Kelvim Escobar , who quickly got two strikes. Pierzynski swung at Escobar's third pitch, a Splitter which came in very low. Believing he had caught the ball and not hearing Eddings say "no catch" — he was unable to see Eddings make a no-contact sign and an apparent strike-three sign — Angels catcher Josh Paul rolled the ball back to the mound. Pierzynski took a couple of steps toward the dugout, then whirled and legged it out to first base with most of the Angels walking off the field. Despite his earlier signals, Eddings indicated Pierzynski was not out; his ruling was that the ball had touched the ground before entering Paul's mitt, which would require Paul to tag Pierzynski to end the at-bat, and that his signals had only indicated a swinging third strike, not that he had called Pierzynski out. As he had not heard himself called out, Pierzynski wisely chose to run to first after strike three. Angels manager Mike Scioscia challenged the ruling, but Eddings and the rest of the umpiring crew stood by the call. It is interesting to note that most of the controversy surrounding the play concerns not whether the umpire's ruling that the ball hit the ground is correct, but Eddings' unclear mechanic for signaling his ruling. Professional umpiring mechanics dictate a no-catch (safe) signal, concurrent with a "no catch" verbalization, after a dropped third strike. The White Sox then seized the opportunity, staging a "three-out rally." Pinch runner Pablo Ozuna stole second, and Escobar threw a pitch to batter Joe Crede that he rocketed into left field, scoring Ozuna and winning the game. After the game, Eddings defended his actions this way: "My interpretation is that was my 'strike three' mechanic, when it's a swinging strike. If you watch, that's what I do the whole entire game. ... I did not say 'No catch.' If you watch the play, you do watch me — as I'm making the mechanic, I'm watching Josh Paul, and so I'm seeing what he's going to do. I'm looking directly at him while I'm watching Josh Paul. That's when Pierzynski ran to first base." The White Sox went on to win the next three games of the series and advance to their first World Series since 1959. EXTERNAL LINKS
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