I was forced to watch the Tampa Bay broadcast of last night's 3-2 White Sox win.  In the sixth inning, Jermaine Dye apparently fouled a ball off his foot that ignited a controversy that lasted a full one and a half innings.

Tampa Bay announcers Dewayne Staats (an Alex Tribeck doppleganger) and Kevin Kennedy (formerly of Fox network fame, but cast aside after Fox dumped their pre-game show) turned Dye into a liar, a cheat and the man behind the Lindbergh baby kidnapping all in one fell swoop.

I can understand where these guys might be  a little miffed that Dye and the Sox got the call reversed.  I can further empathize with their anguish when Devil Rays skipper Joe Maddon got tossed out of the game..  Even though Dye's second chance resulted in a single, he did not score and the Sox left the bases juiced.  That should have ended all discussion right there, but as they say in the infomercial "but wait, there's more."

These guys went on to talk about how several Sox players were smirking in the dugout, like they were getting away with something.  They brought up Dye's previous experience with a ball off his foot in the 2005 world series (so now he's a serial liar, huh guys?)  And of course, they dug up a clip of the A.J. Pierzynski rundown play from last year against Tampa Bay.  "Why does A.J. always get away with that?" Kennedy opined.

The replays they offered were totally inconclusive.  At one point, Kennedy was almost swayed to admit Dye may have indeed fouled it off his foot.  Then, after seeing the reaction shot of Dye hopping around after the play, Kennedy said "There's no way he could run to first that fast on that single if he's in that much pain."  Sure, Kev. 

The whining finally started to slow down in the top of the seventh as Kennedy continued to act miffed that Maddon had been ordered to shower early.  Not once did he mention that Brian Gorman has one of the quickest hooks in the game.  Not once did he mention that part of the reason the umps get together is to get the call right.  In this case, it looked like the reversal was correct.  Even if it wasn't, no damage was done, so why keep whining about it?

I understand when a bad call extends an inning and leads to a run by an opponent.  I know Hawk or Farmio will cry like babies when that happens.  But it's about the umpires and not the player.  To practically accuse Jermaine Dye of being a cheater is totally disrespectful to Dye especially since he didn't make the call.  While the replay didn't accurately show whether or not he drove it into his foot, it did show based on his reaction after his swing that if it hadn't hit his foot, he's got a long and prosperous career in show biz ahead of them as he gave a Pacino like performance.

I know announcers are supposed to be homers, but these guys went a little over the top.  Besides, there's no crying in baseball.