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ANIMATED: Braves-Pirates Umpire Blows Game-Winning Call (Or Does He?)

Last night the Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates apparently played a very lengthy baseball game. I went to sleep long before it ended, since this is NFL free agency megaseason, which drains a man. However, the game ended with a pretty controversial call by home plate umpire Jerry Meals. And by controversial I mean everybody thought Julio Lugo was out.

Here's the video, via Talking Chop:

And here's the GIF, via Bucs Dugout:

Upon further review, Rob Neyer says he's no 100 percent sure Lugo was out after all.

Michael McKenry seems sure, as does Lugo himself, but where do you see clear contact being made? On the inside of Lugo's right thigh? Maybe I'm even more biased than the average Braves fan, who joined right in at complaining about the call, but I could buy the explanation that the catcher's mitt flashed right past Lugo's leg without actually touching it.

An optical illusion!

Photographs by coka_koehler used in background montage under Creative Commons. Thank you.