Customer Reviews

The Worst Call Ever!: The Most Infamous Calls Ever Blown by Referees, Umpires, and Other Blind Officials

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I bought this book as an afterthought because I umpire high school baseball. As a sports fan, I have enjoyed each chapter on the different sports. The author sets up the blown call(s) very well to illustrate why the calls were magnified (e.g., playoffs, national championship implications, etc.), and with a good dose of humor. The selection of blown calls is subjective, and some may disagree with inclusions and/or exclusions. Regardless, this is an excellent book for any sports fan.

Great idea for a book! I still get mad when I think about that call in the 1985 World Series that robbed my Cardinals. Thanks, guys, for digging up that pain. Seriously, this is a really good book. I recommend it for anyone who likes sports.

I originally was buying this book to give to sports-minded family and friends...and then started reading it myself. When an author can write with such wit, knowledge, and intelligence AND keep a non-sports-minded person like myself fascinated to the final page, that is saying A LOT! This is written in a style that makes me think I am sitting in the author's living room simply chatting about some very interesting, and oftentimes controversial, referee and umpire calls.

From Don Denkinger's infamous blown call in the 1985 World Series to Bernie Fryer's boneheaded rationale for calling a shot no good (before it was taken!) in the 2002 NBA Playoffs, "The Worst Call Ever!" takes us inside some of the most infamous plays in sports history. This book breaks each incident down into short chunks that are easy to read and highly enjoyable. It also separates the incidents by sports, so everything is grouped together very conveniently. Getting this book about bad calls is a great call for sports fans!

Great read. . . Easy read. . . for even the casual sports fan like myself! Well-written.

I read this book through the day that I got it, and I loved it. The book features 94 separate instances, grouped by sport, of some of the worst referee and umpire decisions ever made in sports (and there is even a "Potpourri" section for all those other fringe sports, like curling, tennis, etc.). There is at least one of those that I have happened to observe for myself: the 1985 World Series Game 6 call from 1st base umpire Don Denkinger that the Kansas City runner was safe, when ABC's replays showed (proved, even) that the K.C. runner was clearly out. Even the ABC announcers agreed that the runner was out. The call, however, was not changed, despite passionate protests from St. Louis manager Whitey Herzog, pitcher Todd Worrell, and others. This was just part of the chain reaction that led to K.C. winning this game, and then the World Series title, 11-0, in the final game. The final game is one that I'd love to see for myself; in that one, Don Denkinger was behind the plate, and the Cardinals belittled and cursed him virtually all game long, leading to, among other things, St. Louis pitcher Joaquin Andujar being ejected after arguing about Denkinger's strike zone. To me, any argument with an umpire in baseball, even about balls and strikes (although those arguments are illegal), makes for 5-star entertainment (and I will admit that I am among the minority in that).

All that aside, this book makes for some engrossing reading. I think, however, that the call that was made against Milwaukee's Robin Yount at third in the top of the 4th of Game 7 of the '82 Series should have been considered blown and one of the worst. I thought that the knee-block applied against him was obstruction, and I expected Robin to argue it, even. Robin, however, just got up and went back to the dugout as if nothing ever happened.

Still, despite that, I give this book a 5-star rating, and I strongly recommend this book for purchase if you're interested in finding out about the referee and umpire decisions that changed the course of the sports where they happened.

This book is so witty and well done. I am only a moderately fanatic sports geek, but this book became a must have and I've frequently given at as a gift. Keep it in the bathroom for its ability to deliver numerous short and well-written, obviously well-researched short reads.

Last Sunday I did something I hadn't done in a long time: I watched an NFL football game. I've never been a huge football fan but I was in the mood for a game. Maybe it was this book that put me in the mood, I don't know. What I do know is that I couldn't help but think of these stories put together by Garlett and O'Neal of referees, umpires and officials who have changed the outcomes of games through mistakes, ignorance, fear or maliciousness.

In this particular game, the Dallas Cowboys were playing in Chicago against the Bears. In the first half I counted three (perhaps four) obviously blown calls by the refs. Particularly bad was the call to keep the clock running at the end of the half when Dallas should have gotten the ball back with at least a couple seconds on the clock. Instead of a potentially big Dallas lead, these calls effectively helped make the score 3 - 3 at the half.

Of course, Dallas came back in the second half and put the Bears away 34 - 10 so there's no way this game will end up in any future sequel of The Worst Call Ever! It violates two of the criteria Garlett and O'Neal used for inclusion: it's an early, regular season game (and so, comparatively unimportant) and the likely outcome was not changed by the officiating. Instead, Garlett and O'Neal provide us over two hundred pages of rule-changing, apology-causing, outcome-changing calls made in World Series, Bowl and Stanley Cup games. They also throw in some playoff games, Olympic medal contests, and a potpourri of less popular sports.

All in all, it's quite a fun collection of, in many cases, sports history changing calls. Sports fans will be familiar with many of the tales here but it's astounding to see them all together like this and realize just how much depends on officiating. In my heart, I still like to believe that, if a team was really meant to win, they wouldn't be in a position where a call can cost the game, but after reading this, I feel less sure. Hopefully, testing and instant replay will make things fairer in the future but, as the Dallas-Chicago game proved, we still have a long way to go.

Having lived both in Austin and Chicago, and not being a big football fan, I really didn't care who won the game so I was able to look at it with an unprejudiced eye. I couldn't help but think: yes, it's only the third game of the season but what if they had lost and, at the end of the season, Dallas missed the playoffs by a game? Would it be fair to say that some of the blame lay with these officials? I don't know. What I do know is that the calls in every game have impact. And the challenges to calls had no impact, at least in this game. Yes, we still have a long way to go. There is little doubt Garlett and O'Neal will have the makings of a sequel as time goes on. And I'm sure I'd like to read it.

I am giving this book as a gift. So I don't know anything about it.
It did arrive in a timely manner. And in perfect condition.

lot's of memories of bad calls in multiple sports and
even changes in rules and strategy that occured.

it seems like they ALWAYS went against my team, regardless.