Farrell surprised, relieved call was overturned

BOSTON -- When Red Sox manager John Farrell finished pleading his case with the umpires after the initial missed call at second base in Game 1 of the World Series on Wednesday, he figured it would stand.

Until expanded replay gets implemented, which is expected to be next season, the human element is most often the deciding factor.

"Honestly, I was a little surprised that it was changed last night, because typically you don't see that happen," Farrell said. "Thankfully they did."

There is precedence in Red Sox postseason history for call reversals. In Game 6 of the 2004 American League Championship Series, Mark Bellhorn hit a ball into the stands that bounced off of a fan and back into play. It was initially ruled a ground-rule double before the umpires changed it. Later in that game, Alex Rodriguez chopped the ball out of pitcher Bronson Arroyo's hand and was originally credited with reaching first and advancing to second on an error. But that call was also overturned after the umpires huddled.

Next season, things will likely become more clear cut with the new replay system.

The teamwork that the umpires used in correcting second-base umpire Dana DeMuth's missed call is something Farrell appreciated.

"I think there's more of an acceptance to set aside your decision making to, 'Hey, let's see if someone saw this differently.' And just talking to umpires, they want the right thing to be done as well," Farrell said. "In this case, it took them to get together. Yeah, it has evolved and I think there's been a lot of publicity drawn to calls that have been made that might have been [missed]. Maybe if this approach was taken, maybe the right one would have been had in those previous moments as well."