Turned out it was something else. “My strike three mechanic,” is how Eddings explained it.

Baseball players know a lot about mechanics. They talk about them all the time. Some even have their own to fix their Escalades and Mercedes.

This is probably the first time any of them cared about an umpire’s mechanic.

“Customarily, if the ball is in the dirt, say if we block a ball for strike three, they usually say, ’No catch, no catch, no catch,”’ Paul said. “And I didn’t hear any of that. That’s why I was headed back to the dugout.”

While Paul headed toward the dugout, Pierzynski headed for first. Eddings’ five colleagues, meanwhile, quickly moved in to take his back.

A stolen base and a hit later and the White Sox had won Game 2, guaranteeing that Eddings the ignominy of becoming the most infamous umpire since Don Denkinger’s blown first base call allowed Kansas City to come from behind in the ninth inning of Game 6 and eventually beat the Cardinals in the 1985 World Series.

Eddings probably didn’t sleep well after the game, and he likely had to make sure he checked his cell phone and didn’t take any late night calls from anyone with a 714 area code.

Commissioner Bud Selig, though, had to be ecstatic. Selig has resisted instant replay, insisting the game needs a human element even if the calls go bad.

Turns out he was right. Twenty years after Denkinger gave the Royals a second chance, another blown call gives the Angels and White Sox another chance to impress.

Instant replay works. No replay works even better.

Fans were talking about it Thursday in offices and workplaces around the country. Talk radio was full of it, and TV kept showing it. Hollywood celebs were on the phone with agents trying to line up tickets to Friday night’s Game 3 just down Interstate 5 in Anaheim.

Because of a call that wasn’t, baseball has a buzz once again.

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