VIDEO: Remembering When the Pirates Lost to the Braves on One of the Worst Calls in MLB History

Officiating plays a role in every sport, but for baseball, umpires have always been a huge part of the fabric of the game. They decide the strike zone, pass judgment on bang-bang plays, monitor the speed of the game and sometimes, make really, really bad calls.

Generally speaking, if a base-runner doesn't even think it's worth it to argue that he was safe, he wasn't. Pittsburgh Pirates manager Clint Hurdle might have actually exploded if his staff didn't restrain him, but home plate umpire Jerry Meals deserved every second of the tirade.

The catcher Michael McKenry clearly tags the Atlanta Braves base-runner a few feet in front of home. He was dead to rights, as the saying goes, but somehow Meals determined a tag was never made.

The hardest part about this one is the situation. Not only do the Pirates lose on this play, but they lost a 19-inning marathon on this play. What a waste of time and effort, but for Meals, maybe he just wanted to go home.

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Michael Obermuller is not a FanDuel employee. In addition to providing DFS gameplay advice, Michael Obermuller also participates in DFS contests on FanDuel using his personal account, username king_mizzard. While the strategies and player selections recommended in his articles are his personal views, he may deploy different strategies and player selections when entering contests with his personal account. The views expressed in their articles are the author's alone and do not necessarily reflect the views of FanDuel.