The debacle on Chicago's south side

When a government stubbornly and repeatedly refuses to accept responsibility for its obvious mistakes, can this lack of accountability trickle down to relatively trivial (though much more closely followed) pursuits such as the national pastime? Perhaps so, given the responses by those involved in Wednesday's evening's controversial ending to the Angels-White Sox baseball game.

In case you missed it, home plate umpire Doug Eddings clearly called out the Chicago batter on a third strike (in what would have been the third out of the inning), then apparently changed his mind after that batter decided to try and "sell" the idea that the ball had bounced before entering the Anaheim catcher's glove (replays clearly showed this not to be the case). As a result of this umpire error, the White Sox were awarded an extra out and a base runner, who later in the inning came around to score, ending the game.

These things happen in sports, but what has been especially appalling about the incident is its aftermath, in which the umpiring crew has followed a media & public relations strategy that seems to have been designed by the Pentagon:

• Eddings, now under intense media scrutiny (dwarfing media coverage of more important events, but that's another story), continues to deny his error (if rather cryptically), despite clear video evidence to the contrary (claiming "I had the ball bouncing" and insisting "I know I did my best job last night")
• The other umpires on the field, rather than deferring to Eddings by admitting that they were in no position to overrule their colleague based upon their viewing angles of the play, rallied to his support by corroborating his erroneous version of events
• Rather than concede that one of their own had blown a call on the field (and calling for appropriate discipline), the head of MLB umpires circled the wagons and kept everybody on message, reiterating Eddings' discredited claim that the ball had bounced, citing some secret evidence "in the truck" (to which the public is not privy) proving the ball to have changed directions before landing in the catcher's glove
• Seeking to deflect criticism, Eddings (and others following the same talking points) blamed the victim, suggesting that catcher Josh Paul must have been "confused" by the clear punch out (which Eddings did twice, calling the batter out) and the lack of any verbal "no catch" call (a widely-recognized convention among umpires), admitting only that his arm gestures for a third strike and an out might need some improvement

The only thing missing is a press conference in which the president upholds the official version of events, declaring "Eddie, you're going a heckuva job."