re: Although Ump was terrible...it was smart baseball by tigers.

It's a shame that with everything on the line - the biggest game and event of these kids' lives - the umpire was horrible. The damned plate is supposed to be there for a reason; it's either over the plate (including the black) or it's not. I watched one called strike that split the batter's box line. That's 6" off the plate which is pathetic. The ump should be reprimanded and warned to either get it together or go back to umping high school games. They ought to go back to the old days when the umpire was directly behind the catcher so they can see how to call the outside pitch correctly.