After the game, Foster said, "had I had a chance to do it again, I wouldn't call that pitch a strike." Because, really, look at this.
What's odd, though, is Foster called this other, closer pitch to Zobrist a ball in the same at-bat. It's not like he just got momentarily crossed up by an unexpected pitch motion.
So why did he call the last one a strike? ESPN's Keith Law dubbed it a classic "ump show" moment, especially given Zobrist's move toward first before the call was made.
Here's what Zobrist did, which is only what any ballplayer with decent judgment of balls and strikes might do.
Then again, there's no recourse to be had, so there's little sense in getting upset about the whole thing.
But let's review, one more time. This is not a strike:
But this is a strike:
After the game, Zobrist was rather philosophical regarding the whole debacle: "Everybody makes mistakes. What are you going to do?"
As for Rangers pitcher Joe Nathan, he knew he'd gotten away with one. When even the pitcher is suppressing a smile at your call, you've really gotten it wrong.