I was watching the 19 inning game live, and I thought the call was incorrect the first time I saw it, but when they replayed it, I could of sworn that he just barely got the tag. I am pretty sure he swiped the guy and it barely if at all tagged him, even though the throw beat him by a mile. I can understand why the Umpire would call it like that, and I don't think it was that disastrous of a call. In my opinion, the catcher was afraid of being run over in a collision play, and opted to take the swipe. A collision play would have been the better play. The catcher is at part responsible because he turned a clear out into a real close play. When the throw beats the runner by about 3 feet, the play should not be that close. Period. I think the catcher should be at least at fault in part for that one.
Was it a blown call, yes. Since the throw beat him by a long shot, and the play was close, there should have been an out called. But it was still a close play,, and even I at one point thought that he was safe at the plate. So did the Atlanta announcers at first too. I think you guys are too caught up in Pirates fever, and if it would have happened to the Red Sox or Mariners, it would not be that big of a deal. No one even mentioned anything Marco Scutaro screwing over the Red Sox the first game of the Royals series, and that was even worse! No one also talked about Orlando Hudson throwing the ball into the stands either! Just saying that if a player chooses to take a safe route to make an out, and it ends up being a close play, that he is at least partially to blame for the situation.