“He got this one wrong” - When Frank Coonelly and the Pirates blamed the MLB and umpire Jerry Meals for his bad call against the Braves

In 2011, the Pittsburgh Pirates traveled to Atlanta to square off against the Braves. The game went for a whopping 19 innings before Atlanta walked it off and won.

However, there was some controversy in this one. It appeared that Pittsburgh catcher Michael McKenry had tagged Atlanta's Julio Lugo before he had reached the plate, but that was not the way it was called.

This was before the MLB expanded its ruling on replay reviews, leaving Pittsburgh feeling hard done by. Frank Coonelly, the Pirates president at the time, called out umpire Jerry Meals for his missed call, via Bleacher Report's Paul Ladewski.

"While we cannot begin to understand how umpire Jerry Meals did not see the tag made by Michael McKenry three feet in front of home plate, we do not question the integrity of Mr. Meals," said Coonelly.

Coonelly released a statement saying the team was disappointed with the results and filed an appeal with the commissioner.

"We know that Mr. Meals' intention was to get the call right. Jerry Meals has been umpiring Major League games for 14 years and has always done so with integrity and professionalism. He got this one wrong," Coonelly said.

Coonelly questioned Meals' call but was also respectful of him, saying they did not believe the umpire had negative intentions. Meals was behind the plate for quite a long time, and fatigue likely played a factor in the missed call.

Former Pirates president Frank Coonelly spoke his mind about the Jerry Meals incident

Pittsburgh Pirates - Frank Coonelly (Photo via IMAGN)

It is tough to lose a game when it is out of your control. That is how Frank Coonelly felt when the Pirates fell to the Braves that night, but he still kept his composure.

Many people would have ripped Meals apart for costing them the game, but Coonelly kept it professional. He understood how tough of a job Meals had but was still disappointed with the result.

It was such a questionable call that ESPN's Jeff Passan could not help but tweet about it. It was an unfortunate end to a game that would have gone over differently if it had been played today.

Shortly after the game, the league acknowledged that Meals had missed the call, causing Pittsburgh to lose the game.