Umpire Brian Walsh inexplicably botches another Yankees call vs. Astros in finale

Wear a Red Sox shirt, don't wear a Red Sox shirt. Label yourself a Dodgers fan, don't label yourself a Dodgers fan. Have a public Facebook profile with a bunch of captions and images that breed questions or don't have one of those. All we ask is that, if you're an umpire with some or none of the above, you do your job well. If you're tilted in one direction - or if you're, let's be honest, just not having the best day - Yankees fans aren't going to take kindly to that.

Umpire Brian Walsh became Public Enemy No. 1 on Wednesday when, from behind home plate, he squeezed the strike zone when Devin Williams took the mound, then opened it back up with Jazz Chisholm Jr. at the dish as the final out. He also intimidated Austin Wells and Camilo Doval, unwilling to swap out a broken Spanish language PitchCom. Oh, and he grilled Aaron Boone, goading him into an ejection. What a guy!

Surely, he wouldn't have an outsized impact on Thursday's finale, too. After all, he was out of the captain's seat, moved from home plate to third base in standard rotation. But ... just like a shaky fielder, the ball always finds you.

With a runner on second and nobody out in the bottom of the sixth, with the Yankees nursing the exact same lead they had on Wednesday, Walsh watched Ryan McMahon catch a moderately hard line drive at third, then drop the ball on the transfer.

Nope! Not according to this series' main character. He decided McMahon dropped the liner too close to the catch point. That put an extra runner on base with no runners retired, and when Ben Rice failed to corral a hotshot throw to first on a fielder's choice grounder, Yordan Álvarez scampered home from second to score. So it goes. So it goes when the Red Sox/Dodgers/Incompetent umpire is hangin' around.

Umpire Brian Walsh helps Astros rally vs. Yankees with inexplicable Ryan McMahon call

Something must be done about ... well, let's face it, a TON of MLB umpires. But when one of them becomes the center of attention in two consecutive rivalry games, and can't nail a single judgment call (or figure out how to stay balanced), it's a significant problem.

Thankfully, this mess of a showcase happened before postseason assignments were doled out. Maybe it'll matter.