An avoidable controversy

Games shouldn't be decided by an umpires mistake. In yesterdays World Baseball Classic game between Japan and USA a controversy developed at a critical junction. With the score tied in the 8th inning, Japan had bases loaded with one out. The batter hit a sacrifice fly to shallow left. The runner at third tagged up and scored. USA appealed to the umpire that the runner left third base early. The first umpire denied the appeal, but was later overruled by the home plate umpire. The replay clearly showed that the runner left after the outfielder caught the ball. With the umpires for this game being Americans it would be easy for Japan to cry foul. To the credit of the Japanese team all their manager, Sadaharu Oh said was "It's a pity that it was overruled." Umpires from neutral countries should have been used for these tournaments. I'm not in any way inferring that these umpires are less than completely impartial. Doesn't matter. The WBC already appeared stacked to favor the United States and bad calls which go our way just confirms the sense that the tournament isn't on an even playing surface.