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There were calls. There were e-mails. There were text messages. And then there were more.
Umpire Tim McClelland said spirits bruised by a missed call Tuesday in Game 4 of the ALCS game between the New York Yankees and Los Angeles Angels were buoyed by messages of support. By mid-day Wednesday, McClelland's telephone surrendered.

"I've already had to recharge it today from everyone checking in," said McClelland, in his 27th season as a major league umpire.

"It's very humbling," he said in an interview with the Des Moines Register. "You don't want to make mistakes. And you certainly don't want to see your mistakes on JumboTron and TV over and over again."

The play happened during the fifth inning of Game 4 in Anaheim, Calif., as McClelland umpired third base. The Yankees' Nick Swisher hit a tapper back to the pitcher and Jorge Posada broke for home. Robinson Cano ran from second base on the play and lingered just short of third as Posada rushed back to the bag. When Angels catcher Mike Napoli reached third base, neither Posada nor Cano were on the bag — and he tagged both. McClelland rightly ruled Posada out, but indicated Cano was safe, though replays showed he was out.

"If you look in USA TODAY, there's a big picture there — and Posada was kind of in my way," McClelland said. "I was trying to look around Posada. I thought (Cano) was on the bag.

"You always try to think, 'Why did I miss that call?' I watched a replay today, and realized Posada got in my way. That's not an excuse to get it wrong — just the reason."

In the time it takes to shower and leave the park, the moment had been immortalized on video shown over and over on Internet sites, ESPN and beyond. Television analyst Tim McCarver barked in disbelief, "This was an easy call."

The moment stirred more discussion about umpire errors in the postseason — which made the situation even more difficult for McClelland to digest.

"I'll live to umpire another day, but I hate to see my profession keep taking hits like it has," he said. "I feel bad for my profession. I feel bad for umpiring. We're a team, to be honest with you. When one guy makes an error, we all feel it. When we lose, we lose as a team."

McClelland refused to blame the increased attention fueled by multi-angled TV coverage.

"We know that's part of the job," he said. "It's 40,000 people in the stands, players on the field and millions watching on TV. We all try to do this job the best we can. We know we're going to be scrutinized."

Another call was debated, as well.

McClelland ruled that Swisher tagged up early on a fly ball and called him out as he attempted to score on a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning. Replays showed the play as being very close.