Verlander's second career no-hitter. The umpire's ball four call on J. P. Arencibia in the eighth inning prevented Verlander from achieving a perfect game. However, Verlander later said that he agreed with the call. Meals and Major League Baseball both acknowledged that he missed a call in the 19th inning of a game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves on July 26, 2011. During the play in question, a ground ball, Pirates catcher Michael McKenry received a throw and appeared to tag Braves runner Julio Lugo three feet in front of home plate but Meals called him safe and the Braves won the game. Meals received criticism for the call and the Pirates issued a public complaint. MLB executive vice president for baseball operations Joe Torre responded to the complaint and officially acknowledged that Meals' call was an error. However, other commentators have stated that the call was not obviously incorrect and that it may not have been overturned under MLB's current instant replay rules. Following the incident, Meals and his family received death threats at their home. Meals' wife reported that their children, who ranged between 14 and 23 at the time of the incident, were also "approached" by irate and confrontational fans, as Pittsburgh is only 70 miles away from the Mealses' hometown of Salem, Ohio. On September 8, 2012, Meals incorrectly ruled Mark Teixeira of the New York Yankees out on a game-ending double play at first base against the Baltimore Orioles. If Meals had made the correct call, the game would have been tied, but instead the Orioles won and moved up a game to be even with the Yankees for first in the AL East. On July 29, 2013, Meals incorrectly ruled Daniel Nava of the Boston Red Sox out at home plate in the 8th inning against the Tampa Bay Rays which would have tied the game. Instead, the Rays held on to win 2–1. Red Sox manager John Farrell was ejected for arguing the call, which Meals later admitted was incorrect. On April 22, 2014, Meals was the home plate umpire when Albert Pujols of the Los Angeles Angels hit his 500th career home run against the Washington Nationals. Personal life Meals lives in Perry Township, just outside Salem in Columbiana County, Ohio. He is married to Robyn Meals and has five children. At 5'8" tall, Meals and Mark Wegner are