Nate McLouth's ball: Fair or foul? (video)

The Baltimore Orioles exceeded expectations and will go into the offseason with few regrets.

One question that may haunt them, however: Was Nate McLouth's fly ball down the right field line in the top of the sixth inning fair or foul?

Right-field umpire Fieldin Culbreth ruled it foul. Fans sitting in the right field seats at Yankee Stadium called it foul (shocking).

And after the umpires reviewed the replay, they upheld the call.

Several replays, including TBS' touted blimp cam, were inconclusive.

Looking at the replays, the ball appeared to sail to the right of the foul pole. But, it could be debated if the ball grazed the foul pole, which would have been a home run.

The Orioles trailed 1-0 at the time and it could have been the turning point of the do-or-die Game 5.

Orioles manager Buck Showalter was at peace with call after the game.

"They didn't tell me, you know, they said it was foul. And I appreciate them checking," Showalter said. "I couldn't tell, I knew it was real close and obviously during the regular season or in the playoffs we would have had it checked.

"The tough thing was, you know, you always get one replay. I always try to find one guy that gives me a pretty straight answer about balls and strikes and outs, and obviously they probably got a lot better replays than we do. And we have a good system in place to keep those things from affecting the game. Someone said it nicked the pole, but that didn't beat us. And I appreciate them using the system in place to get it right, but that's what all the umpires did.

"And I tell you, this crew did a great job. Really balls and strikes I thought were fair to both sides. Home and away, regardless of the bubble gum card. I think we really appreciate that."

Said Culbreth after the game: "I saw it go to the right of the pole. There is netting there and it didn't touch the netting. It did not change direction," indicating he did not think the ball grazed the pole.

Even McLouth said he couldn't tell if it was fair or foul and was satisfied with the steps the umpires made to make the correct call.