I'm sure this ain't the first time, but a fan was ejected from a game by umpire Bob Davidson for heckling a player. Sean Ottow, a Brewer fan, was heckling Cardinals' catcher Yadier Molina. Davidson had a mean streak already going in ejecting a number of players and managers that game, so a fan was what was needed to complete the day. Maybe that counts for "hitting for the cycle" in umpire dialect. Maybe ejecting a fan is like that final triple needed.
I found two brief accounts of the incident here and here. One thing the fan claimed is that he never swore at Molina. But, he was cited for disorderly conduct by the police.
I'm wondering what he said and for how long. I've also had extended time periods of heckling players - like nine innings a day over a four game series - and I've never been ejected. But maybe it's like my friend Mike says, we'd be tossed in jail today for some of the things we said back in the 80's. I'm also wondering if his citation was a direct result of being tossed by the ump. Would he have been cited if the ump never tossed him? And since he got a standing ovation from the crowd, one wonders how disorderly he actually was. They all seemed to enjoy him. Now for a serious question. Will he be banned from future Brewers games by management? Loss of season tickets? Could any of this happen to a fan simply because an ump had a bad day? What role can a player have in getting a fan tossed? One time, I was heckling a rookie and he called time out and jogged in to the third base ump and pointed out at me. The ump shrugged his shoulders, and then he really caught it from the whole bleacher section for the rest of the game.
It will be interesting to see if this is the last thing to be heard on this incident.
Showing posts with label Umpires. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Umpires. Show all posts
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Sunday, August 8, 2010
Blown Calls, Official Scoring and Perfect Games
Blown calls by umpires have been in the news quite a bit this year. Blown calls that have literally cost games - and in the worst situation imaginable - a perfect game on the last out. This has quite naturally stirred debate about instant replay. Armando Galarraga was rooked out of a perfect game by a blown call on the last out. In another situation, the Giants scored the winning run in the bottom of the ninth vs. the Mets a few weeks ago, only to have the home plate ump blow the call by five miles and call the runner out. The Mets won in extra innings. The call literally cost the Giants the game. Not that it weighed heavily in helping them lose the game. The winning run had already crossed the plate before being called out.
I was wondering this last week how an official scorer deals with blown calls by umpires. They have to come up with reasons as to why a play was a hit or error, wild pitch or passed ball. Would the runner have been out? Should the catcher have stopped the pitch with ordinary effort? But what of a blown call where the scorer has to make a decision? If a safe runner is called out, a scorekeeper can give a putout and assist. What if the reverse happens? Does the scorer have to give the batter a hit, even though he was out?
As soon as I saw the Galarraga/Joyce replay, I wondered if the official scorer could have ruled an error on the play, at least preserving a no-hitter, as a way to "make up" for the blown call. It was a difficult play, first baseman coming off the bag to get the ball and the pitcher covering. The first baseman has to hit a moving target in the pitcher while timing his arrival at first base. Those two players have practiced that play thousands of times a year since they were eight years old. It's common for a pitcher to stutter step if the throw isn't quite right and miss the bag with his feet. A throwing error can happen easily.
So why, especially given that the official scorer was tied to covering Tiger baseball in some way, could he not have scored an error? He could have given an error to the first baseman. Or maybe to the pitcher as a way to say "here's the price for your no-hitter." The umpire gives no reason as to why he ruled the runner safe. A number of things could have happened in his mind. He could have beat the throw. The pitcher could have missed the bag, or he could have bobbled the ball. We don't know at the time the play happened. So why could not a scorer have ruled in the same manner? A throwing error with a no-hitter going in the books one batter later would be preferable to giving the batter a hit, knowing that he never got one to begin with.
I was wondering this last week how an official scorer deals with blown calls by umpires. They have to come up with reasons as to why a play was a hit or error, wild pitch or passed ball. Would the runner have been out? Should the catcher have stopped the pitch with ordinary effort? But what of a blown call where the scorer has to make a decision? If a safe runner is called out, a scorekeeper can give a putout and assist. What if the reverse happens? Does the scorer have to give the batter a hit, even though he was out?
As soon as I saw the Galarraga/Joyce replay, I wondered if the official scorer could have ruled an error on the play, at least preserving a no-hitter, as a way to "make up" for the blown call. It was a difficult play, first baseman coming off the bag to get the ball and the pitcher covering. The first baseman has to hit a moving target in the pitcher while timing his arrival at first base. Those two players have practiced that play thousands of times a year since they were eight years old. It's common for a pitcher to stutter step if the throw isn't quite right and miss the bag with his feet. A throwing error can happen easily.
So why, especially given that the official scorer was tied to covering Tiger baseball in some way, could he not have scored an error? He could have given an error to the first baseman. Or maybe to the pitcher as a way to say "here's the price for your no-hitter." The umpire gives no reason as to why he ruled the runner safe. A number of things could have happened in his mind. He could have beat the throw. The pitcher could have missed the bag, or he could have bobbled the ball. We don't know at the time the play happened. So why could not a scorer have ruled in the same manner? A throwing error with a no-hitter going in the books one batter later would be preferable to giving the batter a hit, knowing that he never got one to begin with.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Quality Post-Season Umpiring Needed
Calls for instant replay in baseball continue. Numerous instances of bad calls in the playoffs are highlighted with greater fervor and scrutinized with greater technology. I'm not going to address instant replay here, but rather focus on the quality of umpiring.
I'm not as concerned with bang-bang calls that could go either way. If it looked like he was safe, but the super slo-mo hi-def replay showed he was out by 1/4 inch, it's just not much to gripe about. What gets me is when two players are stuck at the same base, they both come off the base by five feet, the player with the ball tags both of them out while standing still, yet the umps screw up by not calling both of them out. Six umps are watching the same play, and not one of them can see the obvious? Why not have a conference then?
A great piece of ump teamwork was on the Rollins/Howard/Matsui double play. Rollins caught a bloop pop with his glove on the ground, then stepped on second and threw to Howard. The throw was wide, and Howard came off the bag with the batter/runner beating the throw. Matsui started walking off the field, and Howard tagged him. What to do? This play was logistically complicated. The replay showed that Rollins caught the bloop, but his stepping on second (just in case the ump blew the catch call) added confusion to the play. And even in the replay, Howard really did have his foot on the bag when he caught the throw. His heel came off first, but his toes were still on the bag when the ball hit his glove, even though he was in the process of coming off the bag. The TV announcers missed this. But he eventually tagged Matsui.
Here's how complicated this all was: Did Rollins catch the popup? How did this affect his stepping on second? How did this affect the play at first? Was his throw to get Matsui doubled up or the batter out? Did Howard need to tag Matsui? Did Howard get pulled off the bag? Did Matsui walk off the field because Rollins caught the ball in the air and doubled him off first or because he didn't but stepped on second base? Both Rollins and Howard made double efforts just in case the umps missed either call. Rollins touched second in case the umps missed his catch. Howard tagged Matsui in case the umps saw the catch because the umps might call him off the bag. But, all the umps were in on a conference and made the right call. Double play. Why didn't this happen for the two runners caught off third?
Getting the call right by using all umpires, if necessary, is where baseball needs to make its first improvement. It should be done at the slightest question of a call. If an ump blows a call and all the other umps see it, there should be no hesitation in reversing it. That's the way it works in my kid's soccer league, and there's no problem. When 50,000 fans, five umps, 50 players, a TV crew and two managers see things one way and a lone ump sees things another way, there should be no shame in admitting there might be a problem and help from others is welcome.
I'm not as concerned with bang-bang calls that could go either way. If it looked like he was safe, but the super slo-mo hi-def replay showed he was out by 1/4 inch, it's just not much to gripe about. What gets me is when two players are stuck at the same base, they both come off the base by five feet, the player with the ball tags both of them out while standing still, yet the umps screw up by not calling both of them out. Six umps are watching the same play, and not one of them can see the obvious? Why not have a conference then?
A great piece of ump teamwork was on the Rollins/Howard/Matsui double play. Rollins caught a bloop pop with his glove on the ground, then stepped on second and threw to Howard. The throw was wide, and Howard came off the bag with the batter/runner beating the throw. Matsui started walking off the field, and Howard tagged him. What to do? This play was logistically complicated. The replay showed that Rollins caught the bloop, but his stepping on second (just in case the ump blew the catch call) added confusion to the play. And even in the replay, Howard really did have his foot on the bag when he caught the throw. His heel came off first, but his toes were still on the bag when the ball hit his glove, even though he was in the process of coming off the bag. The TV announcers missed this. But he eventually tagged Matsui.
Here's how complicated this all was: Did Rollins catch the popup? How did this affect his stepping on second? How did this affect the play at first? Was his throw to get Matsui doubled up or the batter out? Did Howard need to tag Matsui? Did Howard get pulled off the bag? Did Matsui walk off the field because Rollins caught the ball in the air and doubled him off first or because he didn't but stepped on second base? Both Rollins and Howard made double efforts just in case the umps missed either call. Rollins touched second in case the umps missed his catch. Howard tagged Matsui in case the umps saw the catch because the umps might call him off the bag. But, all the umps were in on a conference and made the right call. Double play. Why didn't this happen for the two runners caught off third?
Getting the call right by using all umpires, if necessary, is where baseball needs to make its first improvement. It should be done at the slightest question of a call. If an ump blows a call and all the other umps see it, there should be no hesitation in reversing it. That's the way it works in my kid's soccer league, and there's no problem. When 50,000 fans, five umps, 50 players, a TV crew and two managers see things one way and a lone ump sees things another way, there should be no shame in admitting there might be a problem and help from others is welcome.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
The Worst Umpired Series Ever?
This last week's Giants/Dodgers series in San Francisco has to be the worst umpired series I have ever seen. Numerous calls were completely blown by the umpires. Not just bang-bang plays that happened to be wrong, but obvious plays. The announcers commented on this all series long. It was a nationally covered story.
The third game of the series had all the blown calls going against the Giants. Giants announcer Duane Kuiper recounted that Dodger announcer Rick Monday leaned into the Giants booth and said, "Oh-for-five." A play in the first game of the series had a throw to the first baseman dropped, then he stepped off the bag to retrieve the ball, the runner crossed the base and was called out. Amazing.
In the third game, 1) Manny Ramirez was picked off first, and called safe. 2) Pablo Sandoval was plucked on the arm trying to get out of the way of a pitch. The pitch was a foot inside, and the umpire not only didn't call it a hit-by-pitch, he called it a strike. Sandoval even started out toward the pitcher and both benches cleared. 3) and 4) were two blown calls on the same play. A grounder to second resulted in Sandoval being tagged out in the base path on his way to second base. Only one problem with the tag, the ball wasn't in the second baseman's glove but in his right hand while being thrown to first base. The second base ump called him out, but the first base ump overruled the call mid-play, and the ball was thrown late to first, and the batter was safe by a half step. But, the first base ump was so distracted by overruling the other ump, he blew his own call. Both runners were clearly safe, yet it was almost called a double play. And 5), in the ninth inning, a ground out to short had the Dodger runner out by a half step, yet the ump called him safe.
During this game, both Bruce Bochy and then acting manager Ron Wotus were tossed from arguing. Although none of the outcomes of the games were affected, the fifth blown call in the ninth cost Tim Lincecum both the win and a complete game. I wonder what the worst umpired game ever is?
WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!!!
Unbelievable! While finishing typing the last paragraph, I witnessed two consecutive horribly blown calls on the A's/White Sox game on TV. A White Sox batter was out by a half step at first base, but called safe, and the A's argued the call [Update: I watched the replay, and not only was the runner out, he never even touched first base!]. Then the runner tried to steal second base and was thrown out as the runner over slid the base by several feet. The ump called him safe, saying the fielder shoved him out of the base path, and A's manager Bob Geren was thrown out for arguing. THE UMPIRE WAS THE SAME CREW CHIEF OF THE GIANTS/DODGER SERIES that blew all those calls last week. Gary Darling.
Unbelievable. Sandy Alderson, where are you?
The third game of the series had all the blown calls going against the Giants. Giants announcer Duane Kuiper recounted that Dodger announcer Rick Monday leaned into the Giants booth and said, "Oh-for-five." A play in the first game of the series had a throw to the first baseman dropped, then he stepped off the bag to retrieve the ball, the runner crossed the base and was called out. Amazing.
In the third game, 1) Manny Ramirez was picked off first, and called safe. 2) Pablo Sandoval was plucked on the arm trying to get out of the way of a pitch. The pitch was a foot inside, and the umpire not only didn't call it a hit-by-pitch, he called it a strike. Sandoval even started out toward the pitcher and both benches cleared. 3) and 4) were two blown calls on the same play. A grounder to second resulted in Sandoval being tagged out in the base path on his way to second base. Only one problem with the tag, the ball wasn't in the second baseman's glove but in his right hand while being thrown to first base. The second base ump called him out, but the first base ump overruled the call mid-play, and the ball was thrown late to first, and the batter was safe by a half step. But, the first base ump was so distracted by overruling the other ump, he blew his own call. Both runners were clearly safe, yet it was almost called a double play. And 5), in the ninth inning, a ground out to short had the Dodger runner out by a half step, yet the ump called him safe.
During this game, both Bruce Bochy and then acting manager Ron Wotus were tossed from arguing. Although none of the outcomes of the games were affected, the fifth blown call in the ninth cost Tim Lincecum both the win and a complete game. I wonder what the worst umpired game ever is?
WHOA, WHOA, WHOA!!!!
Unbelievable! While finishing typing the last paragraph, I witnessed two consecutive horribly blown calls on the A's/White Sox game on TV. A White Sox batter was out by a half step at first base, but called safe, and the A's argued the call [Update: I watched the replay, and not only was the runner out, he never even touched first base!]. Then the runner tried to steal second base and was thrown out as the runner over slid the base by several feet. The ump called him safe, saying the fielder shoved him out of the base path, and A's manager Bob Geren was thrown out for arguing. THE UMPIRE WAS THE SAME CREW CHIEF OF THE GIANTS/DODGER SERIES that blew all those calls last week. Gary Darling.
Unbelievable. Sandy Alderson, where are you?
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