2017 Ump Show

[illinoisredsox]

The really good umps will admit when they blow a call. Remember when Jim Joyce made that horrific call that ruined Armando Gallaraga's perfect game several years ago? Joyce, widely acknowledged by the players as one of the best, couldn't say often enough how sorry he was, how bad he felt, etc. and apologized to Gallaraga personally before the game the next day.

 

Guys like West, Hernandez and CB Bucknor wouldn't have given it a second thought.

[illinoisredsox]

on average they get 13% of ball/strike calls wrong. 13%. each team throws ~ 150 pitches per game. i'm not a math savant but thats like 5 million bad calls a game (or ~40). that's A LOT.

ROBOT UMPS NOW.

it is time.

 

While they may get 13% wrong by the book, all the players ask for is consistency so they can adjust. They don't get too mad about an ump calling a pitch an inch outside a strike or a ball so long as it called that way the whole game. What drives players crazy is when it goes back and forth over the course of nine innings (or worse, 1 at bat).

[Thunder]

While they may get 13% wrong by the book, all the players ask for is consistency so they can adjust. They don't get too mad about an ump calling a pitch an inch outside a strike or a ball so long as it called that way the whole game. What drives players crazy is when it goes back and forth over the course of nine innings (or worse, 1 at bat).

 

Totally. When I do a game, I get a lot of talk from either bench in the first few innings because I tend to call the outside strike. But, once they realize that I call that pitch for the entire game, they stop their chattering.

[Slasher9]

The really good umps will admit when they blow a call. Remember when Jim Joyce made that horrific call that ruined Armando Gallaraga's perfect game several years ago? Joyce, widely acknowledged by the players as one of the best, couldn't say often enough how sorry he was, how bad he felt, etc. and apologized to Gallaraga personally before the game the next day.

 

Guys like West, Hernandez and CB Bucknor wouldn't have given it a second thought.

 

I 100% believe this game directly led to instant replay being instituted.

[Bellhorn04]

Replay saved us from getting screwed out of a run last night (Mookie's steal before Hanley's HR). And it wasn't an egregiously bad call. I'm just glad the rule is there.

[SoxnCycles]

http://nesn.com/2017/08/mlb-umpires-wearing-armbands-to-protest-ian-kinsler-like-verbal-attacks/

 

Poor babies...

Perhaps the "dedicated" Angel Hernadez wouldn't have to worry about verbal attacks if he weren't so god-awful at his job.

[Kimmi]

Replay saved us from getting screwed out of a run last night (Mookie's steal before Hanley's HR). And it wasn't an egregiously bad call. I'm just glad the rule is there.

 

Replay has benefited us on some plays, hurt us on others. I would have been upset if the umpires did not overturn that call.

 

That said, I am still against replay.

[SoxnCycles]

Replay has benefited us on some plays, hurt us on others. I would have been upset if the umpires did not overturn that call.

 

That said, I am still against replay.

 

Robot umps!

No need for replays.

[Kimmi]

Robot umps!

No need for replays.

 

Eye roll.

[SoxnCycles]

Eye roll.

 

How about we just replace Hernandez, West and CB Bucknor with robot umps? LOL

[BstHcpr]

The really good umps will admit when they blow a call. Remember when Jim Joyce made that horrific call that ruined Armando Gallaraga's perfect game several years ago? Joyce, widely acknowledged by the players as one of the best, couldn't say often enough how sorry he was, how bad he felt, etc. and apologized to Gallaraga personally before the game the next day.

 

Guys like West, Hernandez and CB Bucknor wouldn't have given it a second thought.

 

A really good ump wouldn't have missed that call. You just felt bad for him, because he cried.

[Kimmi]

How about we just replace Hernandez, West and CB Bucknor with robot umps? LOL

 

LOL That could work. Or just replace them, period.

[mvp 78]

LOL That could work. Or just replace them, period.

 

Honestly, if MLB just canned the shittiest umpires, I think a lot of players (and fans) would go easier on the ok ones. The fact that Angel Hernandez is still employed is embarrassing.

[illinoisredsox]

How about we just replace Hernandez, West and CB Bucknor with robot umps? LOL

 

Wouldn't break my heart to see all 3 of them gone.

 

Actually, West can be a decent umpire on those rare days he decides the game isn't all about him (e.g., 2004 ALCS). Unfortunately, those games are few and far between.

 

Hernandez and Bucknor are lousy all the time.

[Maxbialystock]

They do make mistakes, but I have to say I am very pro-ump and anti-technology which is slowly but surely taking over the game at the expense, in my opinion, of significantly reducing the human element which is the essence of baseball.

 

The upside of the replays, I freely acknowledge, is avoidance of managerial tirades. This probably saves time, but I'm not so sure because overall games keep getting longer. Plus I am probably one of the very few who enjoys the adroitness of good umpires moving quickly to be in the right position to make a call. So, me, I don't mind a slight miscall on a very close play--it's part of the game. And I resent the sometimes lengthy time it takes NYC to finally decide a really close play was right or wrong.

 

I also think those superimposed strike zones to be pernicious even though I look at them often to see where a pitch went. Because of them, we assume that most umpires are just plain lousy on balls and strikes when they really are not. I myself use them to determine whether our pitchers are getting more or fewer calls than the opposition when in fact the differences between balls and strikes can be quite small. I am, on the other hand, fine with MLB allowing replays to improve umpire performance after the the game is over. That includes videos of all balls and strikes. Teams use videos endlessly to spot weaknesses.

 

Meanwhile umpires have virtually no authority to speed up games, mostly because MLB rules and accepted norms tolerate an enormous amount of dawdling by pitchers and batters, visits to the mound by catchers, coaches, managers and sometimes infielders.

 

Now here's the grabber. I disagree that somehow umpires should be invisible so the focus can be solely on the talents and skills of the players. In fact, they are more efficient, focused and professional than most players and their active presence is ubiquitous. They call maybe 300 pitches a game. 1st and 3D base umps call checked swings. They call fouls, hits, catches, tags (by fielders and base runners). They do not dawdle endlessly. They try to stop fights. They take a lot of abuse from fans, managers, hitters, and, less often, from pitchers. They all have to get behind the plate every fourth game and make a ton of calls, including important plays, and risk getting hit by a foul ball or errant pitch with less protective gear than catchers. The other night the home plate umpire conscientiously stood behind the plate for Kelly's warm up pitches and got hit in the mask by an errant 100 mph fastball. he almost had to be taken from the game, but stuck around as a base umpire. That is professionalism of a pretty high order.

 

Players, it has to be said, are terrific athletes. But their entertainment value is what makes MLB profitable despite their enormous salaries. We think of movies stars as enormously wealthy, but no one on talksox can name a single movie star being paid $31M a year for seven years regardless of their performance or even availability. You want to see professionalism on the baseball field? Watch the umpires. They make the game better and are an essential--including their human fallibility--part of it.

 

My bad, especially with curry30 doing so well. I'm happy if Youk moves this to the regular forum, which was obviously my intent, or even kills it.

Edited August 24, 2017 by Maxbialystock

[Maxbialystock]

Please remove my Umps Thread from the top of the game threads, with my apology for sheer boneheadness.

[Kimmi]

Please remove my Umps Thread from the top of the game threads, with my apology for sheer boneheadness.

 

Farrell must be managing you.

[Kimmi]

Honestly, if MLB just canned the shittiest umpires, I think a lot of players (and fans) would go easier on the ok ones. The fact that Angel Hernandez is still employed is embarrassing.

 

That's all I've been saying.

[Youk Of The Nation]

They do make mistakes, but I have to say I am very pro-ump and anti-technology which is slowly but surely taking over the game at the expense, in my opinion, of significantly reducing the human element which is the essence of baseball.

 

The upside of the replays, I freely acknowledge, is avoidance of managerial tirades. This probably saves time, but I'm not so sure because overall games keep getting longer. Plus I am probably one of the very few who enjoys the adroitness of good umpires moving quickly to be in the right position to make a call. So, me, I don't mind a slight miscall on a very close play--it's part of the game. And I resent the sometimes lengthy time it takes NYC to finally decide a really close play was right or wrong.

 

I also think those superimposed strike zones to be pernicious even though I look at them often to see where a pitch went. Because of them, we assume that most umpires are just plain lousy on balls and strikes when they really are not. I myself use them to determine whether our pitchers are getting more or fewer calls than the opposition when in fact the differences between balls and strikes can be quite small. I am, on the other hand, fine with MLB allowing replays to improve umpire performance after the the game is over. That includes videos of all balls and strikes. Teams use videos endlessly to spot weaknesses.

 

Meanwhile umpires have virtually no authority to speed up games, mostly because MLB rules and accepted norms tolerate an enormous amount of dawdling by pitchers and batters, visits to the mound by catchers, coaches, managers and sometimes infielders.

 

Now here's the grabber. I disagree that somehow umpires should be invisible so the focus can be solely on the talents and skills of the players. In fact, they are more efficient, focused and professional than most players and their active presence is ubiquitous. They call maybe 300 pitches a game. 1st and 3D base umps call checked swings. They call fouls, hits, catches, tags (by fielders and base runners). They do not dawdle endlessly. They try to stop fights. They take a lot of abuse from fans, managers, hitters, and, less often, from pitchers. They all have to get behind the plate every fourth game and make a ton of calls, including important plays, and risk getting hit by a foul ball or errant pitch with less protective gear than catchers. The other night the home plate umpire conscientiously stood behind the plate for Kelly's warm up pitches and got hit in the mask by an errant 100 mph fastball. he almost had to be taken from the game, but stuck around as a base umpire. That is professionalism of a pretty high order.

 

Players, it has to be said, are terrific athletes. But their entertainment value is what makes MLB profitable despite their enormous salaries. We think of movies stars as enormously wealthy, but no one on talksox can name a single movie star being paid $31M a year for seven years regardless of their performance or even availability. You want to see professionalism on the baseball field? Watch the umpires. They make the game better and are an essential--including their human fallibility--part of it.

 

My bad, especially with curry30 doing so well. I'm happy if Youk moves this to the regular forum, which was obviously my intent, or even kills it.

 

Well, I'm glad you're happy for me to move this, thanks so much for your contribution! We should definitely have some sort of thread dedicated to discussing umpires and umpiring issues, especially considering what an important part of the game they--what's that? We do?!

[Maxbialystock]

You noticed. I borrowed that word from moonslav.

[Northern Star]

Also: we're all out of cornflakes. F.U.

[moonslav59]

You noticed. I borrowed that word from moonslav.

 

My words were "blunders", "mental mistakes" and "bumbling", not "bone headness".

[Youk Of The Nation]

I seriously can't believe that you created an entirely new thread to ask me to move another unnecessary thread from the wrong forum. Can't believe, as in am literally unable to believe it.

[mvp 78]

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/09/15/mlb-investigating-whether-the-tigers-hit-umpire-quinn-wolcott-on-purpose/

 

Go back to the balloon style chest protector.

[Thunder]

http://mlb.nbcsports.com/2017/09/15/mlb-investigating-whether-the-tigers-hit-umpire-quinn-wolcott-on-purpose/

 

Go back to the balloon style chest protector.

 

It wasn't intentional, just a s***** catcher getting crossed up. Even if it was, there's no way it can ever be proven.

[mvp 78]

It wasn't intentional, just a s***** catcher getting crossed up. Even if it was, there's no way it can ever be proven.

 

I don't believe it was either. I think the umps should have more substantial protection though.

[mvp 78]

Rather than start a new thread, here's Ben Zobrist talking about how he subscribes to my Robot Umps Now newsleter.

 

https://deadspin.com/ben-zobrist-is-still-very-much-looking-forward-to-robot-1828345886

 

“I just basically said that’s why we want an electronic strike zone. And that’s what obviously got me tossed.”

[mvp 78]

https://twitter.com/NOTdirtysports/status/1040383078135263232

[mvp 78]

It never ends.

 

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/04/04/mlb-has-to-discipline-umpire-ron-kulpa-incident-astros-aj-hinch/

[Slasher9]

kulpa is a PUNK.