MIZUMP

Hypothetical: Inside pitch. Batter checks his swing. Sounds/looks like it got the bat and you signal a foul ball. Batter pleads that he was hit by the pitch. He comes to you to show stitches or any marking that he was hit by the pitch. What do you do? Stick with your call? Use the evidence and award him first? What is the SOP for that situation?

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http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=25581415&c_id=mlb The play is pretty cut and dry. It's obvious Byrnes never touches the plate and Varitek retrieves the ball and tags him out. My question is the push from Byrnes as Varitek is headed to the backstop. Would anyone consider calling interference on a play like that? Especially if the push would have been enough to put a catcher on the ground. The umpire here seems to stand up as it happens. Looks like he is thinking about something here but realizes Byrnes isn't going to attempt to come back to touch the plate. Nothing terribly interesting here. Just food for thought. Maybe a little discussion.

I don't think we can get too picky. This is a thankless job and not getting ragged on means you had a good day. The fans watching wanna hear about the excellent play from Skip and Freese. Guys like us can appreciate the call from home. For once, we didn't click on a link and hear an announcer question the call to only be proven wrong. I definitely see your point. Of course it's great to be praised. But I want to be praised by a partner, an assignor, or an evaluator. Praise from a coach, fan, or broadcaster is generally uneducated. GO GUYS IN BLUE!!!

The Howard one was close. No complaints there. Lots going on and ya gotta pick something. But the Victorino was an ugly call all the way around. First of all, they missed it. Whoops, SH*# happens. But their mechanics and awkward lingering looked pretty bad. Nobody seemed to want to take control.

Fair enough. Inexcusable is a harsh term. But my point (poorly stated obviously) is that the simple act of knowing where the baseball is before making a call should be second nature to an umpire.. I'm not bashing the guys. But it's been a bummer to see a few "avoidable" mistakes leaking into games. Before posting around here again, I'll make sure to check my syntax. :D

And yet we've all been there at one point (or we will be at one point) in our careers. It's happened to me. Those that expect perfection because of the size of the stage are going to be sorely disappointed. Those guys are the best in the world, but they're still human. But is this not an avoidable mistake? I understand kicking a call. I understand having a rough strikezone. But not knowing where the baseball is is inexcusable at any level. I don't care if it's tee ball or MLB.

Maybe I'll head over to "Announcer-Empire" to discuss umpiring on this one.

I just don't get it. Timing and the simple act of asking for the ball was the first thing I learned when I started this job. It has saved me a thousand times over. It's getting really hard to defend the lack of use of replay in the pro game with poor mechanics like this seemingly happening more and more. Luckily, this one ended with the correct call but this is the third incident this year that can't be blamed on "extensive media replay." (Welke straightlined at first, Yankees catch in the stands, and now this). I just wanna see the best at our job in the world using the simple mechanics taught at our local clinics or preached from a lawn chair behind an umpire's trunk.

I'll just leave this here... http://www.stltoday.com/sports/columns/bernie-miklasz/bernie-bytes-matheny-vs-bob-davidson/article_a2f172a8-bf99-11e1-9944-001a4bcf6878.html

Johnny, that's been my solution. As wrong as it may be. But it keeps me in a safe position (we all know compensating our stance can get us in an unsafe spot). Trout, I like that spot too as I'm thinking about it. (reminds me of BioDome too..."Back and to the left." haha)

Lefty batter with a lefty pitcher and they want an inside pitch. Being in the slot kind of gets us in a tough spot to see the release of the ball and such. What are your mechanics to help your vision in that spot?

Was Edward playing?

He definitely looks stuck behind Molina on the view. It's a slow move to get off that knee and get eyes on the play like that. The biggest issue I have here is the delay in his call. Right or wrong...come up banging a safe or out. At least give the defense and runners an opportunity to properly react. I'm not advocate of the "quick call." No umpire is. But virtually no call in a play like this causes that confusion. My question...Could a petition have been made on the ruling? Obviously, it's a judgement call. But their final decision gave KC a distinct advantage. My answer would be no. But I figure it's worth tossing out there.

I may be way off but I'd like to toss up an alternative explanation: He called the swing and called safe on the tag for a dropped third strike. Later in the video, you can see the catcher still walking around with the baseball in his hand as if to show the ump that he tagged the batter with the ball in his barehand. (All of this assuming the PU thought he had an empty tag). I just thought he signaled safe very quickly to have gotten an appeal already. Especially after pointing the swing so emphatically. Food for thought