balk ejection already in d2

[dumbdumb]

and some old quotes to help you through the season.

https://www.baseball-almanac.com/quotes/umpire_quotes.shtml

[Replacematt]

Meh...I've had ejections by now in the season. In 2018, I had an ejection in the bottom of the first of the first game of the year.

However, this is not good optics for this crew.
1. U3 didn't call the balk until way late and after it was mentioned by the offense. I'm guessing that was the main part of the DC's argument, given U3's proximity to the offensive dugout. 
2. Note U3's posture as he comes in--he keeps his right hand up and in front. That's more aggressive than it needs to be. Also, with the protocol of meeting at the line for discussions, he needs to be jogging; not just out of hustle, but the way he walked was also somewhat aggressive. Jogging tends to reduce that.
3. It also seems that there was conversation from further away than it needed to be. If we start off needing to be loud, it's hard to use our voice as a tool.
4. I would have liked to see PU and U1 closer to the discussion--there wasn't much traffic control needed from PU (and I doubt U1 had much to do, either.) At least one other umpire needs to have ears on the conversation.
5. If they're close, this ejection may never happen, because then they can move DC along and distract him instead of him continuing to yell across the field.
6. If it happens anyway, then we have an extra person to rodeo if/when the ejectee starts to argue with another umpire, which is important in college because of the potential for a 2-game suspension for prolonged arguing. 
7. With U3 walking away when he ejected DC, I can only assume that there were magic words. If that was the case, and YMMV, I think it's better for the umpire who is much closer to get this one. If it wasn't something automatic, this would not be supportable without an official warning.

[SH0102]

Some random thoughts:

1.  Having a hard time seeing what the balk was from the video...originally I thought the video started with the P already being set, but it looks like his movement is his coming set...but it is from behind and not the best quality, so maybe I am wrong on that.  

2.  From the beginning, I think it is obvious the DHC believes the official was prompted into the call, as DHC is clearly pointing at the offensive dugout, implying he is saying "you let them call that for you"

3.  For my learning, should HPU be telling the DHC he is not allowed to come out with his hand up?  I would expect that a coach can at least ask what his P did to get the balk call, even if he can not argue it or challenge it.

 

[Replacematt]

2 hours ago, SH0102 said:

Some random thoughts:

1.  Having a hard time seeing what the balk was from the video...originally I thought the video started with the P already being set, but it looks like his movement is his coming set...but it is from behind and not the best quality, so maybe I am wrong on that.  

2.  From the beginning, I think it is obvious the DHC believes the official was prompted into the call, as DHC is clearly pointing at the offensive dugout, implying he is saying "you let them call that for you"

3.  For my learning, should HPU be telling the DHC he is not allowed to come out with his hand up?  I would expect that a coach can at least ask what his P did to get the balk call, even if he can not argue it or challenge it.

 

For 3--I think he's reminding him of the protocol regarding where they need to stand.

[maven]

2 hours ago, SH0102 said:

1.  Having a hard time seeing what the balk was from the video...originally I thought the video started with the P already being set, but it looks like his movement is his coming set...but it is from behind and not the best quality, so maybe I am wrong on that.  

If he's in the set position, he must already have come set at the start of the video: his hands are together. When he comes set again, that's a double set balk.

If he's in the windup, separating his hands starts the motion to pitch. When he stops, it's a start-stop balk.

Whether F1 really separated his hands is hard to see from this angle, but plausible. U3 would have a great view, as would the opposing dugout. 

[umpstu]

Neil Turner is the first base umpire.

[johnnyg08]

Looks like he started & stopped. And if he needed a couple of moments to replay what he saw...so be it. I can't stand the "don't let them call it" garbage. 

[Replacematt]

1 hour ago, johnnyg08 said:

Looks like he started & stopped. And if he needed a couple of moments to replay what he saw...so be it. I can't stand the "don't let them call it" garbage. 

So, as you know all too well, I have no problem calling balks.

My point 1 above isn't to say "don't call it late," it's to say, "call it, and understand the problem." Even without anything beyond the call, calling it that late indicates something. And if the umpire realizes that they should have called it and do it late, that's better than not calling it (in most cases.) But they'd better be able to talk through it..."I wanted to make sure it was a balk before I called it." "I'm not gonna disrupt a play on a hunch."

However, this wasn't a couple of moments. That ball was fouled and on the ground before the call. That call still needs to happen, but there's a problem in their game that needs to be addressed if that much time elapses.

[johnnyg08]

16 hours ago, Matt said:

So, as you know all too well, I have no problem calling balks.

My point 1 above isn't to say "don't call it late," it's to say, "call it, and understand the problem." Even without anything beyond the call, calling it that late indicates something. And if the umpire realizes that they should have called it and do it late, that's better than not calling it (in most cases.) But they'd better be able to talk through it..."I wanted to make sure it was a balk before I called it." "I'm not gonna disrupt a play on a hunch."

However, this wasn't a couple of moments. That ball was fouled and on the ground before the call. That call still needs to happen, but there's a problem in their game that needs to be addressed if that much time elapses.

Look at around :7 or :8...is he pointing at the balk? I'm not saying that it's necessarily the correct mechanics...but there he is doing something around the time of the balk. In an early season 13-13 getaway day, barn burner...it's likely we don't have a pitcher pitching which are the exact times we're going to see this stuff. 

[Replacematt]

1 hour ago, johnnyg08 said:

Look at around :7 or :8...is he pointing at the balk? I'm not saying that it's necessarily the correct mechanics...but there he is doing something around the time of the balk. In an early season 13-13 getaway day, barn burner...it's likely we don't have a pitcher pitching which are the exact times we're going to see this stuff. 

I'm not seeing that. And if us umpires are not seeing that, then we can't expect anyone else to. 

I'd also point out that if getaway day is 13-13, that's when we have to recognize the temperature is going to be higher, in a different way. This isn't going to decide a championship or career, but everyone just wants to GTFO so anything weird is going to play like the bad movie that never ends. 

[johnnyg08]

While it didn't turn out great...I'm still happy that the umpire had the stones to make the call.

Too many guys lack the stones to grab these, even with a heads up.....knowing that it's going to lead to discussions and ejections almost every time. 

We can always improve how we handle a situation, but courageous umpiring is a bit harder to teach. 

 

[zoops]

14-13 game, coach probably wanted to get out of that mess!!

[johnnyg08]

13 hours ago, zoops said:

14-13 game, coach probably wanted to get out of that mess!!

Everyone wanted out of that mess!