Bring in the Robot Umpires!
The umpires have been heavily scrutinized in this year's MLB playoffs, and Game 2 of the World Series was no exception, with each team benefiting from a blown double-play call. Whether or not the Philadelphia Phillies' blown call was more harmful to the outcome of the game or not is irrelevant at this point, but the debate on whether wider use of instant replay in baseball is needed. Some argue that it's more important to get the ''right'' calls; some argue that baseball needs a ''human'' element. MLB Commissioner Bud Selig argues that more instant replay would slow down the already sluggish-pace of the game.
Major League Baseball should appoint a ''review umpire'' who sits with the rest of the play review team. Somebody who could review close plays regardless of the on-field call. If the call was correct, the play stands. If the play is challenged, the review umpire would have the correct ruling virtually ready to go instantaneously. If the call was incorrect, the umpire will have some way to quickly inform the on-field umpires to reverse the play. Televised broadcasts show the instant replays within seconds of the play itself. It wouldn't take any longer for an official review umpire to have the same access.
MLB Rule 8.04 states that ''When the bases are unoccupied, the pitcher shall deliver the ball to the batter within 12 seconds after he receives the ball. Each time the pitcher delays the game by violating this rule, the umpire shall call 'Ball.' The 12-second timing starts when the pitcher is in possession of the ball and the batter is in the box, alert to the pitcher. The timing stops when the pitcher releases the ball.'' An easier task than trying to figure out the exact definition of this rule would be to ask when the last time you saw an umpire call it was. Granted, the rule was written vaguely enough to allow for a massive amount of interpretations, but regardless, it has not impacted the game.
The pace of the game should have nothing to do with getting the calls right. If the umpire would have made the right call in Game 2, the Phillies would have had Ryan Howard at the plate with runners on the corners and down by two runs. Instead, Howard came to the plate in the ninth with the bases empty. That is a huge impact on the game. MLB needs to get its priorities straight and decide what's more important: finishing the games quickly or finishing the games correctly.
(c) Comix 411.
Ump admits missed call on Utley hit
DENVER -- Whether it was umpires being in the wrong place or some gamesmanship by the Phillies' Chase Utley, the fact is a missed call played a part in Philadelphia's 6-5 victory over Colorado in Sunday night's Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
With Jimmy Rollins at second base with the score tied 5-5 and one out in the top of the ninth, Utley hit a pitch from Rockies closer Huston Street that, replays showed, clearly caromed off Utley's leg while he was still in the batter's box before landing in fair ground in front of the plate near the first-base line.
A ball that hits a batter while he's still in foul territory is supposed to be ruled dead, according to section 2.00 of the Official Baseball Rules. However, no umpire saw the ball hit Utley, who reached first, and Rollins ended up scoring the winning run from third base on a sacrifice fly by the next batter, Ryan Howard. Now the Rockies must win Monday's Game 4 to avoid being eliminated.
Plate umpire Jerry Meals agreed that he missed the call.
"Yeah, the ball came up and grazed off his leg and continued rolling up the line," Meals said.
But Meals didn't know that until reviewing the play after the game. Under Major League Baseball rules, the play could not be overturned by instant replay, which is reserved to determine whether a possible home run is fair or foul, or over the fence or not.
"No. 1, it wasn't seen by myself or anybody [on the umpiring crew]," Meals said. "If you look at it [on replay], you'll be able to see it ... off the front leg, got him up in the knee/thigh area. It just grazed him and the ball continued to roll the way it was rolling."
Even with that question answered, the key play in Sunday's game prompted several more:
1. Even if the baseball hadn't ticked off Utley's leg, should he have been called out?
He could have been, for two reasons.
First, it appeared that Utley was running inside the baseline for most of his 90-foot sprint to first base, a possible violation of Rule 6.05(k). The rule says a batter is out when:
"In running the last half of the distance from home base to first base, while the ball is being fielded to first base, he runs outside (to the right of) the three-foot line, or inside (to the left of) the foul line, and in the umpire's judgment in so doing interferes with the fielder taking the throw at first base, in which case the ball is dead; except that he may run outside (to the right of) the three-foot line or inside (to the left of) the foul line to avoid a fielder attempting to field a batted ball."
Because Rockies pitcher Street fielded the ball after Utley had passed him, the last part of that rule would not apply. But perhaps the first part could have led to an out call.
Second, there was the matter of whether Utley was simply out at first base on the play. First-base umpire Ron Kulpa ruled that Street's throw pulled Todd Helton off the bag -- a decision the Rockies also disputed.
"It definitely hit his leg -- he told 'Tulo' [Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki] it hit his leg. I don't think he'd lie," Street said. "It didn't matter. He took off running, but he was still out at first base."
2. Did Utley "deke" the umpires?
Meals conceded that the umpiring crew might have been fooled by Utley, who showed no signs that the ball had bounced up and struck his leg. Instead, he dashed toward first base without hesitation.
"Chase Utley took off like it was nothing," Meals said. "He gave no indication to us that it hit him. Whatever percent of the time, you're going to get a guy that's going to stop if it hits him."
It conjured memories of Game 2 of the 2005 American League Championship Series. With the Angels and White Sox tied with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Chicago batter A.J. Pierzynski swung and missed a pitch in the dirt for strike three. Angels catcher Josh Paul, believing the inning was over, rolled the baseball back to the pitcher's mound but Pierzynski realized that plate umpire Doug Eddings had not called him out, so he scampered safely to first. Pierzynski was replaced by pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna, who eventually scored the winning run. The White Sox won the game, the series and eventually the World Series.
"It was a swing, our catcher caught it, Doug Eddings called him out and somewhere along the line, because the guy ran to first base, he altered the call," a frustrated Angels manager Mike Scioscia said that night.
Countered Pierzynski: "I didn't hear him call me out, so I knew that I could run."
Likewise, Utley lowered his head and raced for first. He insisted he wasn't sure if the baseball struck him or not.
"I'm not sure if it hit me -- it was cold out there," Utley said coyly. "I've been on the wrong end of that, where the ball has hit me and I don't run, and it's an easy out. So I wanted to make sure that I ran hard to first.
"If they called it a foul ball, then I still would have had another chance to drive [Rollins] in."
3. Did the call -- or non-call -- really doom the Rockies?
Even if Meals had correctly called a foul ball, Utley would have been batting with a 1-and-2 count, one out, a runner at second base and Howard on deck. During the regular season, Utley hit a respectable .273 with runners in scoring position, accounting for 56 of his 93 RBIs. But he also hit just .203 with two strikes.
Had Utley been retired, Howard still would have had an opportunity to hit with Rollins either at second or third base and two out. He tied for the National League lead during the regular season with 141 RBIs, and he hit .330 in "late and close" situations.
The Rockies, obviously, would have taken their chances. Instead, Street wound up with a tough-to-swallow loss.
"I've definitely had them in my favor before," Street said. "Tonight, they weren't in my favor. It cost us a ballgame."
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
The Biggest Secret of Baseball's Unwritten Rules: They Don't Exist
Say this about Erick Aybar's feet: they were a lot closer to second base than the Angels have been to playing crisp baseball.
Yes, his feet were in the so-called neighborhood of the bag in the 10th inning of Game 2 of the American League Championship Series on Saturday. But contrary to enduring baseball mythology, close is not enough.
''There is no such thing as the neighborhood play,'' said Rich Garcia, a Major League Baseball umpire supervisor for seven years after spending 25 years in blue. ''You either touch the base or you don't.''
With the score 3-3 in the 10th inning, Yankees catcher Jorge Posada hit a grounder to second base with Melky Cabrera on first. Maicer Izturis scooped up the ball and threw to Aybar, the shortstop, who straddled second base as Cabrera barreled in on him, then threw to first to get Posada.
According to M.L.B., the second-base umpire Jerry Layne made the right decision when he called Cabrera safe on what should have been a routine double play. Television replays confirmed that Aybar never made contact with the bag while he had the ball in his possession.
''The right call, and in my opinion, a tremendous call,'' said Mike Port, baseball's vice president in charge of umpiring.
Angels relief pitcher Darren Oliver got out of the inning without a run scoring, so the call did not determine the outcome of the game.
But as often as Major League Baseball umpires have been caught making the wrong calls this October, Layne's call could help eradicate the notion that umpires make certain calls according to historical precedent, and not what actually happened on the field.
For instance, there is no such thing as tie goes to the runner. And pitches are not strikes if they go over the so-called ''black'' part of the plate for the simple reason that there is no black part of the plate in Major League Baseball.
And umpires do not give credit to a fielder for making a good throw, Port said. If a tag is not made before the runner hits the bag, then the umpire is supposed to call him safe.
If the wrong call is made, Port said it is only because the umpire missed it, not because of some unwritten rule book that umpires follow.
Port said umpires have two choices: ''Safe or out. Ball or strike. Fair or foul. There is no third category.''
Some plays, like the one on which a fair ball off the bat of Joe Mauer was called foul in Game 2 of the Yankees' division series against the Twins, increase the call to expand the use of television replays to correct umpires' obvious mistakes, but not everyone agrees.
''It should not be expanded,'' Angels Manager Mike Scioscia said before Saturday's game. ''I think for home run calls, fan interference calls, whether it's home run or not, there's a practical application that I think will be useful. Outside of that, no. No room in this game for instant replay, in my opinion.''
Baseball uses a replay system only for disputed home runs, not plays like the one in the 10th inning Saturday, which Scioscia argued with the unrelenting Layne.
During that debate, Scioscia might have invoked the concept of the neighborhood play, because as clear as Port and Garcia are on the subject, there are still many in baseball who are convinced it still exists, including the Fox television analyst Tim McCarver.
A former catcher, McCarver initially said that Aybar had not been touching the base on previous plays during the game, so he should not have been held to account on that one. Later, when informed by his technical staff that replays showed Aybar had touched the base on previous plays, McCarver acknowledged his error.
But his initial premise was that the only requirement for the umpire was consistency, and not necessarily accuracy. Layne, it turned out, was accurate and consistent.
(c) 2009 The New York Times Company.
Ump admits missed call on Utley hit
DENVER --- Whether it was umpires being in the wrong place or some gamesmanship by the Phillies' Chase Utley, the fact is a missed call played a part in Philadelphia's 6-5 victory over Colorado in Sunday night's Game 3 of the National League Division Series.
With Jimmy Rollins at second base with the score tied 5-5 and one out in the top of the ninth, Utley hit a pitch from Rockies closer Huston Street that, replays showed, clearly caromed off Utley's leg while he was still in the batter's box before landing in fair ground in front of the plate near the first-base line.
A ball that hits a batter while he's still in foul territory is supposed to be ruled dead, according to section 2.00 of the Official Baseball Rules. However, no umpire saw the ball hit Utley, who reached first, and Rollins ended up scoring the winning run from third base on a sacrifice fly by the next batter, Ryan Howard. Now the Rockies must win Monday's Game 4 to avoid being eliminated.
Plate umpire Jerry Meals agreed that he missed the call.
"Yeah, the ball came up and grazed off his leg and continued rolling up the line," Meals said.
But Meals didn't know that until reviewing the play after the game. Under Major League Baseball rules, the play could not be overturned by instant replay, which is reserved to determine whether a possible home run is fair or foul, or over the fence or not.
"No. 1, it wasn't seen by myself or anybody [on the umpiring crew]," Meals said. "If you look at it [on replay], you'll be able to see it ... off the front leg, got him up in the knee/thigh area. It just grazed him and the ball continued to roll the way it was rolling."
Even with that question answered, the key play in Sunday's game prompted several more:
1. Even if the baseball hadn't ticked off Utley's leg, should he have been called out?
He could have been, for two reasons.
First, it appeared that Utley was running inside the baseline for most of his 90-foot sprint to first base, a possible violation of Rule 6.05(k). The rule says a batter is out when:
"In running the last half of the distance from home base to first base, while the ball is being fielded to first base, he runs outside (to the right of) the three-foot line, or inside (to the left of) the foul line, and in the umpire's judgment in so doing interferes with the fielder taking the throw at first base, in which case the ball is dead; except that he may run outside (to the right of) the three-foot line or inside (to the left of) the foul line to avoid a fielder attempting to field a batted ball."
Because Rockies pitcher Street fielded the ball after Utley had passed him, the last part of that rule would not apply. But perhaps the first part could have led to an out call.
Second, there was the matter of whether Utley was simply out at first base on the play. First-base umpire Ron Kulpa ruled that Street's throw pulled Todd Helton off the bag -- a decision the Rockies also disputed.
"It definitely hit his leg -- he told 'Tulo' [Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki] it hit his leg. I don't think he'd lie," Street said. "It didn't matter. He took off running, but he was still out at first base."
2. Did Utley "deke" the umpires?
Meals conceded that the umpiring crew might have been fooled by Utley, who showed no signs that the ball had bounced up and struck his leg. Instead, he dashed toward first base without hesitation.
"Chase Utley took off like it was nothing," Meals said. "He gave no indication to us that it hit him. Whatever percent of the time, you're going to get a guy that's going to stop if it hits him."
It conjured memories of Game 2 of the 2005 American League Championship Series. With the Angels and White Sox tied with two out in the bottom of the ninth inning, Chicago batter A.J. Pierzynski swung and missed a pitch in the dirt for strike three. Angels catcher Josh Paul, believing the inning was over, rolled the baseball back to the pitcher's mound but Pierzynski realized that plate umpire Doug Eddings had not called him out, so he scampered safely to first. Pierzynski was replaced by pinch-runner Pablo Ozuna, who eventually scored the winning run. The White Sox won the game, the series and eventually the World Series.
"It was a swing, our catcher caught it, Doug Eddings called him out and somewhere along the line, because the guy ran to first base, he altered the call," a frustrated Angels manager Mike Scioscia said that night.
Countered Pierzynski: "I didn't hear him call me out, so I knew that I could run."
Likewise, Utley lowered his head and raced for first. He insisted he wasn't sure if the baseball struck him or not.
"I'm not sure if it hit me -- it was cold out there," Utley said coyly. "I've been on the wrong end of that, where the ball has hit me and I don't run, and it's an easy out. So I wanted to make sure that I ran hard to first.
"If they called it a foul ball, then I still would have had another chance to drive [Rollins] in."
3. Did the call -- or non-call -- really doom the Rockies?
Even if Meals had correctly called a foul ball, Utley would have been batting with a 1-and-2 count, one out, a runner at second base and Howard on deck. During the regular season, Utley hit a respectable .273 with runners in scoring position, accounting for 56 of his 93 RBIs. But he also hit just .203 with two strikes.
Had Utley been retired, Howard still would have had an opportunity to hit with Rollins either at second or third base and two out. He tied for the National League lead during the regular season with 141 RBIs, and he hit .330 in "late and close" situations.
The Rockies, obviously, would have taken their chances. Instead, Street wound up with a tough-to-swallow loss.
"I've definitely had them in my favor before," Street said. "Tonight, they weren't in my favor. It cost us a ballgame."
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Tigers' Bonderman suspended for 3 games by MLB
DETROIT --- Tigers general manager Dave Dombrowski does not agree with Major League Baseball's decision to suspend Detroit pitcher Jeremy Bonderman while only fining Twins pitcher Jose Mijares.
Bonderman was suspended for three games Friday for intentionally hitting Minnesota's Delmon Young with a pitch, and Mijares was docked an undisclosed amount of money for intentionally throwing behind Detroit's Adam Everett.
"I don't think the ruling makes any sense," Dombrowski said Friday night, before Detroit opened a three-game series against the Chicago White Sox with a two-game lead in the AL Central over the Twins.
"I don't know how the person who starts it doesn't get some sort of penalty too," Dombrowski added. "I've expressed that to people in the commissioner's office."
Thursday's situation started with inside pitches -- two at Detroit's Marcus Thames and one at Minnesota's Denard Span -- and ended with Young screaming at teamamte Mijares after getting hit.
"This was nothing more than a great series until, for some unknown reason, a foolish pitch by a Minnesota pitcher," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I'm so sad to see the Tigers paying for it more than the pitcher who threw the pitch."
After spending a moment on the ground in obvious pain, Young got up, slammed his helmet to the ground and had to be held back from going toward Minnesota's dugout because he was upset with Mijares.
Mijares told reporters in Minneapolis his head was "not in the game" and that he planned to apologize to the team -- and Young individually -- for his action. Mijares said he realized following the game he made a mistake after teammate Orlando Cabrera confronted him.
Minnesota manager Ron Gardenhire said the conflict between Mijares and Young was resolved, but did not want to talk about the subject.
"We've got three big games here that we have to win," Gardenhire said Friday night before the Twins hosted Kansas City in their series opener. "Can we just talk baseball?"
Gardenhire said he wasn't surprised Mijares, one of his key setup men, wasn't suspended.
"I didn't think they would, they didn't throw him out of the game," Gardenhire said.
Both benches cleared after Bonderman hit Young, but the players only milled around once they realized that Young wasn't about to charge the mound.
"Trust me, Delmon wasn't at all upset with the Tigers," Span said Thursday. "He knew what was going to happen, and he was angry at our teammate. I probably would have felt the same way if I had been the first batter up in that inning."
Gardenhire and some of his players also were unhappy with Mijares after the series in Detroit ended.
"I want to make this perfectly clear -- our pitcher lost his cool and threw a pitch behind one of their players, and you don't do that," Gardenhire said. "We told them that we screwed up, and that we know they did what they needed to do, and that it is over. I talked to Mr. Leyland, and I told him that."
Leyland was ejected after a face-to-face argument with plate umpire Angel Hernandez that followed Mijares' pitch behind Everett.
"I don't think I've ever been as shocked in my baseball life as when he threw that pitch," said Leyland, who has been a part of professional baseball for nearly a half-century.
Bonderman, who also was fined, appealed the penalty assessed by MLB vice president Bob Watson, delaying the start of the suspension.
Tigers hitting coach Lloyd McClendon also was suspended for one game and fined because Bonderman acted intentionally following warnings to both teams during Minnesota's 8-3 win Thursday. McClendon was acting manager following Leyland's ejection.
"Lloyd McClendon got a $1,000 fine and a one-game suspension and didn't even get kicked out of the game," Leyland said.
Leyland and catcher Gerald Laird were fined for arguing with Hernandez.
Bonderman and Tigers catcher Gerald Laird were immediately ejected after the pitch that hit Young.
"I knew I was going to get thrown out, that's the rule," Bonderman said.
Laird said he'd never seen a player react the way Young did to being hit by a pitch.
It was a first for Twins catcher Mike Redmond, too.
"I've seen players get angry with their own pitcher in that situation before, but I've never seen it happen on the field," Redmond said. "I understand why he was angry, and I understand why Leyland was upset."
(c) 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
With DiFelice out, Brewers add Butler
CHICAGO -- Mark DiFelice may avoid another right shoulder surgery, but he couldn't avoid a season-ending trip to the disabled list.
The Brewers placed the reliever on the 60-day DL Tuesday with the strained right shoulder he suffered on Sunday in Arizona, and they purchased the contract of another right-hander, Josh Butler, a bright spot in the organization's thin stable of pitching prospects.
DiFelice finished with a 3.66 ERA in 59 games this season. He tweaked his surgically repaired right shoulder on a ball-four offering to D-backs pitcher Max Scherzer on Sunday and worried that he had re-torn his labrum, an injury that sent DiFelice to the surgeon's table following the 2001 season and might have been career threatening had he suffered it again.
An MRI scan on Monday in Milwaukee revealed only "wear and tear," DiFelice said later that day, but with less than three weeks remaining in the season, Brewers officials determined he would not have enough time to return.
"Because of the amount of the season left, we can't be in that uncertain position," Brewers assistant general manager Gord Ash said. "We knew he was going to be 15 days, anyway."
"It was smart," DiFelice said. "They wanted to shut me down, and now I can just rest up for next year."
DiFelice will remain with the team for the rest of the season. Ash left the door open for him to pitch during the final week of the Major League season in the fall instructional league in Arizona, but DiFelice said he might prefer to remain with the Brewers.
Either way, the year will end on a down note.
"It's rough," DiFelice said. "I didn't want to go into this offseason on the 60-day DL [as a] question mark for Spring Training, which I hope there isn't."
Butler, 24, would have been added to the 40-man roster this offseason anyway because the Brewers would not have risked exposing him to the Rule 5 Draft. Now, he'll get a brief taste of the big leagues before reporting next month to the Arizona Fall League. He is a strong candidate to start against the Astros on Friday in place of Manny Parra, who still is bothered by a stiff neck.
In 24 games for four Milwaukee affiliates this year, including 23 starts, Butler was 9-3 with a 2.97 ERA. He missed about a month in the middle of the season with a rib-cage injury, but Butler was at his best for Double-A Huntsville, where the 6-foot-5 Californian went 2-1 with a 2.85 ERA and 33 strikeouts versus 13 walks in eight starts.
The Brewers acquired Butler last April in a trade that sent outfielder Gabe Gross to the Rays. Butler was in uniform No. 62 beginning Tuesday, when he arrived at Wrigley Field and found himself sharing a locker in the crowded visitor's clubhouse with John Axford.
"That's OK. We were roommates at [Class A] Brevard County, so we're used to it," Butler said.
Butler was packing up his car in Huntsville ahead of a long drive home to San Diego on Monday morning when he learned he was headed to the Majors.
"It was definitely a surprise," Butler said. "I played pretty much everywhere in this organization this year, and being here is a good way to finish it off. ... Just coming back from last year, which was one of the worst years I've had, being mentally strong and staying on track this whole year, has meant a lot to me. It's been a great ride. It's kind of surreal right now."
(c) 2001-2009 MLB Advanced Media, L.P. All rights reserved.
Commissioner Bud Selig Allows Steroid Suspension-Shaving, Breaks MLB Rules; Dozens of Players' Seasons Potentially in Jeopardy
MLN Newswire - 09.20.09 - SZ SPECIAL INVESTIGATION - Did you know that there is no rule against drug or Performance-Enhancing Substance (PES) usage in either MLB or Minor League Baseball (MiLB)?
There never has been, in the history of the game.
How, then, did Commissioner Allan (Bud) Selig issue 50 game 'suspensions' for positive PES tests under the rules of the game as they now stand?
He cannot.
The Commissioner and his office have been allowing a labor relations agreement not in the rule book that is perhaps best described as a "gentleman's agreement" between MLB and the players' union, to trump the rules and punishments that have been used in professional baseball for more than a century.
In "At What Cost, Peace," on the cover of the current issue of SZ, celebrating its 10th anniversary as the first digital sports magazine on the Internet, we will tell you why MLB seems to place peace with the MLB Players Association above the rules of the game itself.
How did Manny Ramirez, J.C. Romero, Mike Cameron, and Sergio Mitre all serve less than their 50 game suspensions? Why could they be looking at a year or more?
How could dozens of minor leaguers, and leagues have their seasons compromised by Selig's apparent cherry-picking of rules and deals?
Players from minor league affiliates of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Milwaukee Brewers, New York Yankees, Los Angeles Angels, Atlanta Braves, San Diego Padres, Colorado Rockies, Tampa Bay Rays, Kansas City Royals and Minnesota Twins organizations may all have been affected.
Individual, team, and league stats and records for 2009 in the Pacific Coast League (AAA), International League (AAA), California League (High-A) and the Florida State League (High-A) could be subject to revision if the rules of the game as they were written for 2009 are upheld.
"At What Cost, Peace" is the culmination of a 2-1/2 month in-depth investigation by MLN Sports into the rules and labor agreements.
We expose the failed anti-doping deals of MLB which Selig termed "the strongest drug testing program in professional sports" on Capitol Hill in the wake of the devastating Mitchell Reports.
We will tell you about the rule manipulations, the bootstrap and back-room deals of a politically-charged anti-doping policy, the latest chapter in the power struggle between MLB and the MLB Players Association.
If cheating by gambling or throwing a game can be a crime in the rule book, why not drugs?
Is there a way to really get to a world-class anti-doping system in MLB and MiLB baseball?
(c) 2006-2008 MLN Sports Group LLC. All rights reserved.
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