baseballrules

Many Colorado Rockies fans, including Craig Welling, were sure second baseman Clint Barnes came up with an incredible catch that saved a game and maybe a season.

Last Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals, Barnes fell onto the field and rolled over as he appeared to scoop up a fly ball. He threw it to first base for a game ending double play.

“Once I was heading down, the ball bounced off my glove, I felt it hit my chest, I’m reaching for it, trying to battle to catch it before it hits the ground,” said Barnes. “At that point, it happened so fast, my knee hit, I flipped, it knocked my hat and glasses off, scratched my forehead. I come up, the ball’s in my hand, like I said, it just happened so fast.”

The only problem, photos by Welling show the ball calmly sitting on the grass, hidden by Barnes’s body from the vision of the umpires.

Barnes said he spent the day in the mountains with his family on Monday and didn’t see the photos until he got to the ballpark on Tuesday.

“That’s part of the game. That’s why there’s umpires out there and that’s why we have four of them,” Barnes said. “So, they’re doing their job the best they can do their job and it is an extremely fast game at this level.”

Welling had an angle from the concourse behind the first base line, but even he didn’t see what really happened.

“I had it on film and didn’t realize until the next morning that maybe he didn’t quite make the catch. I was convinced,” said Welling.

To see photos by Craig Welling, visit his web site

Barnes said that’s why we have four umpires. Maybe more are needed during games. I’ve been thinking about this and soon will have a post addressing this issue in the How To Improve MLB Umpiring category.

If the Minnesota Twins fail to beat out the Detroit Tigers for the American League Central Division lead, they and fans might look back in the season and have issues with several umpire calls.

Remember the July 20 game against the Oakland Athletics? With a huge lead, the Twins let the A’s score 10 runs to win that game 14-13. The last out occurred at home plate. Michael Cuddyer safely slid home to tie the game, at least that’s what he, the Twins and their fans thought. But home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski got it wrong big time. This call was played over and over throughout the sports world.

The second ump goof against the Twins occurred on August 7 against the Tigers in Detroit. The Twins lost 10-8. Twins third baseman Brendan Harris tagged Curtis Granderson in a rundown. The ump, though, had brain fog. He called him safe, but did not make a vocal call, which allowed Granderson to score when the Twins thought he was out. Granderson later said he was tagged.

In the same game, a Detroit batter shot the ball down the first base line. It was picked up by a fan (requiring fan interference and a grounds rule double) who then dropped the ball back onto the field as Twins second baseman Nick Punto waited for the ump to call the interference. When Punto realized the umpires missed that call, he quickly picked up the ball and fired it to Twins catcher Joe Mauer, who appeared to tag the second Tiger runner (one runner had already scored) heading for the plate. The runner was ruled safe.

Don’t know if these calls were reviewed by MLB and if the umpires were disciplined. At minimum, the calls should have been discussed with the umpires even though it does nothing for the Twins. Of course, the Twins may have benefited from a call or two, or more, during the season that tipped the balance the other way. With the state of umpiring in MLB, they had to benefit sometime during the season that gave them a win or two.

The bottom line is MLB needs to take more action to ensure that umpires get as many of these calls correct on the field during the games. The integrity of the game is at stake.

Second base umpire Tim Welke blew a call in yesterday’s New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox game that could have influenced the outcome. Eventually it didn’t but MLB needs to review all bad calls.

Nick Swisher was on second and tagged on a fly to center. He made it to third safely, but Boston appealed and Welke called him out for leaving early.

It did not look that way in real time on the television and replays on ESPN, which was broadcasting the game, showed that while Swisher was leaning toward third he did not pick his toe off the base until the ball made contact with the centerfielder’s glove.

The score was 2-1 Red Sox in the middle of the game. Swisher should have been on third with one out and the chance to score instead of the Yanks having no one on and two out.

MLB needs to talk to Welke and other umps who make bad calls like this and suspend them for repeated poor play calling.

Ichiro showed up umpire Brian Runge on Saturday. He didn’t like a called third strike and then pointed to the dirt across the plate in the opposite batters box to show where he felt it passed. He was gone immediately for the first time in is MLB career.

You could see that coming, but what if the umpire’s call was wrong? What if the ball was that far outside?

Ichiro was wrong with the way he handled it, but if Runge’s call was bad, then it created the problem and then he, too, should be disciplined.

MLB can’t take back the ejection, but it can rescind any fine if the call was way off base. MLB should use its ball-strike technology employed at ballparks and look at the video to determine if that pitch was too far off the plate. If it was, Runge should be ejected, or suspended, for one game and fined.

Don’t know if MLB can do this under the current umpire’s agreement, but if they can’t they should negotiate this into the new agreement to protect the integrity of the game.

Players, coaches and managers this year increasingly are calling out the umpires. (Let’s step back on this one, though. Ichiro may have been completely off base with the calls during this at-bat. See details below.)

Sports writers, broadcasters and fans also are talking more about umpire calls. MLB needs to wake up and stop the umps from hurting the game with obvious bad calls. While this incident with Ichiro may have been the correct call, the situation again brings the many other bad calls that have occurred this season back into the spotlight.

The following was learned after the game:

“He was ejected for drawing a line,” crew chief Jerry Layne told a pool reporter. “Even his manager said, ‘I can’t take up for him when they draw a line like that.’ It was kind of a cut-and-dry thing.”

Ichiro did not discuss the ejection with English-speaking media after the game, but told Japan-based reporters that he was surprised the ejection came so quickly.

Manager Don Wakamatsu said he had not had a chance to talk about the ejection with his star right fielder.

“Obviously, there were pitches that he thought were called unfairly against him,” he said. “We will look at the replays.”

Replays have suggested that the third strike was on the outside corner. (But what about the other pitches in that at-bat that possibly frustrated Ichiro and led to his actions? Let’s get comments about the ball-strike calls for the entire at-bat.)

Carl Crawford of the Tampa Bay Rays is tired of giving umpires the look. After he was called out on a stolen base attempt last Sunday, Crawford glanced at third-base umpire Damien Beal.

“I don’t say anything because I’m already out,” Crawford said. “I just give them a look, like in disbelief. Like I don’t understand why half of these calls get made against me.”

Crawford’s looks have been coming more often and with more anger. He has been caught stealing four times in the past 13 games. That is 15 throw-outs this season to tie his career high.

In the Sunday game against the Toronto Blue Jays, Crawford appeared safe on replay.

“I’ve been looking safe a lot lately,” he said. “For some reason, I’ve just been getting called out. I don’t know what it is. I’m a speedy guy. Common sense will tell you to watch the play closely because it’s going to be a close play.”

He slides feet-first, an atypical approach for most notable baserunners who like the head-first dive. Could this be contributing to some of the close plays, or are the umps in bad position, or just can’t make the proper calls?

“They’re just not getting in the proper position to see that I’m safe most of the time,” said Crawford. “Half of the times I’ve been thrown out this year, if you go back and look at the replay, I was safe.”

On Sunday, Crawford said he felt the glove of Blue Jays third baseman Edwin Encarnacion smack his hip. His feet were already touching the base.

“If I’m getting tagged on my waist, that’s got to tell you something,” he said. “I’m just getting a little tired of it. It’s starting to wear on me and frustrate me a little bit. That’s the only reason why I’m extending the conversation to you guys (the media) about it. But it’s definitely starting to get frustrating. I just wish they could pay more attention to me sliding, because half of the time I’m safe.”

MLB can ignore this. More and more players are complaining about missed calls and overall poor umpiring. This off season, MLB needs to overall the umpiring of the game.

UMPS CARE Charities, the official charity of Major League Baseball umpires, brought umpires Randy Marsh, Angel Hernandez, Marvin Hudson, Lance Barksdale and James Hoye — along with Gapper, the mascot of the Cincinnati Reds — to the Cincinnati Children’s Medical Center to visit the young patients and try to brighten their day. Also with the umpires: a complete Build-A-Bear Workshop for the kids.

The umpires set up in an activity room with the Workshop and spent time with each patient. They presented a choice of Build-A-Bears, asked the children which outfits they wanted and helped them dress the bears. They engaged the children and their parents in conversation about baseball and other topics. While the patients waited their turn, Gapper entertained them with antics, horseplay and whistles.

“The umpires were great with the kids,” said Lisa Hall, operations coordinator in the division of child life at the hospital. “There are a lot of groups I bring in where I have to coach them along a bit. The umpires felt very comfortable going up to the kids and being around them. And Gapper has been coming to the hospital for a long time — he’s always great.”

Hernandez, Barksdale and the other Major League Baseball umpires are involved year-round in fundraising and support for UMPS CARE Charities. The organization purchases all the bears and clothes itself, and its fundraisers include a Run for Bears in conjunction with the Baltimore Marathon on October 10, a golf tournament and a 100-hole golf marathon on November 11 in Arizona. For more information about any of these events, or to learn how to make a donation or pledge for a participating ump, visit http://www.UmpsCare.com.

One of the other efforts of UMPS CARE Charities is providing tickets to baseball games for children awaiting adoption, along with a behind-the-scenes tours of stadiums.

I’ve waited for several days to pass for things to shake out before commenting on the calls made at the end of last week’s Los Angeles Angeles-Boston Red Sox game. I watched it on television when it happened and cannot believe the strike calls, or lack thereof, that were made during the Nick Green at-bat. The check swing is debatable. While I think he swung, and I called it as soon as I saw it, I had the close up look on TV. The umpire is more than 90 feet away, and I will give him the benefit of the doubt.

However, the ball four call that actually was a strike should be looked at closely by MLB.

Umpire Rick Reed acknowledged a day later that his ball-four call on a ninth-inning pitch by Angels closer Brian Fuentes to Green “very well could have been a strike.” He also admonished the Angels for their actions after the team’s 9-8 loss to the Boston Red Sox.

I understand that the umpires have to walk through the visiting team’s tunnel and clubhouse at Fenway Park before going through a door to their room. I can only imagine what they had to go through. But it is understandable. The umpires have blown obvious calls more often and are not consistent with the strike zone. They need to call the rule book strike zone.

Reed said that on the final pitch to Green, Mike Napoli’s actions led him to call it a ball after the Angels catcher tried to frame the knee-high pitch. (Sure, blame it on the catcher.)

Reed also said he had an earlier call on his mind — a call he confesses he might have missed. (So, make two bad calls.)

Just admit it, Reed, you blew the call, because you don’t have a consistent strike zone and can’t call the rule book strike.

“I saw the strike zone,” Reed said of the pitch to Green, referring to the telestrator box used on television replays. “That said it was a strike — it was a pitch I thought was borderline. The catcher did a nice job of bringing it up, and that was a telling blow. If a catcher moves his glove, it’s to improve the pitch.

“I called a [strike] earlier in the game that I thought was low, and I said, ‘I’m not going to let that happen again.’ I wish they were all waist-high. They’d be a lot easier to judge.”

Well, they aren’t easy. Go back to the rule book and call strikes as the rule book tells you to call strikes. Then, be consistent. That’s when players, managers and fans will not argue with you.

“Their deportment when we left the field left a lot to be desired,” said Reed, a 28-year veteran. “I was disappointed in the coaches. They’re the guys who usually stop friction during the game and afterward. They were an issue, and I’m not pleased in the way they said things or their presentation.”

Asked if it was the behavior of the coaches that left the worst taste in his mouth, Reed said, “Yes. Their behavior was unprofessional and unbecoming of a Major League Baseball team.”

Bottom line is that in many instance, from bad ball-strike calls, to bad positioning, to escalating arguments, to indifference, to arrogance, the umpires have gotten worse in recent years. MLB needs to reign them in. We talk about some of the things MLB can do in this blog’s “How To Improve MLB Umpiring” posts. More will be added to these posts soon.

Angels Manager Mike Scioscia strongly disagreed with Reed’s charge that the Angels were unprofessional.

“That’s absolutely wrong,” he said. “We had an emotional team. We respected their space. We gave them a buffer zone to go up [the tunnel] and all of us were upset, but there was nothing threatening.

“It was along the lines of, ‘You’ve got to be kidding me!’ A lot of it was not directed at them. Guys were venting. There was some profanity, but in an emotional game like that, there’s going to be some venting.”

Reed did not name the coaches, but did say Scioscia could have handled the situation better.

“Mike made an attempt to quiet the coaches down,” said Reed. “But he also made a comment that incited the situation.”

“I made a quiet comment to Rick Reed,” said Scioscia, “and that’s between me and him.”

Reed filed a report to the commissioner’s office after the game, and several Angels coaches and Scioscia are expected to receive fines and, possibly, suspensions.

Scioscia also spoke with MLB officials and pointed a finger at third base umpire Mark Wegner, who, according to Scioscia, came back to confront an Angels coach.

“If anything,” Scioscia said, “there is a little lesson of professionalism on Mark Wegner’s part that needs to be discussed.”

After the game, Scioscia and Fuentes were forceful in their criticisms of Reed and first base umpire Jeff Kellogg, who ruled that Green had checked his swing on an earlier two-strike pitch.

“What was the count at the end?” Scioscia fumed. “Three-and-four to Green?”

Fuentes said the umpires might have been swayed by the Fenway crowd and that there is a history of the Red Sox getting a hometown advantage.

“It’s frustrating, especially here and in other places where they seem a little timid to make a call,” Fuentes said. “It just seems like that’s the way it is here time and time again. . . . It’s either a mistake or they’re scared. It’s one of the two.”

Said Reed of these comments: “We read them, and we heard them. Do we wish to comment on them? I don’t think so.”

MLB can cut the frustration considerably but ordering the umpires to call the rule book strike zone. Umpires who don’t should be sent to the minors for seasoning (as players are sent down) and brought back when they have mastered the rule book zone, or, if it is a repeated failure, should be taken out of the rotation to umpire MLB games.

Now, about how the game ended: we can’t figure why Angel’s outfielder did not dive for the ball. But that is for other blogs to question.

Last Wednesday, Geovany Soto, catcher for the Chicago Cubs, learned about Rule 7.05 (j) from the MLB rulebook. So did an umpire.

As he tried to control a pitch in the dirt from David Patton during the fourth inning, Soto used his facemask to corral the ball and bring it into his grasp. Home plate umpire Doug Eddings needed to be reminded that the mask cannot be used to catch a ball. Nor can any other piece of equipment other than a glove. Milwaukee Brewers manager Ken Macha brought it to Eddings attention.

As a result, Soto was charged with an error and runner Felipe Lopez was allowed to move from second to third.

In the Cubs TV booth, former catcher Bob Brenly said “Geo knows better than that” and that every catcher is taught not to use a tool of ignorance as a fielding instrument as one of baseball’s first lessons.

But Cubs’ manager Lou Piniella later said that his catcher probably wasn’t aware of the rule. ”We told him he couldn’t use his helmet either, just to be sure.”

Home plate umpire Marty Foster ejected Alex Rodriguez from Sunday’s New York Yankees 13-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles and it gave everyone a flashback to July, when Foster and Derek Jeter engaged in a spat. Jeter, called out attempting to steal third base that day, contended afterward that Foster told him a tag was unnecessary on the play since the throw beat him to the bag.

This time, during the fifth inning, Foster ejected both Rodriguez and manager Joe Girardi. Rodriguez twice called the ump “unprofessional.”

“I don’t know what his deal is with the Yankees,” said Rodriguez. “To tell Jeter to get off the field and to throw me out without a warning — I think in the heat of the moment, not arguing balls and strikes, I think there should be a little room for error where you can actually argue, take out your frustration and let the game go on.”

Though he did like Foster’s called third strike that ended the fourth inning, Rodriguez took his place at third base in the top of the fifth inning. After that half inning, he reviewed his at-bat in the video room off the dugout. Shortly after he returned to the dugout, Foster ejected him, prompting Girardi to step onto the field and begin arguing with the umpire.

Girardi had to be restrained by crew chief Wally Bell.

“These games are extremely important to us, and I just thought he could have warned him,” Girardi said. “I didn’t think what Alex said warranted him getting thrown out of the game.”

The stories from both vary:

According to Rodriguez, he became upset when Foster and Orioles catcher Chad Moeller engaged in a conversation during his at-bat during the fourth. When Rodriguez returned to the dugout in the fifth inning and overheard the two strike up a conversation again, he told Foster to “keep talking” to Moeller, prompting the ejection.

“I don’t argue balls and strikes,” said Rodriguez. “You guys have seen me play for a long time. I never argue balls and strikes. I really don’t get caught up in that; I really don’t care much for it.”

Foster’s version has Rodriguez arguing balls and strikes not only after his strikeout, but from third base the following inning and then “screaming from the dugout” in the middle of the fifth.

“He was ejected for arguing pitches from the dugout,” Foster said.

Whatever the case, Major League Baseball will review the situation to determine whether Girardi will be suspended for his actions. MLB needs to discipline Foster, too. This is the second time in a few months his actions have prompted issues with the Yankees. At the least, he should not be considered for any post-season games involving the Yankees since controversy seems to follow him.

Wake up MLB. Your umpires are a far cry from the disciplined umps that called the games during years gone by. We’ll have more in the series on how to improve MLB umpiring soon.

The labor agreement for Major League Baseball umpires expires December 31. Negotiations, in the words of president of the umpires’ union Joe West, are on track “to get a deal done well in advance of that date.”

Then, you would think that some umps would work harder to get more ball-strike calls correct and others would check their temper at the umpire’s room door and try to mediate issues instead of helping escalate some arguments with players and managers.