Umpires at Fenway: Rick Reed, Meet Tim Donaghy

Thu, Sep 17 2009 1:16 PM

Comments 14

I posted a forum note late last night (well, late for those of us trapped on Eastern time), but I wanted to try to analyze the repercussions of yesterday's "thrilling" conclusion of the Angels-Red Sox slugfest.

First, the rant. I don't know how anyone outside of Boston could call last night's game a good one. It was poorly pitched by the starters, poorly pitched by the bullpens, and very poorly umpired. I didn't get to see the entire contest, but I watched the innings that mattered most, and the umpiring crew in this one made my stomach turn. It was almost as though the umpires felt the game should have ended (or at least become tied) on Jed Lowrie's sharp grounder down the 3rd base line. But wait! Chone Figgins kept it on the infield, preventing the tying run from scoring. "How can we get Boston back into this thing?" they must have thought, only to decide on a newer, better strike zone for the subsequent Red Sox hitter, Nick Green.

A controversial check-swing and a knee high fastball down broadway later, the Red Sox were tied, and it was only a matter of moments before the Angels collapsed and gave up the winning run.

A couple years ago, the idea that a game's outcome could be decided, or at least influenced by its officials would seem nuts, but not any more. Now, we have an NBA official in prison, some mobsters searching wildly for another scam, and some pretty frightening missed calls in a lot of our nation's highest profile games.

As far as the checked swing is concerned, what the majority of the world does not know is that the umpire CANNOT be wrong. The rule is written such that the umpire is merely asked to determine if the batter was making an effort to hit the ball. It doesn't matter if the offensive player's bat crossed a virtual "line" extended vertically from home plate. How far the bat traveled is just one of the many criteria an umpire has to weigh when evaluating a checked swing. All that being said, it sure looked like Nick Green was trying to hit that 0-2 fastball. Even the look on his face said so, as a slow-motion replay showed Green cringing, outwardly annoyed that he would attempt to hit a pitch around his letters.

A handful of foul balls later, Green watched a fastball whiz by, right down the heart of the plate, at his knees, and was rewarded for it! Honestly, it's an at-bat like Green's that makes me want to tune baseball off my television. How can a player earn himself an RBI taking a borderline 3-2 pitch with the bases loaded and 2 outs in the 9th? This is where the NBA generally has it right. With a few ticks left on the clock in the 4th quarter, 19 times out of 20 the refs are going to swallow their whistle and let the players decide the outcome. Here, the umpires need to make the players earn it, too.

So, while my feelings towards that crap mean something to me, they're thoroughly unimportant to the rest of the world unless I can figure out a way to make them relevant, and I think I can.

My suggestion is a 2-step program. Step 1, watch tonight's game. See if THIS umpiring crew makes any adjustments after the controversy yesterday. My guess is that someone is getting punched out on strikes, today. Maybe moreso, will the outbursts from Scioscia and Fuentes have any impact on future umpiring crews coming into Fenway? It's extremely possible, as every crew is scrutinized by an oversight committee.

Step 2, adjust to what you see. If the umpires seem trigger-happy, look for some Unders. If they seem even more gunshy than usual, watch for a ton of walks and extra runs. Let's see how this goes, and play it from there!

Basketball, NBA, MLB, Baseball, Red Sox, Angels

Comments

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Anonymous

Fri, Sep 18 2009 6:25 PM

Apathyxnext,

Better go re watch the game... then take a min to digest what the ump said himself.

He said he was thinking about a missed call earlier in the game where he called a low ball a strike, so he told himself he was not gonna let that happen again.

next time try to do a little research before you spew you filth
Dan Bebe

Thu, Sep 17 2009 7:00 PM

Oh well, I'm cooling off. Like I said before, I didn't bet it, so I was just annoyed with an ugly game. Figured I'd write something - didn't think it would get this much attention, hahaha!
ilovemoney

Thu, Sep 17 2009 6:53 PM

The ump call a pitch lower than that a strike to an Angel batter, I did have money on the Angel and the only reasonable explanation would have been because you don't get borderline strike call with a wild pitcher in Fuentes.
Dan Bebe

Thu, Sep 17 2009 6:38 PM

Hahahah, G, I feel your pain, buddy. Well, like I said, I didn't have any money on last night's game, and while the Angels may not have DESERVED to win, I still think Green struck, and I don't like baseball rewarding a player who takes a pitch THAT CLOSE with 2 outs in the 9th and the bases loaded. It's moneyball at its very worst and it's boring.
G Investor

Thu, Sep 17 2009 3:46 PM

Actually since my G Connections had Boston, I watched most of the game. To me, watching live, the "ball 4" to Green was down the middle but looked below the knees. If you see in regular speed, it was low.

If there was a "fix", it wasn't as obvious as watching a 2nd baseman let a ball go thru his legs and let the score go over at the top of the 9th. I remember dropping 5 Units in the 90s on a game like that.
Apathyxnext

Thu, Sep 17 2009 2:47 PM

And also for all you people out there, the home plate ump had the same strike zone all night long. I just went back and watched the last few innings on pitch trax and every single time there was a ball pitches in that same spot it was called a ball for both teams. Every player wants it to be consistent and it was... so you guys should stop blaming the ump...
Dan Bebe

Thu, Sep 17 2009 2:29 PM

Hey, it's a tough job, but it's our right to critique 'em. They know it's a thankless job going into it, but those guys make about 16x what I make in a year, so I'll save my pity for someone else.
Apathyxnext

Thu, Sep 17 2009 2:24 PM

No offense to anybody on this forum, but none of you guys have any idea what kind of pressure is on Pro Refs and Umpires. Until you walk a step in those guys shoes, you guys should refrain from making judgements of them being "bad" or "cheating"
Dan Bebe

Thu, Sep 17 2009 2:20 PM

Maybe there were some Angels in on it...Juan Rivera's effort on that dunker to left field was a little iffy, too...

Well, for the check swing, I was hoping to illuminate some of the rules that most people don't know. A Minor League umpire and I got drinks after a game and he talked to me at great length about how he judges a check swing. Obviously, we can all have different opinions on whether the one last night was a swing or not, but it sure looked like Green swung with the intent of hitting that ball.

I'd say the chances of the game actually being "rigged" is about 0.001%, but that game just had me hysterical with confusion, and I didn't even have any money it. Believe me, unassail, by Monday, I won't even remember this happened, but on the nationally televised game, I would have hoped for a better showing from blue
unassail08

Thu, Sep 17 2009 2:11 PM

Dan I respect everything you contribute to Pregame, but I think we need to take a step back before we even go near calling it a Tim Donaghy situation.

I have been a little league umpire for 12 years, I am only 23 years old but have a real grasp for the game of baseball. I think the umpire got the check swing call right, That 3-2 pitch that walked in the run was close, but we don't know what the umpire saw, I do think though that that 2-0 pitch where the strike was 3 inches from the dirt in the top of the 9th was ridiculous. Baseball is a sport where human error by officials is more profound and seen than in other sports, IMO.

He might have just missed the call, That stuff does happen, umpires are human.

I hope no blames this game squarely on the umpires. How many double plays did the Angels blow to keep the Red Sox in the game? How many leads did they blow? What about their left-fielder giving up on the game winning hit?

One ball or strike, fair or foul, safe or out judgment call in a 9 inning baseball will outweigh any of the other calls that were made no matter the situation.

That is from an umpire's perspective.
basewinner

Thu, Sep 17 2009 2:11 PM

its just miserable some of these guys. Most are solid but it could be so easily eliminated and it gets really cumbersome and time consuming to cap these guys zones. Maybe they will look at using what's available to make the game better.
Dan Bebe

Thu, Sep 17 2009 1:53 PM

I couldn't get it off my mind all day, so I just HAD to write something about it.
basewinner

Thu, Sep 17 2009 1:33 PM

that was a terrible ending and we had Boston. The strike call can be made perfect with technology and MLB has not found the motivation to use it. This is despicable and needs to be changed. It is pretty simple. Have the home plate umpire sit bedhind home plate and the technology determines a strike, they get a beep in their ear and call a strike. It is pretty damn simple based on the technological steps we have made. Fuentes and the Angels was robbed

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