N/A Baseball Officiating

Graueradler

Graueradler

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Is there a lingerie league that MLB can get some officials from. Horrible 8th inning game changing infield fly rule call in the Braves Cardinals game with the loser's season being over. Braves ended up with 2 on, 2 outs instead of bases loaded, 1 out while behind three runs. Also, Chipper Jones' last career game if the Braves lose.
 
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Graueradler said:
Is there a lingerie league that MLB can get some officials from. Horrible game changing infield fly rule call in the Braves Cardinals game with the loser's season being over. Braves ended up with 2 on, 2 outs instead of bases loaded, 1 out while behind three runs.
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AWFUL!! I can't believe the fans threw all that trash on the field!! We aren't Philadelphia!!
 
Cardinals win - under protest. If the protest is upheld, the game resumes as if the call wasn't made.
 
The protest will be overturned - infield fly is a judgment call. The umps and the league talked before play resumed. If the protest was going to be sustained the umps would have changed the call right then and there - the powers that be watched the video in NYC and the decision has been made.

If the protest was to be upheld the umps simply would have changed their call and resumed the game appropriately.

Horrible call though. Braves got screwed. The key to not having to worry about this stuff is not to be in the position they were in - better pitching, more timely hitting.
 
Protest denied, game over. Vaya con Dios, Chipper.

But it still was a bad call, even though, like the call in the end zone that shafted the Packers, it simply could not be overturned.
 
Worked my way from bush leagues to college ball as a baseball umpire for 10 years in the 1970s. Pro sports is an entertainment business. More entertainment = more business. Replay officiating is one of the biggest mistakes NFL made for their business and I hope MLB doesn't repeat it (pun intended). Umpire judgement, good and bad, is part of the entertainment. Players make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes. Umpires make mistakes. Two kinds of people in the world: those who hate the umpires and those who are umpires. It's the natural order of the Cosmos.

True story related by the great Ron Luciano: runner slides into 2nd, Ron says to the 2nd baseman, "You know he's safe" and to the runner who just slid in, "you know you're safe, but 15,000 people see my fist in the air, so you'rrrrrrrre OUT!" Without controversial calls there would be nothing for the fans to stew about and baseball wouldn't stay top of mind and if it isn't top of mind they don't buy as many tickets or glue as many eyeballs to the ad driven screens. No excuse though for trashing the field. That's not entertaining nor civilized. Fans like that deserve to lose the franchise to a city that will respect the game.
 
I have heard that Cricket has gone massively sensored and replayed, but managed to somehow keep things moving.

I'm not a fan, this came from an Aussie friend who says our use of tech is too low, not too high. With sensors, things are obvious quicker and the game play and flow isn't interrupted.

This coming from a sport that can go on for days and days, so... Who knows.
 
DrMack said:
Worked my way from bush leagues to college ball as a baseball umpire for 10 years in the 1970s. Pro sports is an entertainment business. More entertainment = more business. Replay officiating is one of the biggest mistakes NFL made for their business and I hope MLB doesn't repeat it (pun intended). Umpire judgement, good and bad, is part of the entertainment. Players make mistakes. Coaches make mistakes. Umpires make mistakes. Two kinds of people in the world: those who hate the umpires and those who are umpires. It's the natural order of the Cosmos.

True story related by the great Ron Luciano: runner slides into 2nd, Ron says to the 2nd baseman, "You know he's safe" and to the runner who just slid in, "you know you're safe, but 15,000 people see my fist in the air, so you'rrrrrrrre OUT!" Without controversial calls there would be nothing for the fans to stew about and baseball wouldn't stay top of mind and if it isn't top of mind they don't buy as many tickets or glue as many eyeballs to the ad driven screens. No excuse though for trashing the field. That's not entertaining nor civilized. Fans like that deserve to lose the franchise to a city that will respect the game.
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you do realize that watching umpires screw up is not actually entertainment, don't you? A more egregious recent example is the blown call at first base that cost a pitcher a no-hitter.

and how about that old story (myth?), pre-television, with the batter complaining about a called strike and the umpire replying "if you didn't like that call, wait until you see the next one!"
 
In fact, the Infield fly rule doesn't say the ball has to land in the infield. It says it has to be "catchable by the infielder." Since the short stop came out signalling I got it, and it fell feet from him, it's not an unreasonable call, just one of those ones that most times might have gone the other way.
 
Anthony said:
When did Philadelphia fans throw trash on a field?
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Are you serious? Throwing snowballs and batteries at Santa Claus! :nono: OK it wasn't trash.:rolleyes: I am appalled at the way the fans reacted, my 17 yr old son was there and he left the stands and listened to the game outside the stadium.:mad2:
I'm sure the fan reaction was a combination of 3 errors, a one game play off, and the thought of the Braves losing on Chippers last game, but no excuse for acting like they did! But, no matter what happened last night I'm going to work today so I can fly tomorrow. :D
 
flyingron said:
In fact, the Infield fly rule doesn't say the ball has to land in the infield. It says it has to be "catchable by the infielder." Since the short stop came out signalling I got it, and it fell feet from him, it's not an unreasonable call, just one of those ones that most times might have gone the other way.
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Yes, the baseball commentators this morning are saying that it indeed was the right call.

At least those from St. Louis are!

:goofy:
 
N747JB said:
Are you serious? Throwing snowballs and batteries at Santa Claus!
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I was at that Eagles game in 1968. Nobody threw batteries. It was just snowballs at a drunk Santa. I never laughed so hard in my life. Nobody threw trash, and Santa was not harmed. Oh yeah, he was booed too.
 
Long time Braves announcer, the late Skip Carey, son of Harry Carey, had a per-game show before Braves games. At least once a week someone would call in and ask about the in field fly rule, he would explode!:eek: he tried to explain it every week, and it got to be a joke, people seeing how mad they could make him by asking him about the rule! :rofl:
When the Falcons play the Eagles, it's the only game that the team won't let sponsors travel with the team, they said they couldn't guarantee our safety at the stadium!:yikes:
Anyway, I'm sure if the roles were reversed, the Braves were leading and the same call went against St Louis, I would probably think it was a great call!:D
In the end, it's just a game and win or lose it won't pay my bills.
 
From the descriptions I heard - I thought it was a good call, the infielder drifted back. Then I saw the replay - the infielder drifted back, all right, all the way to the middle of the outfield. The rule says ordinary effort by an infielder, even if an outfielder makes the catch, so yeah, I can see the call being made. The rule also says the call has to be made immediately and from the replay, it looked like the call wasn't made until just before it hit the ground and after both fielders stopped to look at each other.

It was one of those calls that if it hadn't been made, neither team would have complained. It would have been considered just another can of corn.

Oh, yeah - and the intent of the rule is to prevent an infielder from intentionally dropping a fly and getting a double-play. I don't see any way a double play could have happened from that position on the field - and it didn't. Just something else to add to the discussion.
 
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And the talking heads on ESPN this morning said something to the effect that the longest dropped infield fly ruled ball to be dropped was 174 feet from home plate and this one was 224 or something. I probably don't have the numbers exact, but the one point was this one was a lot farther into the outfield than any other dropped ball in recent history. Those guys keep a LOT of stats! :rolleyes:

Matthew said:
From the descriptions I heard - I thought it was a good call, the infielder drifted back. Then I saw the replay - the infielder drifted back, all right, all the way to the middle of the outfield. The rule says ordinary effort by an infielder, even if an outfielder makes the catch, so yeah, I can see the call being made. The rule also says the call has to be made immediately and from the replay, it looked like the call wasn't made until just before it hit the ground and after both fielders stopped to look at each other.

It was one of those calls that if it hadn't been made, neither team would have complained. It would have been considered just another can of corn.

Oh, yeah - and the intent of the rule is to prevent an infielder from intentionally dropping a fly and getting a double-play. I don't see any way a double play could have happened from that position on the field - and it didn't. Just something else to add to the discussion.
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Bob Noel said:
you do realize that watching umpires screw up is not actually entertainment, don't you? A more egregious recent example is the blown call at first base that cost a pitcher a no-hitter.

and how about that old story (myth?), pre-television, with the batter complaining about a called strike and the umpire replying "if you didn't like that call, wait until you see the next one!"
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Thank you, because you just made my point better than I could. :)
 
denverpilot said:
It ended for the Rockies prior to Opening Day. :(
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For the Red Sox, the 2012 season ended in Dec 2 2011 when the Red Sox introduced Bobby Valentine as the new manager.:mad2:
 
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