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Baseball Primer Newsblog— The Best News Links from the Baseball Newsstand
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Well…since Decca chose The Tremeloes at least..
Why McClelland possibly decided that Cano was safe despite not touching the bag until after being tagged is beyond this galaxy’s rules of logic and it sent Angel Stadium into a bloodthirsty frenzy. There are simply no words for the ruling, other to say that McClelland shouldn’t ump another game in this series and that Bud Selig has to stop being stubborn and expand the use of instant replay past home run calls.
Simply put, this shouldn’t be happening, especially only one day after it looked like the 2009 postseason had turned the corner with two superb endings in both LCS games.
That McClelland’s mistake was minimized by the subsequent out by Melky Cabrera(notes) — the Yankees scored no runs off the snafu — is irrelevant. In the fourth inning, McClelland also made a mistake when he ruled that Swisher left third base early while attempting to score on a sacrifice fly. He’ll at least have second base umpire Dale Scott as a partner in commiseration, though, because Swisher was picked off at second earlier in the inning and shouldn’t have even been at third. But that call, of course, was also blown.
Almost makes you yearn for the foul line ineptitude of Phll Cuzzi, doesn’t it?
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The umpiring is remarkably bad as well. The non-call on Swisher which transformed into the make-up crap call on the tag up should lead to someone being punished.
I agree that there were three unbelievably bad calls tonight (the two on Swisher and the Cano farce), but the irony is that the balls and strikes were called nearly to perfection. I don't think I saw more than one borderline call where the Fox zone chart didn't agree. Remembering that LSD strike zone in game 2 of the Yanks-Minny series, it was nice to see a real pro behind the plate for a change.
Not accurate, but that's how they usually call it.
The other ones - are woodsheds still de regeur?
And I'm still trying to figure out how watching two balls fly toward the plate helps me determine if it was a ball or strike.
Clearly, Cano expected the neighborhood call. McClelland is a vigilante.
I think an umpire looking at two baserunners who are both standing two feet from the base, and seeing a fielder tag both of them, and then indicating "Out!", and then responding to the confusion of those around him (including the baserunners, who assume that both of them are out), by saying that only one of the guys was out, might very well be the worst call of all time.
It's like watching a triple fly to straightaway center, and calling it foul because the centerfielder didn't chase after it. The only response is to ask the umpire to walk in a straight line and give him a breathalyser test.
Really? A million? No exaggeration? :-)
What does this have to do with Frank Tanana???
Yes ... they didn't. But the TV screens at the ballpark were showing the FOX feed so it was clear to everyone that the call was blown.
From talking with the Angels fans around me, the HD TVs were a new add (during this season), everyone knew from the replays that Swisher should have been out, Out, OUT.
(which led to the reaction)
((and the beautiful chants of BULLSH!T, BULLSH!T!!!))
Stepping off the bag and getting tagged out and losing track of the number of outs seems to suggest something isn't right upstairs.
This isn't the first time this season he's lost track of balls/strikes/outs, is it?
Why didn't any of the other umpires help McCelland out with the Posada/Cano thing at third. Surely one of them would have seen what happened and simply corrected McClelland.
That's 3 TERRIBLE baserunning blunders on 2 CONSECUTIVE plays.
God pnly knows WTF Cano was thinking ...
Two i's are missing...just like McClelland!
The 3rd base fiasco, on the other hand, is in a different galaxy. The only explanations are that he wasn't watching where Cano was when Napoli tagged him, he doesn't know the rules, or he was intoxicated, any of which are completely unacceptable.
Maybe McClelland just never looks at feet and guesses at where they should be.
Thanks ... and wow!
Lynch mobs don't like to hear any semblance of reasoned analysis.
Smiling, God proclaimed, "Ha HA! You don't have a chance -- I've got Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, and all the greatest players up here!"
"Yes", laughed the devil, "but I have all the umpires!"
***
Seriously though, since McClelland is crew chief, can the home plate ump not override his call? I mean, wouldn't the plate ump be honed in on the play at third and have a good look at Cano standing dumbly a foot away from the bag? Maybe the play was so absurd they couldn't believe their own eyes.
I do see what you're getting at, but sorry, that's no defense at all. In fact, the notion that the umpire just assumed what happened instead of attempting to watch what happened makes it even worse.
Nor is s/he omniscient. We were not told definitively what McClelland was thinking.
I realize none of that would have really served a purpose as far as his team was concerned, but 1) It would have made the game a hell of a lot more entertaining, and 2) A strenuous protest would have drawn more attention to the incompetence, and perhaps nudged MLB a little farther toward fixing its umpiring problem.
The Posada/Cano thing, barring a rule or explanation we're completely unaware of, is pretty indefensible.
The Swisher tag-up, however, really brings to light how difficult that call is. Put yourself in the umpire's position here. You must be looking at the outfielder in order to have a prayer of making the call right, for if you are looking at the runner, you have absolutely no chance whatsoever. Now, take a moment to imagine the physical position you have to be in to actually see the ball and the foot at the same time - no position actually exists.
It is definitely a feel play, and although he didn't dwell on it, you might recall that McCarver - who actually played some baseball - gave way to his own actually incredulity there on how the hell the umpire ever makes that call, correct or incorrect.
The fact that this was only the third worst call of the day is unbelievable.
1) Thankfully, they didn't affect the outcome of the game. The Angels made sure of that.
2) The blown call on the tag-up was awful, but it was basically karma for the blown call at second on the pick-off. Swisher was out by a good six inches. In a world with competent umpires, the fly out to center field was the third out. So if I were a Yankees fan, I probably wouldn't be complaining about that call. But in a vacuum, it was a horrible call.
3) Gardner was safe on the steal of second in the eighth inning.
4) The call at third with Swisher and Cano is one of the top three worst calls I've ever seen, up there with the missed foul/fair ball in the Twins game. Crispix described it best. It's a an umpire, a crew chief, looking directly at two runners who aren't standing on a base, both of whom were tagged, but for some reason, only one was called out. Credit Mike Napoli with a good play there.
In my opinion, this is related to the overall descent into mediocrity that is what we've come to expect from Major League Baseball. Last night a ball was hit to Erick Aybar's right, and it bounced off the heel of his glove. It wasn't an easy play, but it should have been ruled an error. These are Major Leaguers, not Little Leaguers. He is by definition one of the 30 best people in the world at what he does. He should be expected to make a tough play. But those go as hits now, because we don't expect very much from Major Leaguers.
And we don't expect much from Major League umpires. If I made a mistake at my job as big as the mistakes made by Phil Cuzzi, C.B. Bucknor, and Tim McClelland, I'd be fired. But we expect less than adequate umpiring, so they'll be fine. Tim McClelland should resign tomorrow. His performance tonight was a disgrace to the profession. Thankfully, it didn't affect the outcome.
Yeah, no kidding. Unfortunately, that's what gets lost in this whole thing: Scioscia's defensively lacking whipping boy makes the most heads-up defensive play of the playoffs so far.
It seemed fairly obvious that, to the degree McClelland was watching Swisher at all, he was watching his upper body. He probably equated "body started moving" with "left the base," which was a big mistake, because Swisher started moving his body toward home plate long before his foot left the bag.
Why? Isn't there such a position between home plate and third base?
and I would be surprised, but not be completely shocked if that was what Cano did believe.
Why? Isn't there such a position between home plate and third base?
Think of the angle and line-of-sight. You'd have to be lying down on the field two feet in front of the runner.
This is almost certainly the worst call of McClelland's career, but it's not the one which had the most impact -- he sent the Rockies on their way to the World Series, and Matt Holliday still hasn't touched home plate.
Adorable to repeat the meme, but there isn't anyone on the planet who can say this with any accuracy other than McClelland.
And while I'm at it, if this is the de facto post game thread, congratulations Yankees. You've assembled a great team. I won't be rooting for you (though I could change my mind if the Dodgers pull it off), and I can't think of one player on the team I'd like to see win a World Series, but there's certain a crapload of talent in that lineup.
Seriously, that play was the UGLIEST I've ever seen.
Ever.
From Posada's terrible decision to run on a ground ball to the infield where he would have been out by 40 feet at the plate.
To neither Posada or Cano having the slightest clue how to proceed with the situation on 3rd (hint, if you're BOTH on the bag, only ONE of you is going to be out) once Posada turned and ran back towards where he had come from.
That's three stunningly clueless baserunning blunders in 15 seconds, topped off by McClelland completely blowing a play where both players were tagged while obviously off the bag.
I was in awe of it, frankly.
Not true! I saw Holliday touch home plate just this year in a Cards-Reds game.
So I guess he figured, "why would Cano just be standing around?" Although I think he'd also wonder why Napoli would bother to tag a guy standing on third base.
This I'm going to disagree with. Every time that play happens, the fielder always tags both runners, whether they're standing on the base or not, just to make sure. It may not make sense, but it literally always happens. It should therefore not have surprised McClelland in the slightest.
Two calls were missed.
Two missed calls occurred.
Calls were missed, on two occasions.
The phrase you're looking for, Tim, is
"I missed two calls."
[Edit: Is that too ###### of me? ####, ballplayers admit they screwed up without hiding behind passive constructions--why not umps?]
This one again, huh? Makeup call for the blown HR call in the 7th.
My guess is that McLelland admitted to Scioscia that he may have missed it. Or something. I don't know why no other ump came over to help out.
For a few years after the Richie Phillips fiasco the umps really were getting together, huddling up, to discuss calls and see who had the best look. We've gotten away from that again. But there was a noticeable improvement in effort for a while.
As for the Swisher tag play, I wasn't completely sure on the replay whether Swisher left early or not. I do think that McLelland needs to be pretty sure if he calls the runner out. I don't think he could have been sure.
As to Gardner being safe at second on the steal... that was hard to tell, and I can't fault an ump there no matter which way he calls it. I'm not complaining about bang-bang plays, but about egregious mistakes and lack of effort. The tag play on Swisher at second... yeah, that was pretty bad. And the ump was standing over the play.
Oh, so you're saying he blew the call on purpose. That makes it better.
I don't think it's entirely fair. The article is here, and McLelland pretty clearly takes responsibility. I just quoted that part because it explained what he was thinking, but it did have larger context. That context being, McLelland blew the call(s).
We're talking about a routine fly ball to center, right? Wouldn't standing a couple feet on the home-plate side of third base and maybe 10-15 feet in foul territory do the trick?
Actually, the position is such that third base is positioned between the umpire and the guy making the catch. McClelland was late getting there. I couldn't tell if it was because he's just slow, or because he's lazy and got a late start.
Yeah, shouldn't he be running to that spot as soon as he sees where the ball is hit? Unless there's going to be a play at 3B, seeing that play as well as possible is his only responsibility.
The problem is that he has a kind of unusual approach to tagging up. Most players get into a sprinter-like position, such that their first motion brings them off the bag. Swisher kinda centers himself on the base, and nearly a full second before the ball is caught, he starts upper body momentum while his foot is still on the bag. Given how difficult it is to watch a runner's foot and an outfielder's glove at the same time, I think seeing that much motion that long before the catch makes it seem obvious to the ump that he's left early, even when he hasn't at all.
At what point do we stop and ask seriously if the umpires' integrity might be compromised?
In which case, it should be pointed out that there was a potential play at 3B on that ball (Melky tagging up and going to 3B if the throw goes through to the plate).
At the point we get some evidence indicating that. Or, at the point where the bad calls start going only one way instead of affecting both teams and often canceling each other out.
What changes? The ones being posted on a bunch of random Internet sites? Oh, yeah, I'm confident an Internet-based referendum on changes to the training, development, and oversight of umpires will lead to nothing but quality enhancements.
Wow, who peed in your Cheerios? And more importantly, who the hell said anything about the internet? The problem has become so epidemic that everyone from MLB managers to former players to TV analysts to the freaking Wall Street Journal has been offering solutions on how to fix it. Surely there is someone at MLB capable of determining which such suggestions are wheat and which ones are chaff.
One of the yahoos on MLB Network said that the other day. I assume it's true, but I shouldn't have passed it along as fact because I actually don't know.
So, let's just say the meritocracy concludes Joe West is the best umpire. If he worked the 2008 World Series, he can only umpire in this year's Division Series or LCS. Not both, and not the World Series.
Unfortunately, a lot of the blame for this setup lies with the umps, not MLB. The umpires union wanted the rotation so different umpires would have the opportunity to serve in the playoffs. Oddly, though, all umpires are paid extra for the playoffs, even if they are not selected to be in any games.
It's a very weird set of rules governing all of this. Hopefully, the next CBA between the umps and MLB will address some of these matters. I believe the current contract is being renegotiated because it expires this winter. If that's correct, we should know soon enough if there will be any adjustments to the current arrangement.
Having umpiring this bad and not inviting Bobby Cox to the party is a cruel joke.
"The Dodgers have three men on base."
"Which base?"
I'm a huge Beatles fan...so much that I've been known to affix "MBE (Member of Beatle Empire)" to my signature. ;)
But the Tremeloes were actually an excellent signing for Decca: they had a slew of hits in the UK and a few in America, and in fact they're still around today. They weren't in the same universe as the Beatles, of course, but nobody could have known that in 1961/62.
And their version of "Silence Is Golden" is, well, gold.
That's what I was yelling while Posada was running back to third. I hate the Yankees and the Angels and yet I was yelling at my TV "What are you doing, you dumb ############?" towards Cano. Something told me that was going to be epic. And as I think Rauseo said, "You know a call is blown when 5 people log into IRC to ##### about it." I was 1 of those 5.
As for the lining up the angle question, I would just like to note that nobody has yet questioned how the 3b umpire makes that call when the catch is in right field. If he just gets into a line with runner and catch, why can't he do that for left? If two umps work in tandem (which is what I always thought), why can't that adapt to left?
"Angle over distance" is what we preach to 13 year olds and parents looking to volunteer in Little League. Why MLB umps can't get that I don't know.
Well, in 30 years, some kid's going to read a section in a book compiled by Furman Bisher (who will still be writing) titled "When Tagging Two Baserunners Didn't Mean Two Outs" or something. And it didn't cost anyone anything other than a few more pitches, and of course all of this "worst call evar" overstates the case, so it's a little awesome something like that went down.
Bud Selig chortles at your naivete.
Careful - he sounds wroth, and he might smite you.
So, now McClelland's anticipated the call, is all ready for it, and then he gets a variant -- "wait Posada never touched -- he's out" and that one variant sets his mind reeling and blinds him to the other variant from what he anticipated. He never processes "Cano's not on the bag." McClelland's mind had already seen the play and two variants were just too much to change in his picture.
Both McClelland and Posada anticipated Cano acting logically. Of course McClelland's job is to not anticipate beyond getting into a position to see what actually happens. Posada, well anticipating but reacting to realities may be his job too, but in his case he needed to be in action before the critical moment. There were physical actions he may have not been able to reverse (momentum, course, etc.). Whereas, McClelland could have wholly revised his mental processing at any split-second.
If I'm ranking the idiocy here it goes: Cano, McClelland, Posada.
This is impossible. Until umpires start getting fired for things like this nothing is ever going to change. This is the kind of thing that costs players their jobs I don't see why it should be any different for umpires.
The 3b (1st base if the runner is tagging from firs or second) ump makes some sort of signal when the runner leaves. Either the home plate ump, or the 1st base ump who can see both umpires in his field of vision only has to see the signal of both umpires.
Umpires sometimes do confer after controversial plays, so why didn't McClelland get overruled by another ump who had the angle to see the play?
I think you got it exactly.
The idiocy is so far off the charts ranking it is pointless. Let's call it a huge clusterf*ck and all three share blame.
I don't know about the worst umpired postseason, but that Cano / Posada fiasco was easily the worst single call I've ever seen in my life, including Little League. And I'm 165, so you know I've seen a few.
Karma is not repaid in this lifetime.
The call on Swisher leaving 3rd was awful. You absolutely, positively cannot get that call wrong, since the penalty to the wronged team is so high. If there's any ambiguity in your mind, you let it go.
There was a similar call in the fourth game of the Twins/Tigers series in the last week of the RS. 4-2 Twins, bottom of the 7th, Tiger on first. Fly ball, Tiger tags to second, Twins challenge, ####### ump calls out. TV lines up split-screen to the millisecond, shows definitively that call was wrong. Inning killed. Ridiculous.
The baseline incompetence is extremely annoying, but add to that no feel whatever for the gravity and context of the call, and it drives you apoplectic. Out on a tagup in a pennant race or LCS is not safe or out at first Royals up 10-0 over A's in May.
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