Umpire Odds & Ends: 2012 Ejections Down 16% from 2011

Some umpire wendelstats for ya…

2012 umpire ejection stats are down from last year: With 1,827 games down and 603 to go in the 2012 regular season, umpires have ejected 131 players, managers and coaches, or about once every 13.95 games. By this point in the 2011 season, umpires had recorded 156 ejections or once every 11.71 contests. By the end of 2011, however, that rate had cooled to just once per 12.21 contests.

To figure out why this might be, let us break down the numbers. For accuracy’s sake, all following data was gathered through 1,827 games in 2011 and 2012.

By Reason for Ejection
2011: Balls/Strikes (76), Safe/Out (36), Throwing At (18), Balk (7), Fight (6), Int/Obstruct (4), Fair/Foul (1).
2012: Balls/Strikes (67), Safe/Out (30), Fair/Foul (8), Throwing At (7), Balk (5), Fight (1).

Both this season and last, pitch location and check swings provided the bulk of ejections followed by whether a runner was safe or out. Giving credence to the Commissioner’s remarks regarding instituting video instant replay review for bullets hit down the first and third base lines, 2012 has seen eight fair/foul ejections whereas 2011 saw just one to this point, or 6.1% (2012) to 0.6% (2011).

By Umpire
2011: Rob Drake (9), Bob Davidson (7), Mike Estabrook (6), Mike Muchlinski (5), Marty Foster (5).
2012: Darling (6), Tschida (5), Holbrook (5), Foster (5), Reyburn (5), Campos (5), Knight (5).

In 2011, several specific umpires ejected many players each; Drake’s nine ejections by Game 1,827 stood until season’s end, while Davidson and Wendelstedt tied for second place with eight apiece. Joe West came in fourth with seven heave-hos. This year, however, Davidson went back to uniform #61 and back down to just four ejections. West, meanwhile is at two and Wendelstedt at one, though in 2011, Hunter was helped by a second-half surge that saw him rise from zero to eight in just 2.5 months. Yet in our Game 1,827 leading group, we are seeing more crew chiefs doling out discipline this season than last, indicating some difference in ejection trends regarding MLB umpiring’s on-field leadership team.