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Thursday, December 29, 2022

Sources: 10 MLB umps retiring, most since ‘99

Ten MLB umpires, including seven crew chiefs, are set to retire at the end of the month, making it the largest turnover at that job since 1999, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.

Some of the retirements are due to nagging injuries while others are coincidental, as a group of the umpires entered the league around the same time—after a labor dispute saw 22 former umps resign at the end of last century.

Well-respected crew chiefs Ted Barrett, Greg Gibson, Tom Hallion, Sam Holbrook, Jerry Meals, Jim Reynolds and Bill Welke are among the group to hang up their chest protectors, while Marty Foster, Paul Nauert and Tim Timmons will join them in retirement.

“I’m so grateful to have the career that I did and to be a part of baseball history,” Barrett said in a phone interview. “I’m incredibly proud of the crews that I worked with and everything baseball provided for me. For all of us.”

RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: December 29, 2022 at 03:43 PM | 14 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: umpiring

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1. Jose is an Absurd Sultan Posted: December 29, 2022 at 03:46 PM (#6111207)

Tom Hallion always stuck with me from Strasburg's debut. He had a distinctive strike three call on a good day and it became clear as the game went on that he was getting caught up in the moment. My sense is that he was a pretty good umpire too. Most of those names are ones I feel like are pretty good.

2. kcgard2 Posted: December 29, 2022 at 06:08 PM (#6111226)

I have the impression that maybe Jerry Meals was iffy, but yeah, that is by and large a high quality set of umpires. Paul Nauert I have never heard of - that's typically considered a good thing for officials in any sport :)

3. Jaack Posted: December 29, 2022 at 06:30 PM (#6111231)

Hallion was one of the few umps I feel actively added to the experience of a game. His strike three call on Ryan Howard at the end of the 2010 NLCS was definitely a highlight.

I also dont remember him ever being bad, which is also a plus.

4. alilisd Posted: December 29, 2022 at 07:44 PM (#6111246)

Sad to see Angel Hernandez's name absent from the roll

5. PeteF3 Posted: December 30, 2022 at 12:01 AM (#6111272)

Greg Gibson, the home plate umpire, motioning to both players for the last time. End of an era.

Of the 10 umpires that are retiring this year, seven of them called balls and strikes in 2022. All seven were among the 12 worst umpires in the league either by consistency or by accuracy.

6. alilisd Posted: December 30, 2022 at 11:35 AM (#6111316)

Why didn't they all call balls and strikes?

7. PeteF3 Posted: December 30, 2022 at 12:32 PM (#6111334)

Apparently they missed most or all of last year due to injury/health.

8. The Duke Posted: December 30, 2022 at 04:19 PM (#6111365)

Their asses are no longer in the jackpot

9. kubiwan Posted: December 31, 2022 at 12:19 PM (#6111450)

Of the 10 umpires that are retiring this year, seven of them called balls and strikes in 2022. All seven were among the 12 worst umpires in the league either by consistency or by accuracy.

I am too lazy to do an actual stats calculation here, but this seems unlikely to be mere coincidence. Is it possible that MLB "nudged" them out a bit? I am also too lazy to look up the collective bargaining between MLB and the umpires union, but does it provide MLB enough leverage to say something like "Look, you are not getting the job done and, at your age it is unlikely that will you greatly improve. If you keep working, you will stop getting plum assignments, will be barred from the playoffs, might be stripped of crew chief privileges, etc. so why not just retire now and take your pension rather than continue to flounder and end up in a spot that will be embarrassing to you?"?

10. Mayor Blomberg Posted: December 31, 2022 at 12:54 PM (#6111455)

It's not like the gaps are huge. Paul Clemons was in outlier bad at accuracy. The second least accurate ump was 91.4% accurate; only two scored better than 95%.

11. The Yankee Clapper Posted: December 31, 2022 at 03:12 PM (#6111467)

How many of the ‘incorrect’ calls were in the late innings of blowout games when everyone wants to get to their dinner reservations? Or get-away-day games, with both sides favored by slightly enlarged strike zones? Seems like that might matter as much as the slight variations in the raw numbers.

12. McCoy Posted: December 31, 2022 at 04:12 PM (#6111469)

I’ve never liked the whole X% accurate overall. Like fielding metrics the vast majority of pitches are easy to call so there should be like 2 scores. Easy/everything else. I would guess easy calls should all largely concentrate around 99%.

13. Mayor Blomberg Posted: December 31, 2022 at 04:58 PM (#6111476)

there should be like 2 scores. Easy/everything else.

Where would you put nobody-could-possibly-be-certain-at-live-speed pitches, the ball-and-strike equivalent of came off the base for 0.15 seconds.?

14. A triple short of the cycle

Posted: January 02, 2023 at 02:00 PM (#6111593)

Second #4. Was the first thing I thought when I read the headline. Sadly no.

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Thursday, December 29, 2022

Sources: 10 MLB umps retiring, most since ‘99

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