1B Umpire Wally Bell ejected Indians pitcher Tony Sipp for arguing a safe call in the bottom of the 10tth inning of the Indians-White Sox game. With one out and one on, White Sox batter Alejandro De Aza singled on a bunt ground ball to first baseman Matt LaPorta. Sipp was ejected after being removed from the game. Replays indicate LaPorta's path was blocked by Sipp, but was still able to apply the tag to De Aza prior to De Aza reaching first base, the call was incorrect. At the time of the ejection, the contest was tied, 7-7. The White Sox ultimately won the contest, 8-7, in 14 innings.
This is Wally Bell (35)'s first ejection of 2011.
Wally Bell now has -2 points in the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (0 Previous + 2 MLB + -4 Inorrect Call = -2)
Wally Bell is owned as a Secondary Umpire by MrBillMueller, who is now tied for 14th place in the UEFL with 13 points.
This is the 158th ejection of 2011.
This is the 74th player ejection of 2011.
Prior to his ejection, Sipp's line was .1 IP, 0 ER.
Wrap: Indians at White Sox 8/16/11
Video: Sipp is ejected as he departs
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14 comments :
This was a tough call for Bell. Tony Sipp blocked out Bell's view, and it took slow-mo replays from the home plate side of the play to see the tag.
Good ejection either way, Sipp was barking all the way back to the dug out.
One of a few questionable calls in this game.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=17292295
No way Wally could have seen the tag. There should be 2 umpires, from 2 opposite directions at each base. This call would be missed 100 out of 100 times by all umpires. Unless your a guy who just guesses, then you mite have gotten it right.
Wally was screwed by all three. No way to see the tag except from HP.
Justin
This crew is one of the best in baseball..Missed calls from Bell and Diaz RARELY happen. Hirschbech and Barry are good as well..
I think that it is wrong to say that this was an incorrect call on Wally's behalf considering the dumbass pitcher was in the way and completely blocked Wally out from seeing the tag! Should be left as inconclusive!!!
@anon 11:37 pm: It won't be missed 100 of 100 b/c that's exactly what Wally was doing Guessing. Bizzare and unusally plays lead to bad/incorrect calls.
@Anonymous 9:43, how is that inconclusive? the home plate angle clearly shows a tag. I'm all for the umpire's behalf, but this is a missed call. In the range of missed calls from really obvious inexcusable to really tough and absolutely excusable, this one obvious falls into the really tough category, but that doesn't mean it's still not an incorrect call.
What a stupid pitcher.
I remember umpiring some games where my second baseman wasn't exactly the brightest player. He wanted to help out on the throws from the catcher or pitcher by backing up his first baseman, but he just hot dogged it over, consequently moving very slowly when he would get in front of me, effectively blocking me out completely. And correct or not, when I had a play at first base that was a 50/50, a lob, tag, or footrace, and that second baseman was standing in my way, would not move, or better yet, would move directly into my way when I was the one moving to get a better angle, I would call safe just about every time.
Again, we have an "incorrect" call caused by a player's mistake..Jesus, if Sipp had been a runnner it would have been interference....lol.
He cost his team an out, but Bell ends up taking the hit for it, and then he has the balls to blame on it Wally. Buh-Bye.
looks to me like he called him safe because of obstuction, (which I think is the right call) and not because he missed the tag.
I have a question about the disputed Butler homerun in the game against the Yankees. It appears that the umpires missed the call despite looking at the replay. Is this a situation where Joe Girardi and the Yankees could play the rest of the game under protest?
"tmac said...
@anon 11:37 pm: It won't be missed 100 of 100 b/c that's exactly what Wally was doing Guessing. Bizzare and unusally plays lead to bad/incorrect calls."
- When an umpire see's no tag, which happened to Wally, it's most likely going to be a safe call. Wally was not guessing, he couldn't see a tag. If Wally called an out, that would be a guess, it would have been a good guess, but still just a stab in the dark. Once you've umpired a few years, you realize, even if screened on a given play, the best option is not to guess. It's best to "call it like you see it", no matter the consequences.
Also, and I think Wally told the player that made the tag, that the runner was on the base at the time of the tag. I think Wally KNEW there was probably a tag, but it was impossible for him to determine WHEN exactly it happened. And in Wally's judgement, the tag may have happened after the touch of 1st.
tmac, usually your spot on, this time I must respectfully disagree. I do believe 100% of the guys in the bigs miss this call. And I think only an amateur umpire could call this an out, because WE are just plain bad, and we guess a lot.
I'm getting tired of the excuses of why umpires miss calls. Stop blaming the players. We get paid to get calls right. If every play was wide open, anyone could do this job. These plays are what allows the cream to rise to the top. Unfortunately Wally missed his opportunity.
u think that is bad umpiring from wally. should have seen him doing the plate this afternoon in toronto. he squeezed the toronto starter on at least 6 pitches. he blatantly missed at least 6 pitches against the toronto starter in a three inning strectch. and to be honest i follow the umps somewhat and i have never heard of him before..but he was terrible . at least he didnt blow back to back pitches in the ninth inning of a one run game like bill miller.. but his squeezing of the toronto pitcher was picked up by everyone including the announcers canadian and american side. i agree stop making excuses for the overwhelming incompetence of todays umpiring. in 20 years umpiring is worse not better . umpire with 14 years experience makes over 200k a year gets three weeks off during the season and works less than 38 plates a year. also they get 190 bucks a day meal and tip allowance. they are lazy arragont and in many cases incompetent and very seldom get fired or reprimanded my mlb. very sad. i have never seen so many short umpires than in todays game
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