HP Umpire Jerry Meals ejected A's pitcher Jesse Chavez for throwing at Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder in the bottom of the 8th inning of the A's-Tigers game. With none out and none on, Fielder took a 1-2 fastball from Chavez for a hit by pitch. Replays indicate the pitch was located shoulder high and inside, the call was irrecusable. Prior to the HBP, Tigers batter Miguel Cabrera had hit a grand slam off Chavez. At the time of the ejection, the Tigers were leading, 12-2. The Tigers ultimately won the contest, 12-2.
This is Jerry Meals (41)'s third ejection of 2012.
Jerry Meals now has 4 points in the UEFL (2 Previous + 2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call = 4).
Crew Chief Gary Darling now has 13 points in the UEFL's Crew Division (12 Previous + 1 Irrecusable = 13).
UEFL Standings Update
This is the 171st ejection of 2012.
This is the 75th player ejection of 2012.
This is the A's' 5th ejection of 2012, 2nd in the AL West (TEX 6; OAK 5; LAA 4; SEA 1).
This is Jesse Chavez's first career MLB ejection.
This is Jerry Meals' first ejection since June 17 (Don Mattingly; QOC = Incorrect).
Wrap: Oakland Athletics at Detroit Tigers, 9/18/12
Video: After surrendering a grand slam, Chavez hits the next batter he faces and is tossed (OAK)
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40 comments :
guess who? mr. jerry meals
The ejection was perfectly valid, Mr. Anonymous.
God why do people hate Meals so much? He is nowhere near the worst Umpire in the league. This ejection was by the book. He gave up a grand slam to Miggy and was pissed so he threw at Prince Fielder. He has made some puzzling calls for sure but he has worked the playoffs the last four years and has one of the better strike zones in the league.
This one was ridiculous. Fielder and Kottaras (catcher) had a laugh about it right as Meals was ejecting Chavez.
Boy are the Oakland announcers awful! Their whole demeanor and attitude flat-out stinks. After hearing that puke-inducing commentary, one of my first reactions was that I wanted somebody on the A's plunked tomorrow.
I can't help but say this was a bad decision. It's a 1-2 pitch that Prince appears to not try and avoid that hits him in the arm. This is more of a wtf Marty Foster moment than a good preventative job (Wally Bell/Scott Diamond). Meals has fallen a long way these past two years.
Yes, a HBP following a grand slam is suspicious, but not automatic IMO. He's got to have more situational awareness than to throw a pitcher out while the batter and catcher laugh about it. At least look convicted about it when you do. If perception is reality, why create the perception of intent where there is none?
I will admit I said my first comment without seeing the video. I just looked at the Box Score Play by Play and it looks like a good ejection on paper. A 12-2 game after a pitcher just gave up a grand slam. But after watching the video, this ejection was somewhat ridiculous. I am basing this off of Prince Fielder's reaction. Remember how he reacted when Guillermo Mota threw at him on purpose, it did not go well. After barely even attempting to get out of the way, Fielder just laughs with George Kottaras. The pitch was inside and Fielder stuck his arm out to take his base. I can almost make a case for keeping Fielder at the plate for failure to attempt to get out of the way of a pitch, but instead the pitcher is tossed. I can understand why Meals ejected him, but it seemed unnecesary. I still stand by what I said about Meals however, he gets crapped on like crazy on this site and a lot of it is deserved but he is still one of better balls-strikes guys in the league and has made the playoffs 4 years in a row. However, it wouldn't surprise me if Meals did not make the playoffs this year. Too much inconsitency overall and there are a ton of young guys who have just flat out looked better than him (Barry and Johnson to name a few)
Its amazing how the commentators can read Fielder's mind and know he wasn't "offended" but then criticize Meals for interpreting something different. Heaven forbid someone have a different opinion than them. What a bunch of tools.
If Chavez was trying to hit Fielder because of the grand slam I don't think he would have waited to get to a 1-2 count to do it. Just going with warnings may have been a better choice.
However, I haven't seen anything of the game other than this one clip so it may be possible that previous unseen actions affected Meals' decision. Were any other pitches in this at-bat way inside? Were words exchanged between Chavez and Cabrera following the grand slam?
And yes the announcers were still horrendous. Ray Fosse should be up for the "Bob Carpenter award." He is nauseatingly bad.
Brian knight is bad! That's all!
Weak EJ, sorry Jerry.
Now don't get all defensive on me but look at it realistically.
1-2 count (clue #1), Fielder almost popped his arm out and easily could have gotten out of the way (clue #2), the pitcher's and Fielder's initial reaction ("Oh shit", and "oh...did something hit me?")(clue 3).
Jerry did not really know what do either, it's pretty obvious that MLB is making this a point of emphasis this year though. Wally kinda hesitated too on his just because they all know this is not how baseball is really played.
I've umpired a long time at some good level of baseball and I will say that at WORST case I issue warning here. Detroit is up 10 runs in the middle of a pennant race and the As are in their own playoff run. They are not going to do anything too stupid in the middle of september.
After watching this video does anyone honestly think this was intentional?
@Anon 8:24: That comment is incredibly off-topic! That's all!
i understand the ejection, but totally disagree,
like some of you have said, it's a 1-2 count, even prince was smiling. had it been on the first pitch, OK, then eject him, but not on a 1-2 count,
you've gotta be able to pitch inside and sometimes one gets away,
The Oakland announcers are not awful, in fact, they're right on point. Jerry Meals is a flat out bad umpire and needs to go.
I see what the other posters saw, but I must say that I think what Jerry did was fine and I would stand behind him for doing it. Yes Prince laughed, but you can't tell if he's laughing because it was ridiculous or because it was obviously an accident. Even if he was laughing because he thought it was an accident - what makes him right? How often do people get accidentally hit? I really don't see it very often - did he throw to really put him down? No, he threw up and in but not behind his head. That's nice, but doesn't mean the pitcher didn't mean to hit him - just means the pitcher didn't mean to injure him.
I like the ejection here as warnings always unfairly punish the team who just had a batter thrown at. I think it is wonderful for us to sit here and discuss the merits of letting the ball players figure it out on the field, but the ball is hard enough and thrown fast enough to cause serious injury and I personally think umpires need to make it clear that we will not let players get hurt because of a bruised ego. They are playing a kids game but why tolerate a temper tantrum that could end someone's career?
This situation is too "obvious" to let a batter get hit on anything other than the batter leaning into the pitch...
"The ejection was perfectly valid, Mr. Anonymous. "
I disagree. I think that unlike in most cases (with schlubs throwing behind guys or at their heads) this one is borderline. It COULD go either way. That being said, in a 12-2 game, I could see issuing warnings in this instance, but in my opinion the ejection is overkill. Meals has made some considerable errors in judgment this season (IMO).
"1-2 count (clue #1), Fielder almost popped his arm out and easily could have gotten out of the way (clue #2), the pitcher's and Fielder's initial reaction ("Oh shit", and "oh...did something hit me?")(clue 3)."
I agree. In the words of Homer Simpson, I would like to subscribe to your pamphlet or newsletter.
Jordan Baker just ejected Michael Saunders for arguing a called third strike to end the 10th inning. After the call, Saunders slammed his helmet and I'm pretty sure he was given an equipment fine. Than he started walking to his position and was ejected by Baker. I have no idea what Saunders said, it may have very well warranted an ejection, but Baker seems to be very sensitive early in his career. He also just doesn't seem like a great Umpire yet but I will give him time.
Ejection 172: Jordan Baker (3)
Really beside scott barry, this crew makes ya scratch your head sometimes.
Guys, you need to get over the '1-2 count' part of the situation. Pitchers are getting smarter. Throwing a couple before they throw at the batter, maybe even getting a strike or two, making it look less obvious. Catchers don't simply stick down a middle finger anymore and there's your bean ball. This comes straight from a pitcher, yes, professional, who admitted it to me after the fact. Would it have looked better if there were a 0-0 count and 2 outs on the board with empty bases? Absolutely! Doesn't always happen that way though and these guys have info that we don't about the situations, so let them do their job with that info instead of second guessing it.
Amen, they throw at the hitters knees now too. And the chicken**** pitchers will even hit guys withboffapeed pitches on purpose. Guess what folks, an 80 mph slider still hurts like hell. So many people in here proving they don't understand that the amateur and professional games ate different.
That was off speed. Sorry
I agree with Russ. When I read the sitch, I was expecting this to be a no-brainer EJ. Guess what? It's not a no-brainer. Anon 8:30 has listed all the evidence to the contrary. I'd have been fine with warnings here because I think there is just the possibility that the pitch got away in this situation. There was nothing obvious to show intent here.
Why do people hate Meals so much? Because he is in WAY over his head. 3 examples off the top:
(1) ALDS a few seasons ago when he called a checked swing a strike against the Rays. Instead of handling his business, Wolf had to EJ Maddon on a trip to the mound. Had Meals handled the situation that HE created, Wolf would not have had to bail him out.
(2) Braves-Pirates last year. Apparently, being stopped 3 feet short of the plate is enough to be called safe. This call was as easy as they come. But Jerry is either (a) incompetent or (b) wanted to go home. There is no way to explain this one away.
(3) Orioles-Yankees this year. Again, Jerry either has a visual disability or wanted to go home.
This is a pattern of behavior. Over 1/2 the MLB umpires "make the playoffs," so that isn't a big honor. Moreover, it is clear that the assignments are not solely based on merit (i.e., Fletcher being shut out, Wendelstedt making it, and Layne as WS CC?!).
Terrible EJ. Umpires know the rules of baseball better than anyone. But I am starting to think they have no clue when it comes to the way baseball is played. If you are going to bean someone on purpose you do it on the first pitch or when you are behind in the count. NOT when you are up 1-2 in the count.
Horrible ejection. That pitch isn't that far away from catching the inside corner.
This season, Meals is making every other major league umpire look like rock stars.
This is another example of Meals seeing things that aren't there--just like he did when he called Treanor out for leaving 3rd early, when he wasn't even looking at the damn bag.
He looks like a little kid that has to show out every now and then to try to get some attention.
Btw, he intentionally threw at Fielder and put a runner on base, so he can pitch to the guy with the third highest slugging percentage in the lineup?? Yeah, makes perfect sense Little Jerry.
Can Meals even see over the catcher?
Meals is terrible- he zone last night was all over the the place and then he throws out chavez for a fastball that was really not close. That pitch would not have hit many hitters its just that Prince's hands are right over the plate. I am truly surprised that he does not have more ejections this season due to his innumerable amount of blown calls. Right now he is the worst umpire in the majors in my opinion.
Crowley showing he knows nothing again. You always sound like an English major, very well put and properly written, but has no clue about the subject he's been assigned to write about.
Issuing warnings would have been an unbelievably bad idea (what did Detroit do?), Leyland would have been furious and likely would have gotten tossed. Unless I missed it, it seems that we have all failed to note that the previous pitch was close to hitting Fielder. Personally, I think Meals is one of the worst umpires in the league but still: it's a 10-run game, the previous guy hit a grand slam, and the prior pitch was close to hitting Fielder.
There's always politics no matter if you umpire for your local association or MLB.
Darned if you do and darned if you don't. That's how I see this. If Meals doesn't toss Chavez then who's to say something else might have happened.
MLB want to umps to err on the side of caution and safety so while throwing the pitcher out seems weak, which it is, better to throw one guy out who might not deserve it to protect against the Tigers frow retaliating and a giant brawl ensuing.
In short, weak ejection, but not necessarily a bad ejection.
Anon 9:36, do you dispute the fact that meals blew the treanor call badly? Or that its not probable that the pitcher intentionally hit fielder with Young on deck? Or that meals is exceedingly short?
Fielder and Kottarras played together in Milwaukee
I love how all the amateur plumber umpires come in here and take shots at the pro guys. There's as many rat umpires as players and coaches and this website is a great place to find a plumber if you need one. Most of you jacklegs couldn't work above a hs game yet you take liberties trashing umpires on here.
Is plumber the 2012 version of "Charlie"?
Worst ejection of the year....I no way was that intentional. This is what happens when you have people that know nothing about the fow of a game officiating it.
The funny part is it may not even be in the top 5 of Meals worst calls!
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