HP Umpire Dan Bellino ejected Orioles pitcher Michael Gonzalez for throwing at Yankees batter Chris Dickerson in the top of the 15th inning of the Yankees-Orioles game. With none out and one on, Dickerson took a 1-1 fastball from Gonzalez in the head for a hit by pitch. It was Gonzalez's third pitch of the at-bat after surrendering two runs to the Yankees. The call was correct under Rule 6.b.ii.e.* At the time of the ejection, the Yankees were leading, 3-1. The Yankees ultimately won the contest, 4-1, in 15 innings.
This is Dan Bellino (93)'s second ejection of 2011.
Dan Bellino now has 8 points in the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (4 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 8).
Dan Bellino is owned as a Secondary Umpire by sachmet, who is now tied for 2nd place in the UEFL with 11 points.
*This ejection is correct under Rule 6.b.ii.e.
This is the 41st ejection of 2011.
This is the 18th player ejection of 2011.
Wrap: Yankees at Orioles 5/18/11
Video (1): Condensed Game (Ejection at 17:10)
Video (2): Yanks, O's shuffle after HBP
i know the ejection is technically correct per this league, but in reality it was awful. Absolutely no intent there in the 15th inning of a close game and ejecting the orioles pitcher there was a terrible lapse of judgement by Bellino.
ReplyDeleteIt was Bellino getting a little ahead of things here and taking things out of context....seemed pretty level-headed but no need for intentially hitting a guy and this point in a close game. not really sure what bellino was thinking on this one, and despite the league rule, the correctness is extremely debatable.
ReplyDeleteFastball to the head. At that level, it's automatic under the circumstances. If he doesn't eject the pitcher, the Yankees are forced to retaliate. I think it was handled perfectly!
ReplyDelete"no intent..." "taking things out of context..." You people have no clue what goes on down there. You don't know what was said from one guy to another guy sometime earlier in that game. You don't know if they got a heads-up from another umpire crew that these players have some unfinished business. These are the things that even amateur umpires will never understand. And when it is thrown at someone's head like that, boom, done.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous #1, Don't say this is the 15th inning of a close game, because it's not. It was 3-1 at the time... 3-1 in the 15th inning means the pitcher already gave up 2 runs, in all likelihood costing his team the game. Considering it's the 15th inning, the team isn't likely to come back from a 3-1 deficit. I certainly understand how Bellino can construe that as intentional.
ReplyDeleteI would note that Bellino was pretty restrained all game long. A-Rod struck out on a called strike three in the 13th and was very heated, Giardi may have saved him from being ejected. Then when Adam Jones struck out there were more words, but Bellino pulled the trigger on neither.
ReplyDelete@Jack - GREAT point. You cough up the lead and you're down by 2 runs now? Umpires first thought is to be aware of some retaliation for that.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations Anonymous #1 and #2 (fans)... it just took hours to figure out what Belino knew in milliseconds. Yeah, he's that good. We have to be.
good call. from what i have gathered, gonzalez was around the zone while he was pitching. then all of a sudden he gives up a 2-run triple in a tie ballgame in the 15th inning. doesn't hurt to put a guy on 1st and set up a double play..so why not get your anger at and throw at the guy. a pitch no where near the zone. so many indications...good call.
ReplyDeleteJust to be clear, the HBP was the first batter faced after giving up a 2-run XBH...
ReplyDeleteVideo: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14944711
ReplyDeleteI certainly understand why Bellino tossed the pitcher, since he had just given up the lead, but I don't think it was the right call. Gonzalez is a little wild, hence why the Baltimore fans want to get rid of him. This seems like a case of one that just simply got away at the wrong time.
ReplyDeleteLook at A Rod as he does that big yeah as he crosses the plate looking right into the Oriole dugout with the go ahead run. You don't think they picked up on that. Also, why did Showalter flash the 3 finger sign to someone on the field. Does that mean to hit the next guy?????Also notice Showalter does not even flinch in the dugout on the ejection? Bellino was right on the money with this one. Let's see what the Yankees do today to retaliate.
ReplyDeleteR1 got hit with a ground ball with 1 out in the bottom of the 15th (last play in the condensed game video).
ReplyDeleteLet's be clear too that there is no precedent or rule for tossing the pitcher..it's all judgement. When steroid freak Roger Clemens intentionally beaned Piazza in the head in the series just before the 2000 all-star game, he was NOT ejected, even though it was clearly intentional given Piazza's success against Clemens and the score of the game at that time.
ReplyDeleteSo..those people who say it's automatic are wrong and cannot cite ANY pro rule that indicates it's an automatic toss.
Therefore, any reasonable person who is affiliated with baseball can say that Bellino rushed the ejection with poor judgement.
To the Anonymous who said Gonzalez was around the zone--
ReplyDeleteThe 2-run triple was the first batter Gonzalez faced. He missed his spot bad; the catcher was set up outside, the pitch comes in inside, belt-high. The HPB, the catcher was set up low and away.
The umpire has to be really sure here. This was the last pitcher they had in the bullpen. They had to bring in a starting pitcher to finish up.
I don't see intent. If you look at the pitch f/x, it was obviously high, but wasn't very far inside. What I do see is a pitcher who probably won't be a major leaguer for much longer.
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14927199
ReplyDeleteMLB Umpire Camps goes to Camp LeJeune for a day to train marines.
@Jon Terry, Thanks. I'll add the video to the MLB Umpire Camps post: http://umpireejections.blogspot.com/2011/05/mlb-news-mlb-hosts-camp-for-marines.html
ReplyDeleteAnd guess who has the plate tonight everybody....that's right...Larry Vanover!
ReplyDeletehttp://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=2913033
@jeruhmed: Here is the A-Rod strikeout you referred to earlier in the thread.
ReplyDelete"They don't have any other pitchers, the umpire has to know that" -- the umpire also has to know that the pitcher gave up two runs, has nothing to lose, and is headhunting! GOSH
ReplyDeleteAnonymous said...
ReplyDelete@jeruhmed: Here is the A-Rod strikeout you referred to earlier in the thread.
Appears I forgot to include the video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGcwrigG9s4
Anonymous said...
ReplyDelete"They don't have any other pitchers, the umpire has to know that"
As much as I think most talking heads we hear are idiots who don't know the rules or anything else about umpiring a baseball game, I think this commend was really "he has to know that" with the pronoun "he" referring to Gonzalez, as in Gonzalez has to know that he can't do anything dumb to get thrown out. I may be wrong on this but this is one time I give a talking head a pass.
If I'm not mistaken, the Yankees retaliated tonight by hitting a batter in the bottom of the 1st. Both teams were warned by Vanover. If Belino didn't eject Gonzalez yesterday, you would be screaming on here that he had no idea what was going on. I think what happened today shows that Belino got it right.
ReplyDelete