HP Umpire Cory Blaser ejected Rockies catcher Chris Iannetta and Rockies Manager Jim Tracy for arguing a safe call in the top of the 7th inning of the Brewers-Rockies game. With one out and two on, Brewers batter Mark Kotsay flied out to Rockies center fielder Dexter Fowler, Brewers R3 Corey Hart scored on the sacrifice. Replays indicate Iannetta applied the tag to Hart before Hart contacted the plate, the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Brewers were leading, 5-3. The Brewers ultimately won the contest, 8-7.
These are Cory Blaser (89)'s second and third ejections of 2011.
Cory Blaser now has -6 points in the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (-2 Previous + 2*[3 AAA - 1 Penalty - 4 Incorrect Call] = -6).
Cory Blaser was not drafted in 2011.
*Quality of Correctness was challenged and confirmed ("Incorrect" ==> "Incorrect").
These are the 120th and 121st ejections of 2011.
This is the 57th player ejection of 2011.
This is the 59th Manager ejection of 2011.
This is Jim Tracy's second ejection of 2011.
Prior to his ejection, Iannetta was 1-1 in the contest.
Wrap: Brewers at Rockies 7/16/11
Video: Iannetta, Tracy are Ejected
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21 comments :
it doesn't appear in the box score (at least not yet), but Fieldin Culberth ejected Eric Wedge in Seattle tonight on a balk call. MLB posted a video of it, in which a clear ejection signal is given, but it is not in the box score.
Thanks, xfactor. We'll take a look. We'll wait to see what happens with the "official" official box score, as of course it is subject to change.
Blaser was called up to fill-in for an injured Brian O' Nora because he lives in CO, then ends up with a close play in a close game like this. He's tossed Tracy twice in the past 2 years on a fill in basis, and coincidentally, when he tossed Tracy last year, Brian O'Nora was the acting CC. Odd stuff. Anyhow, we will see if O' Nora is able to rebound sooner than later, and all in all a tough play to call at the plate for Blaser.
Another umpire injured? Wow, I wonder if this is some kind of record. I can't remember a time when there were so many umpires out. It's getting crazy.
challange
At full speed, this looks like a tough call. In slow-mo, it seems clear enough that the runner's feet were still in the air, which is a surprisingly common occurance. What is the point of sliding if your thigh is the first thing to touch the base?
Either way, the catcher's reaction is far out of line. That kind of display would be ejectable no matter what the situation.
I looked over the Culbreth tape. The balk is clear, as is the ejection. But still no mention in any box score I can find. Curious, because the tape also shows Wedge leaving.
@ Anon: Umpires are not called up becasue the live "close" to a city. AAA umpires are on the road all season. If o'nora was injured (which i can't confirm or deny) they would use the nearest AAA umpire with the most experience. Colorado Springs would be the closest city and Blaser would have the most experience as a call up guy... Remember when a non call up was used earlier this season (Tyler Funnaman) he was placed at third for one game while MLB could arrange a call up to take the spot. Blaser worked 1st after o'nora started the series at 2nd. O'nora did not leave the game Thursday... How do you know he's injured.... Remember these guys get 4 weeks vacation a season (crew & Individual)
@ Jon Terry- can you please explain the balk in the wedge video? I'm really not seeing much out of the ordinary...
Um Tmac, O'Nora did leave Thursday's game with a back injury and Blaser actually did replace him later in the game so most of what anonymous said is true in this instance.
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110714&content_id=21794938&vkey=news_mil&c_id=mil
@ anon 12:03.. My bad in watching that game I noticed there were 4 umpires... This is fascinating to me... TRUST ME MLB doesn't just have Cory Blaser sitting at home Just in case an umpire gets hurt. There is more to the story then was written in that article. AAA umpires are on the road the whole year. I wonder if he was hurt prior to the game and tried to battle (b/c o'nora is that kind of guy). Blaser does live 20 minutes outside of Denver, but it just doesn't make any sense why he wouldn't be umpiring on a Friday night.
here is the story... Blaser umpired the AAA all-star game in Salt Lake and was not scheduled to work another game until Friday so he WAS sitting at home. When O'nora got to the locker room and was deemed unfit to return MLB execs called Blaser who must be able to drive very quickly (or was at the game having a beer (JOKE!). This is a very unusual situation. as the ONLY time an umpire would be home (unless home is a city he works) would be during an all star break. I must start looking at a calender (or at least buy one)
tmac is so tuned in and turned on to what is happening, I'm beginning to think "tmac" is really short for Tim McClelland...lmao.
Blaser was not in the triple-A all-star game in Salt Lake this year. The PCL umps were Loveless and Ripperger. Blaser was in the triple-a all-star game last year, in Allentown, PA.
Link to Eric Wedge balk video
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=16966333
This ruling has been challenged and is under review.
When I first watched the balk video, in my opinion, Hernanez's spin move did not include a step toward first base. I see his pivot foot moving toward third, and his free foot moving backwards to a spot next to the rubber where his pivot foot started.
However, in the wrap story on MLB.com, the state that Hernandez moved toward the plate for changing direction, and I have friends in my locker room who say they saw him twitch his front foot before lifting it. So when I watched the video again, I can see in the slo-mo section (approx. 2.13) that Hernandez's free foot moves slightly toward third or home before he spins. However, I think it is unlikely that a second base umpire could see this movement, so I stand by my original conclusion.
In the wrap story, Hernandez claims that he had been using the same move the whole game, and didn't understand why it wasn't called, if illegal, until the 8th inning. I have no idea if this is a regular move for Hernandez, as I don't have nearly the time to watch that much baseball, or access to a West Coast feed.
On a different note, I doubt that tmac is the great Tim McClelland. Even if Tim were here and vocal (which I imagine would be against the rules), I don't think he would use quite that obvious a handle. I sure wouldn't.
@ Jon Terry The guys running this site would remember better but there was a Gary Cederstrom balk call against Tampa last year (SHields?) where Maddon was tossed by Gary for the same call.. maybe this crew likes the front leg break call. Good call.
Tmac,
You are correct that Gary Cederstrom had a balk call leading to a Joe Maddon ejection. The pitcher was Matt Garza (now with the Cubs). The write up on the ejection can be read here. The video of the balk call and ejection can be seen here.
Culbreth made a great call. It was a balk. If you can't see it, or disagree, fine. Everyone knows the old saying about opinions, everyone has one, blah, blah......... However, each opinion doesn't carry the same weight. Culbreths opinion has far more weight than any of us, why? Well, if you asked me my opinion about a cancer patients X-ray, or you asked a Doctor about the same X-ray, who's opinion carries more weight?
Great call by Culbreth, and that's why he's in the bigs!
In regards to the challenge that has been made on this call, please review the tape from about 1:45 - 1:53. I see the corner of home plate with Hart's foot touching it right before the tag is applied.
Also, interestingly enough, MLB has removed the video of the Cubby dump...
This ruling has been challenged.
After review, the Quality of Correctness has been confirmed. The call is now incorrect.
After review, including examination of the real-time play, replays, and alternate angles, the decision of confirming the original Quality of Correctness was made. With deference to the final replay angle, combining angular position and split screen synchronization, it is apparent that the runner is tagged prior to legally touching home plate.
Denied.
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