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Monday, August 22, 2011

Ejections: Hunter Wendelstedt (5, 6)

HP Umpire Hunter Wendelstedt ejected Twins third basemen Danny Valencia and Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire for arguing a strike call in the bottom of the 8th inning of the Orioles-Twins game. With one out and none on, Valencia swung and missed a 3-2 slider from Orioles pitcher Michael Gonzalez for strike three. On the prior pitch, Valencia took a 3-1 fastball for a called strike two. Replays indicate the called strike two pitch was located above the knees and caught the inner half of the plate, the call was correct. At the time of the ejections, the Orioles were leading, 4-1. The Orioles ultimately won the contest, 4-1.

These are Hunter Wendelstedt (21)'s fifth and six ejections of 2011.
Hunter Wendelstedt now has 19 points in the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League (11 Previous + 2*[2 MLB + 2 Correct Call] = 19).
Hunter Wendelstedt is owned as a Primary Umpire by tt49, who is now in 3rd place in the UEFL with 26 points.
Hunter Wendelstedt is owned as a Secondary Umpire by kickersrule, who is now in 2nd place in the UEFL with 30 points.

These are the 167th and 168th ejections of 2011.
This is the 78th player ejection of 2011.
This is the 80th Manager ejection of 2011.
This is Ron Gardenhire's sixth ejection of 2011, leading all Managers, coaches, and players.
Danny Valencia is now the only other Twin besides Gardenhire to be ejected in 2011.
Prior to his ejection, Valencia was 1-4 in the contest.
Wendelstedt last ejected Gardenhire during the 2010 ALDS.

Wrap: Orioles at Twins 8/22/11
Video: Direct Link N/A

Pitch f/x courtesy Brooks Baseball
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11 comments:

  1. AnonymousAugust 22, 2011 at 9:20 PM

    Layne's crew has had an interesting week.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousAugust 22, 2011 at 9:41 PM

    The call may have been correct, but that was a quick toss and Wendelstedt continues to hate the Twins and Ron Gardenhire.

    ReplyDelete
  3. ZacAugust 22, 2011 at 10:01 PM

    Anonymous @ 9:41:
    Quick toss? Hunter gave him plenty of rope and Valencia hanged himself with the hand gesture as he was walking away. I love how the players can do what they wish and people are surprised that they pay the price. How does he hate the Twins? He called the 3-1 pitch a strike, Brooks Baseball says it was a strike, and the on-screen K-Zone thing said it was a strike. What more do you need?

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousAugust 23, 2011 at 12:34 AM

    Here's an example of how Gardy's attitude affects the team. Danny is walking away arguing, not about the last pitch, but something previous to the last. Nothing can be done, yet he's so upset with the call, he can't just walk away, he must say something. Where in the hell is the focus from this MLB player? Did he take away anything from the pitch sequence? Instead of arguing with Hunter, did Danny try to figure out if Hunter missed it, or will he call it again?
    And then Gardy, wow, what was he going to accomplish? Let Hunter know the Twins don't like strikes in the zone? Gardy was late to save Danny, so what was he doing? Trying to get run? Firing the team up? Gardy argues and gets thrown out at some of the most head scratching times in a ball game. Gardy's focus was on Hunter's ejection of Danny for gesturing after a strike was called in the strike zone, previous to Danny swinging and missing at strike 3. Great focus Gardy, way to manage and control this portion of the game.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousAugust 23, 2011 at 3:58 AM

    This crap just finds Jerry's crew. Gardenhire may be the biggest whiner managing. I agree totally with above post.

    ReplyDelete
  6. AnonymousAugust 23, 2011 at 5:15 AM

    http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=18313281

    Just because this crew hasn't had enough attention, now Cal Ripken is going after Jerry Layne's positioning on MLB.com. Really?

    ReplyDelete
  7. AnonymousAugust 23, 2011 at 6:52 AM

    Anyone else having trouble with the link? The video refuses to load for me.

    ReplyDelete
  8. jhagen88August 23, 2011 at 7:26 AM

    The Twins don't like Hunter.

    Gardy doesn't like Hunter.

    When you don't like someone it's much easier to justify to yourself that the person you don't like is wrong.

    I was listening to the Twins radio broadcast and they were unsympathetic to Danny V. It's been a tough season for Minnesota and they are not playing near the ball they were expected too. Everyone is frustrated from the owners to the players and frustration causes you to say and do things you either don't mean to or make your temper short.

    I'm not trying to defend Gardy and the Twins, just trying to show where they are coming from.

    I recently worked my first Pro Game as a fill-in in the Minors. I worked the plate and after the plate conference the I heard the manager complaining about, "another amature fill-in."

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  9. BugsAugust 23, 2011 at 10:53 AM

    jhagen88, did you run the manager down, jump in his face and eject him like you're supposed to? Just kidding (and congrats on moving up).

    Here's another walking away ejection that makes umpires look bad. Valencia never stopped walking. Didn't appear to be yelling. I'm no pro lip reader, but I didn't see any of the big 3 being said. So why the ejection? For the little handflip or whatever it was?

    Looks like an ego toss.

    ReplyDelete
  10. tmacAugust 23, 2011 at 1:48 PM

    Here is the link to the video!

    http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=18341063

    ReplyDelete
  11. thexfactor264August 23, 2011 at 6:53 PM

    I can't get the video to load either...

    ReplyDelete