1B Umpire Jim Joyce ejected Astros Manager Brad Mills for
arguing a foul ball call in the bottom of the 8th inning of the Astros-Pirates game. With none out and one on, Pirates batter Clint Barmes fouled off a 1-2 sinker from Astros pitcher Wilton Lopez. Originally, Home Plate umpire James Hoye ruled that Barmes attempted to bunt the ball, thus ruling strike three for a fouled off bunt with two strikes. After Pirates Manager Clint Hurdle came out, Hoye conferred with crewmates. After conferring, Hoye ruled that Barmes did not bunt, thus the foul ball kept the count 1-2.* Replays indicate Barmes successfully brought his bat back and successfully checked his swing, but the ball did touch the bat. Under OBR Rule 2.00, a bunt is defined as "a batted ball not swung at, but intentionally met with the bat and tapped slowly within the infield." Since Barmes did not intentionally meet the ball with his bat, it did not satisfy OBR Rule 6.05(d) for a bunt foul third strike. The call was correct.^ At the
time of the ejection, the Astros were leading, 1-0. The Astros ultimately won the contest, 1-0.
This is Jim Joyce (66)'s first ejection of 2012.
Jim Joyce now has 3 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 1 Correct Call [Crewmate]* = 3).
Crew Chief Jim Joyce now has 1 point in the Crew Division (1 Previous + 1 Correct Call = 2).
*James Hoye is the calling umpire and Jim Joyce the secondary umpire under UEFL Rule 6-2-c-1-a.
^This call is correct under OBR Rule 2.00 and Rule 6.05(d).
UEFL Standings Update
This is the 26th ejection of 2012.
This is the 17th Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Brad Mills' first ejection of 2012.
Wrap: Astros at Pirates 5/11/12
Video: Joyce ejects Mills in heated argument over a foul ball-bunted strike three call
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19 comments :
What a great call by Joyce who takes control like a good CC should... This is not an easy play and what really a conference is for.... Not like This play by Bill Welke...
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=21320929&source=MLB&gid=2012_05_10_tormlb_minmlb_1
I can see Mills point here. The approach to bunting is to try to catch the ball with the bat, thus the bunter will be pulling the bat back as he is attempting to bunt. I don't agree with Mills in this case, but I do think his point made sense. Don't see too many outs taken off the board in the Bigs. Mr. Joyce is a true Pro.
Anybody else notice the MLB video description incorrectly says Mills was ejected by the home-plate umpire?
Good pick up, BAPA.
I had to make sure it was Joyce that actually ejected him. I thought I may had missed something.
While Mills would be completely wrong I don't know why he just doesn't protest the call.
This is a perfect instance of agreeing with the judgement (reading lips he says I don't care if he pulled it back, or something like that) but thinking the umpires have the rule wrong. It would have saved him an ejection, the corresponding fine and he could have enjoyed his team winning.
I think Joyce did a great job here all around. Props to him.
@ BAPACop: That's still not as bad as the one earlier in the year when they said Joe West ejected Joe Girardi in between innings.
Wow. That's pretty bizarre, but they got it right. (And I'm a lot less reluctant to say so than the Astros announcer)
Jim Joyce must have the patience of a saint. He let Mills say his piece, and gave him every opportunity to walk away. But Mills kept following him, and it was like Joyce was asking him, "You want me to run you?" Great job by one of the best in the game.
And most importantly, they got the call right in the end.
I wonder if Mills tried protesting the call and was told he couldn't do so. This could have been viewed as a judgement call which is not protestable.
What a great call, great conference. Joyce was restrained, gave Mills a heck of a lot of lee-way, finally drew the line and said "that's enough," Mills didn't get the hint and he was gone. Great execution.
I thought about something when i woke up... Shocking...and i'm using science.. at least i think it's science.... take a bat put your hand on it try to get a ball to hit your bat and THEN your hand while you are not attempting to strike the ball.. Think about it...look were hit hand was. ( i hope he wasn't taught to bunt this way as he'll be breaking fingers often.) That being said could you argue he's hit by the pitch... JUst throwing it out there... I'm not looking to fight about calling it a HBP... but how can the ball hit his bat 1st using common sense...
I don't understand why mills wouldn't just protest this call. He wouldn't argue the judgement call of the swing but the umpires' interpretation of the rule about third strike bunting, which is what protesting is meant for.
It is a judgment call there was a similar play a week ago rockies braves plate umpire tim mcclland rulled a fair ball and subdequent out fredi gonzalez came out and got tim to check with marty foster at third and reversed the call jim tracy wasn't happy but said his peace and stayed in the game
Great call!!! Imagine being in the middle of that play - something you absolutely never see - and not just knowing the rule but applying it in a weird situation. I hope I can umpire like that next time I'm on the field.
The Astros announcers, Brown and DeShaies, are the best in the game bar none. Kudos to Joyce and his handling of this unusual situation.
Hard to believe I'm a a deep minority. You're using the definition of a bunt, which didn't happen, rather than the definition of an attempted bunt. Once he attempted a bunt, the fact that he pulled his bat back doesn't change the fact of the intention of squaring in the first place, that being to bunt. If the ball had gone fair, it would have counted as a bunt, even though he pulled his bat back; and a sacrifice if runners advanced, etc. And the rules says " ... tapped slowly within the infield". Foul territory? Missed attempts? Not even covered.
If his hands were still up the bat at the time the ball made contact, it should have been ruled a bunt attempt and a foul ball third strike IMO.
@ Anon 12:07: Ever hear of a fella by the name of Vin Scully?
sbump2 wrote "If his hands were still up the bat at the time the ball made contact, it should have been ruled a bunt attempt and a foul ball third strike IMO"
That's a valid opinion sbump2, but it is not how Major League Baseball interprets this rule. The batter was trying to bring his bat back in towards his body and the ball accidentally hit it. Remember the key words "intentionally met" -- there is no way this batter was trying to make his bat meet the ball here. If he was holding the bat over the plate in a regular bunting position and the ball glanced off it, I could see ruling this a foul bunted ball, but not when he's trying to draw the bat back in and clearly has no intent in trying to bunt the ball.
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