HP Umpire Derryl Cousins ejected Miami Marlins catcher John Buck for
arguing a swinging strike three call in the top of the 6th inning of the Marlins-Brewers
game. With two out and one on, Marlins batter John Buck attempted to check his swing on a 3-2 slider from Brewers pitcher Zack Greinke, but was ruled to have swung by Cousins. Replays indicate that Buck successfully checked his swing, the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Marlins were leading, 5-3. The Brewers ultimately won the contest, 6-5.
This is Derryl Cousins' (13) second ejection of 2012.
Derryl Cousins now has 2 points in the UEFL (4 Previous + 2 MLB + -4 Incorrect Call = 2).
Crew Chief Derryl Cousins now has 1 point in the Crew Division (1 Previous + 0 Incorrect Call = 1).
*After review, Quality of Correctness has been affirmed by the UEFL Appeals Board (3-2).
*Historical Appeals Board decisions may be consulted via the UEFL Portal.*
UEFL Standings Update
This is the 82nd ejection of 2012.
This is the 32nd player ejection of 2012.
This is John Buck's first ejection of 2012.
This is John Buck's first ejection since July 4, 2011 (Kerwin Danley; QOC = Incorrect).
This is Derryl Cousins' first ejection since May 11 (Steve Smith; QOC = Correct).
The Marlins are fourth in the NL East with two ejections (NYM=4, ATL=3, PHI=3, WAS=0).
Wrap: Marlins at Brewers 7/2/12
Video: Cousins rules strike three on a swing by Buck; Buck goes ballistic, gets ejected
close call but it still looked like he never went around
ReplyDeleteHaven't seen the game or the EJ, When I hear Cousins ejected someone, I automatically think that the player's behavior was egregious. I'm looking forward to seeing this clip.
ReplyDeleteBuck has to be one self centered catcher who while batting .182 lets himself get ejected and leaves team with one catcher and virtually no options.
ReplyDeleteJerry Layne, Jerry Meals, Bill Welke James Hoye
ReplyDeletePretty good crew for the second half
buck's 2nd career ejection.. his 1st was last season with the florida marlins! Perhaps he wasnted to be the 1st player to be ejected as both a member of the miami and florida marlins?
ReplyDeletebuck has to be the 1st guy in history ejected by both cousins and kerwin danley!!
ReplyDeleteChallenge seeing as every other check swing ejection has been challenged I see no reason not
ReplyDeleteHmm, slightly disappointed in the clip, which is now up. Buck never went around; but as a catcher, you can't get yourself run in that situation.
ReplyDeleteThe Marlins announcers claimed it was "not a good night for Cousins." Looking at the Brooks plot, doesn't seem too horrible. Unless you are a Marlin's fan.
http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/cache/zoneplotNonNorm.php-pitchSel=all&game=gid_2012_07_02_miamlb_milmlb_1&sp_type=1&s_type=7.gif
that is not the chart of a man who did poorly... I have been following Cousins closely this year.. for a man closer to 70 then 60 he has impressed me all season. I'm not sure if this is because he has switched to the scissors but it sure appears to have helped
ReplyDeleteNot a good call by Cousins, but Buck earned the ejection by flying off the handle the way he did.
ReplyDeleteAnon 9:02pm: Is that Jerry Layne crew something confirmed for the second half of the season, or just speculation? He was with Bob Davidson, Jim Wolf, and Mike Muchlinski in Cleveland tonight.
Dan, just speculation. I guess just some friendly suggestions on how crews should be set up...
ReplyDeleteMuchlinski has been filling in on Layne's crew for a while, and Wolf is probably there because his crew(Cousins) is handling a series involving the Brewers, which is where Wolf's brother is pitching.
ReplyDeleteCould we please see the exact numbers of balls and strikes called correctly by Cousins. I too have been following Cousins closely this year. He looks a little trimmed down, nowhere near 65 years old that is for sure. I wonder if the scissors has helped him. I thought he was pretty horrible last season but has made strides this season and remember, like McClelland and Davis, Cousins has always rocked a pretty small strike zone.
ReplyDeleteCousins and Danley have thrown out both:
ReplyDeleteJim Fregosi (by Cousins in 1987 as Manager of the White Sox and by Danley in 1993 as Manager of the Phillies)
Mike Hargrove (by Cousins in 1995 as Manager of the Indians and by Danley in 2002 as Manager of the Orioles)
Hal McRae (by Cousins in 1993 as Royals Manager and by Danley in 2002 as Devil Rays Manager)
Bobby Cox (by Cousins in 1983 and 1984 as Blue Jays Manager and in 2000 as Braves Manager and by Danley twice in 2003 as Braves Manager)
Eric Wedge (by Cousins in 2008 as Indians Manager and by Danley later in the same year)
and then John Buck. John Buck is the only player both have ejected.
wow jeremy... great work!!
ReplyDeleteFor the non-umpire, what does "wearing scissors" mean?
ReplyDelete@ Dan 9:53 Negative
ReplyDeleteGary Darling, Jeff Nelson, Doug Eddings, Marvin Hudson
ReplyDeleteMike Winters, Kerwin Danley, Ron Kulpa, Ed Hickox
ReplyDelete@Dan:
ReplyDelete"Scissors" is a stance for plate umpires to call balls and strikes. Generally speaking, scissors is similar to a kneeling position in that it gives the plate umpire a good look at the bottom of the strikezone. It also has been known to reduce leg strain.
See pgs. 5-6 here for some descriptions on other stances: http://www.mtyaabaseball.org/Umpires/PLATE%20UMPIRE(1).pdf
This ruling has been challenged and is under review by the UEFL Appeals Board.
ReplyDeleteNow, I understand the whole check swing thing, and I have to agree that at first glance at that side angle it probably shouldn't have been ruled a swing. But what was Buck doing if he wasn't attempting to strike at the ball? Was he swatting a fly? Trying to dust off the plate? How does your bat end up all the way down there if you're not trying to hit the ball?
ReplyDeleteI know its been 100+ years but when is baseball going to give an umpire the weapon to call the check swing accurately with a true guideline. There seem to more arguments and EJ's over this call than most others. "When the batter attempts to hit the ball" is the most nebulous rule.
ReplyDeletedamn it mlb. show the actual hook.
ReplyDeleteI agree with BAPACop. His knees, hips and hands moved towards the pitch. I suspect if we had an overhead view we would see that the bat got to the point of the plate. He went. Take your strikeout like a man and go to the dugout.
ReplyDeleteI think Derryl missed this one here. However, I think he did a nice job by making a call right away on a checked swing 3rd strike that's in the dirt. The plate umpire needs to make a call right away in this type of situation. Otherwise, the time necessary for an appeal to U1 puts the batter in jeopardy of not being able to attempt to advance on a DK3. Granted, in this instance, F2 fielded it cleanly for an easy tag out. But the plate umpire cannot wait to see if it's fielded cleanly before deciding whether or not to rule on the swing/no swing.
ReplyDeleteInteresting coincidence, John Buck was also ejected on the first Monday of July last year.
ReplyDelete@4:16 AM (what were you doing at that time of day?!)
ReplyDeleteI agree and that is why I would challenge this ruling. I actually use 2 different ways to say if a batter "swung" - did his bat go around (the bell of the bat get ahead of the hands), in this case that did not happen. However, the 2nd thing i look for is whether he moves the bat toward the ball (offers at it) - he definitely did that here, his bat when directly toward the ball before he pulled back. Maybe this is "old school" umpire school thing but that is what I was taught by minor league umpires about 10-15 years ago (heck they even said if the guys hips swung around and pointed to the fielders you should call it a swing).
What criteria are we using here?
Thanks!
The all-star umps have been announced:
ReplyDeleteHome plate: Gerry Davis;
First Base: Jim Joyce;
Second Base: Brian Runge;
Third Base: Tony Randazzo;
Left Field: Lance Barksdale; and
Right Field: Brian Knight
After review, the Original Ruling has been affirmed in a 3-2 decision by the UEFL Appeals Board. Three Appeals Board members elected to Confirm the Original Ruling and two voted to Overturn it.
ReplyDeletePer Curiam Opinion:
The Board cites Ejection 027: Mike Muchlinski (1), Ejection 039: Tom Hallion (1) and Ejection 070: Jeff Nelson (2) as previous check swing rulings that have established the half swing call as "ambiguous, incomprehensive and intangible. It is therefore fully open to Board interpretation with little or no stare decisis power in consideration of future rulings other than to reflect the finding in Hallion and Muchlinski that the call is subjective."
Concurring Opinion, tmac joined by Gil:
this is not a swing...There is no attempt to hit the ball when it goes through his hitting area
Therefore, the Board affirms the Original Ruling.
Confirmed: Gil, tmac, RichMSN
Upheld: None
Overturned: Albertaumpire, BillMueller
Deferred: None
Abstained: Jeremy (Posted Original Ruling), yawetag (owns Cousins)
The Original Ruling has been affirmed, 3-2.
wow I figured this would be a 5-0 decision. How do 2 umpires actually think this is a swing?
ReplyDeleteToo bad it's not Jim Joyce behind the plate for the All-Star Game. Always love hearing his strike call. But I guess Gerry Davis has more seniority. And he almost always does a good job, so the game will be in good hands.
ReplyDelete@Pete: Thanks for the explanation!
@ anon 11:19 I was as shocked (and embarassed) as you
ReplyDeleteI do not see a swing. I think he went less than half way.
ReplyDeleteI still think he attempted at the ball. The bat was in close proximity to ball the when it crossed the plate, and the ball could have been hit, at the very least foul.
Darryl seen the bat, he didn't need to have a full swing, the bat was in the area for a judged attempt.
This is and was a strike, good call by Darryl.
I could stick my bat straight out in the zone belt high, and never swing, and even check the bat a little, and yet still, still I could contact the ball.
I defer to Darryl, he knows.