Ejections 003, 004, 005: Gary Darling (1, 2, 3)

HP Umpire Gary Darling ejected Indians Manager Manny Acta and pitcher Jeanmar Gomez for throwing at, and third basemen Jack Hannahan for fighting in the bottom of the 3rd inning of the Indians-Royals game. With none out and none on, Royals batter Mike Moustakas took a 1-0 sinker for a hit by pitch. Replays indicate that the previous 0-0 pitch and the 1-0 pitch were inside and belt high. Gomez was immediately ejected by Darling, and both benches subsequently cleared for the second time in the game.^ Replays indicate Hannahan quickly left his third base position. The calls were irrecusable.* At the time of the ejections, the Indians were leading, 5-0. The Indians ultimately won the contest, 11-9, in ten innings.

These are Gary Darling (37)'s first, second, and third ejections of 2012.
Gary Darling now has 6 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call + 2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call + 2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call = 6).*
Crew Chief Gary Darling now has 3 points in the UEFL's Crew division.^^
*These calls are irrecusable under new UEFL Rule 6-2-b(5).
^^Under UEFL Rule 3-3, crew chiefs are awarded one point for each non-incorrect ejection. Irrecusable ejections are non-incorrect ejections.
`Longballs receives two points for prop prediction: fighting, for the wager of April 13 (closest to 4/14/12)

UEFL Standings Update
1) 6 points: TheGunsofHochuli
1) 6 points: millerump18
3) 5 points: JRD
4) 3 points: BillMueller, JohnShulockFan, Jeremy, nkcaump, Turducken, UmpAtty
10) 2 points: BONZ_kansascity, cyclone 14, hitit2me, Longballs, Spence1222

These are the 3rd, 4th, and 5th ejections of 2012.
This is the 3rd Manager ejection of 2012.
These are the 1st and 2nd player ejections of 2012.
This is Manny Acta's first ejection of 2012.
This is Jeanmar Gomez's first ejection of 2012.
This is Jack Hannahan's first ejection of 2012.
Prior to his ejection, Gomez's line was 2.0 IP, 0 H, 0 ER.
Prior to his ejection, Hannahan was 0 for 1, with a walk.
^Benches previously cleared in the top of the 3rd inning when Indians batter Shin-Soo Choo was hit by a pitch.

Wrap: Indians at Royals 4/14/12
Video: Choo hit by pitch, benches clear in the top of the third
Video: Tempers flare in third as benches clear for a second time

Umpire Odds & Ends: Batter's Box Bafflement

For Tigers slugger Miguel Cabrera, something didn't feel right about the right handed batter's box at U.S. Cellular Field as he dug in for his first at-bat in the top of the first inning of the Tigers-White Sox game: Cabrera sensed that he was being shortchanged, that the batter's box was too small.

Talk about Friday the 13th oddities, umpires Adrian Johnson and Gary Cederstrom mulled it over with Cabrera before summoning the Chicago grounds crew to measure the box, which confirmed an erroneous (too small) box had been drawn. As the grounds crew erased, redressed and redrew the batter's and catcher's box housing—this time to correct specifications—umpires and players stood by as South-side Chicago was treated to a seven-minute batter's box delay.

As specified by Diagram No. 2 of the Official Rules of Major League Baseball (OBR), each batter's box shall be four feet wide and six feet in length. The nearest edge of each box shall be located six inches laterally from the parallel edges of the 17" home plate, while each box shall be centered longitudinally at the junctions which form the plate's two obtuse, 135 degree angles. The catcher's box runs 43" wide and has a center that correlates and coincides with the center of home plate itself. The catcher's box shall have an end point exactly eight feet behind the lowest triangular point of home plate that contains the plate's lower right angle.

Chalk up an incorrect QOC for the grounds crew and a winning attempt by Cabrera. After the delay, the White Sox defeated the Tigers, 5-2.

Video: Umpires Delay Game to Fix Batter's Box

Ejection 002: Larry Vanover (1)

HP Umpire Larry Vanover ejected Mets Manager Terry Collins for arguing a ball in the top of the 7th inning of the Nationals-Mets game. With one out and one on, Nationals batter Danny Espinosa took a 3-1 changeup from Mets pitcher Manny Acosta for a ball. Replays indicate the 3-1 pitch from Acosta was below the bottom of the knees and inside. There were no incorrect callable pitches during the at bat, the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Nationals were leading, 1-0. The Nationals ultimately won the contest, 4-0.

This is Larry Vanover (27)'s first ejection of 2012.

Larry Vanover now has 4 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 4).

Crew Chief Brian Gorman now has 1 point in the UEFL's Crew division.
*After review, the Appeals Board has confirmed Quality of Correctness, 5-1-0 ("Correct" ==> "Correct")
*The Appeals Board's historical decisions may be consulted via the UEFL Portal.

UEFL Standings Update
1) 3 pts: JohnShulockFan
1) 3 pts: TheGunsofHochuli

1) 3 pts: Jeremy (Commish)

4) 2 pts: BONZ_kansascity
4) 2 pts: cyclone14
4) 2 pts: hitit2me
4) 2 pts: JRD
4) 2 pts: Spence1222 

This is the 2nd ejection of 2012.
This is the 2nd Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Terry Collin's first ejection of 2012.

Wrap: Nationals at Mets 4/11/12

Video: Recap of Nats-NYM (Ejection at 1:45)

Pitch f/x courtesy Brooks Baseball

VizWiz Umpire Ejection Fantasy League Interactive Analysis

Let your Umpire Ejection Fantasy League preparations begin! Billed as "data visualization done right," VizWiz has put together a series of interactive visualizations based on the UEFL's Historical Data feature.

Here's a quick summary:

The Ejections Summary gives a quick overview of:

The spread of ejections across innings – not surprisingly most ejections occur towards the end of the game

How umpires perform as a whole at the different segments of the game – they’re correct more often at the end of the game as well, leading directly to more ejections

The top 5 reasons for ejections – arguing balls and strikes is an automatic ejections, so there’s no surprise it’s #1

The 2nd sheet, Who to Argue With & When, helps you isolate the specific time when you are most likely to benefit (or not) from an argument.  In particular, I like the bar chart on the bottom right.  This chart tells you the best umpire and time to get ejected if you want to turn the game from a losing position into a winning outcome.

The last sheet, Which Umpires Eject the Most, is a simple list of the umpires most likely to eject someone and the managers most likely to get ejected.  Click on any manager or umpire to see who they get in the most arguments with.

UEFL'er Andy Kriebel, an Atlanta resident for a significant portion of Bobby Cox's Braves tenure and familiar with his status as the all-time leading Manager in ejections, was curious to discover which skipper could possibly fill the ejection void left in the wake of Cox's retirement.

Enter the VizWiz analysis of UEFL data. Kriebel most recently commented on Ejection 001: Mike DiMuro (1), noting that Giants skipper Bruce Bochy is the No. 1 ejected manager for reason of Safe/Out calls, while only one ejection for Safe/Out by the HP Umpire has taken a team from a losing position to a win (Bochy's Giants were losing to Arizona, 7-6 on Sunday and eventually lost by that same score).

He also added a tab to the analysis: "Umpire & Team Relationships," which once and for all confirms which umpires have been most ejectively active with certain teams: For instance, Gary Darling has had the most ejections with the Giants since 2008 (four heave-hos), while Bob Davidson has led the Red Sox race with four ejections of his own. As for the Joe West-White Sox "feud," both West and Timmons are tied for the 2008-present ejections lead with three apiece.

In short, visit VizWiz today for data visualization done right.

VizWiz Link: Let your Umpire Ejection Fantasy League preparations begin!

Ejection 001: Mike DiMuro (1)

HP Umpire Mike DiMuro ejected Giants Manager Bruce Bochy for arguing a safe call in the bottom of the 7th inning of the Giants-Diamondbacks game. With one out and three on, Diamondbacks batter Chris Young hit a 0-0 slider from Giants pitcher Sergio Romo to third baseman Pablo Sandoval, who threw onto catcher Buster Posey for an attempted force out of Diamondbacks runner R3 Aaron Hill. Replays indicate Posey failed to tag home plate after fielding Sandoval's throw, the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the Diamondbacks were leading, 7-6. The Diamondbacks ultimately won the contest, 7-6.

This is Mike DiMuro (16)'s first ejection of 2012.
Mike DiMuro now has 4 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 4).
Crew Chief Jim Joyce now has 1 point in the UEFL's Crew division.

UEFL Standings Update
1) 3 pts: JohnShulockFan*
1) 3 pts: TheGunsofHochuli*
3) 2 pts: BONZ_kansascity^
3) 2 pts: cyclone14^
3) 2 pts: hitit2me^
3) 2 pts: JRD^
3) 2 pts: Spence1222^

*JohnShulockFan & TheGunsofHochuli own Mike DiMuro as a Secondary Umpire
^Denotes UEFL'ers who correctly predicted the first ejection of the 2012 season would occur on April 8, 2012.

This is the 1st ejection of 2012.
This is the 1st Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Bruce Bochy's first ejection of 2012.

Wrap: Giants at Diamondbacks, 3/25/12
Video: Hill scores on error charged to Posey, Diamondbacks take lead (Arizona feed)
Video: Bochy ejected for arguing the call (San Francisco Feed)

Instant Replay's 2012 MLB Debut

MLB Instant replay made its 2012 debut in Tampa Bay and Detroit on Saturday as two boundary calls with home run potential were overturned.

Umpire Joe West explains his ruling to Rays manager
Joe Maddon as crew-mates Rob Drake (L), Sam Holbrook
(facing camera) & Andy Fletcher look on.

At Tropicana Field, Rays third baseman Evan Longoria hit a Clay Rapada pitch to right field for an apparent home run as a fan wearing a Yankees jersey—along with a Rays hat and undershirt—leaned over to catch the descending fly ball as it approached the definitive yellow line atop the spectators' railing as Yankees right fielder Nick Swisher did his best Tony Tarasco impression, pointing up at the offending fan and pleading his case for Jeffrey Maier-style spectator interference.

Initially ruled a home run by RF Umpire Rich Garcia 1B Umpire Andy Fletcher, crew chief Joe West elected to overturn the call on the field after consulting instant replay: replay angles conclusively demonstrated the fan made contact with the ball as it was below the boundary and within the field of play: West's decision was correct.