MLB Ejection 159: Jeff Nelson (1; Jerry Hairston)

HP Umpire Jeff Nelson ejected Dodgers PH Jerry Hairston for arguing a strike three call in the top of the 9th inning of the Dodgers-Reds game. With none out and none on, Hairston took a 1-2 fastball from Reds pitcher Seth LeCure for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located belt-high and off the outer edge of home plate (px 0.957), the call was incorrect. At the time of the ejection, the contest was tied, 3-3. The Reds ultimately won the contest, 4-3, in 10 innings.

This is Jeff Nelson (45)'s first ejection of 2013.
Jeff Nelson now has -2 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + -4 Incorrect Call = -2).
Crew Chief Jim Joyce now has 0 points in the UEFL's Crew Division (0 Previous + 0 Incorrect Call = 0).

This is the 159th ejection of the 2013 MLB season.
This is the 70th player ejection of 2013. Prior to ejection, Hairston was 0-1 in the contest (pinch hit K).
This is the Dodgers' 12th ejection of 2012, 1st in the NL West (LAD 12; ARI 8; SF 4; COL, SD 3).
This is Jerry Hairston's 2nd ejection of 2013, first since April 11, 2013 (Sam Holbrook; QOC = Irrecusable).
This is Jeff Nelson's first ejection since October 14, 2012 (Joe Girardi; QOC = Irrecusable).

Wrap: Los Angeles Dodgers vs. Cincinnati Reds, 9/7/13
Video: After striking out to end his pinch-hit appearance, Hairston earns an ejection (N/A)

MLB Ejection 158: Alan Porter (5; Brandon Barnes)

HP Umpire Alan Porter ejected Astros CF Brandon Barnes for arguing a ball call (hit-by-pitch refusal) in the top of the 6th inning of the Astros-Athletics game. With one out and none on, Barnes took a 0-2 slider from A's pitcher A.J. Griffin for a called ball; though the pitched ball made contact with Barnes, Porter did not award Barnes first base, ruling he failed to attempt to avoid the baseball pursuant to OBR Rule 6.08, which states, in part that a batter shall not be entitled to first base when touched by a pitched ball if he "makes no attempt to avoid being touched by the ball"; as Barnes was ejected during a subsequent at bat after striking out swinging, the call was irrecusable. At the time of the ejection, The A's were leading, 5-4. The A's ultimately won the contest, 7-5.

This is Alan Porter (64)'s fifth ejection of 2013.
Alan Porter now has 4 points in the UEFL (2 Previous + 2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call = 4).
Crew Chief Jerry Layne now has 12 points in the UEFL's Crew Division (11 + 1 Irrecusable Call = 12).

This is the 158th ejection of the 2013 MLB season.
This is the 68th player ejection of 2013. Prior to ejection, Barnes was 0-2 in the contest.
This is the Astros' 3rd ejection of 2013, T-2nd in the AL West (OAK 6; HOU, TEX 3; LAA 2; SEA 1).
This is Brandon Barnes' first career MLB ejection.
This is Alan Porter's first ejection since August 29, 2013 (Ron Gardenhire; QOC = Irrecusable [Warnings]).

Wrap: Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics, 9/6/13
Video: Barnes is tossed from the dugout complaining about Porter's invocation of "lean in" Rule 6.08 (HOU)

MLB Ejections 156, 157: Tony Randazzo (Axford, Matheny)

HP Umpire Tony Randazzo ejected Cardinals pitcher John Axford and Manager Mike Matheny for throwing at Pirates batter Tony Sanchez in the top of the 8th inning of the Pirates-Cardinals game. With none out and one on via a double, Sanchez was hit by a first pitch inside fastball. Warnings had previously been issued when Cardinals batter Yadier Molina took a fastball high and inside, the call was irrecusable. At the time of the ejection, the Cardinals were leading, 12-1. The Cardinals ultimately won the contest, 12-8.

These are Tony Randazzo (11)'s second and third ejections of 2013.
Tony Randazzo now has 6 points in the UEFL (2 Previous + 2*[2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call] = 6).
Crew Chief Brian Gorman now has 12 points in the UEFL's Crew Division (10 + 2 Irrecusable Call = 12).

These are the 156th and 157th ejections of the 2013 MLB season.
This is the 68th player ejection of 2013. Prior to ejection, Axford's line was H, 2 R, HBP.
This is the 77th Manager ejection of 2013.
This is the Cardinals' 6th ejection of 2013, 3rd in the NL Central (PIT 8; CHC 7; STL 6; MIL 3; CIN 0).
This is John Axford's first career MLB ejection.
This is Mike Matheny's 4th ejection of 2013 and first since August 9, 2013 (David Rackley; QOC = Correct).
This is Tony Randazzo's first ejection since June 4, 2013 (Mike Aviles; QOC = Irrecusable Call).

Wrap: Pittsburgh Pirates vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 9/6/13
Video: After surrendering an extra base hit to open the 8th frame, Axford hits his next batter, is ejected (STL)
Video: Molina is brushed back by an earlier Pittsburgh pitch and responds by hitting a home run (STL)

MLB Ejection 155: Tom Hallion (5; Kirk Gibson)

HP Umpire Tom Hallion ejected Diamondbacks Manager Kirk Gibson for arguing a safe call in the bottom of the 4th inning of the Diamondbacks-Giants game. With none out and one on, Giants batter Hector Sanchez hit a 1-1 sinker from Diamondbacks pitcher Trevor Cahill to Giants right fielder Gerardo Parra, who fielded the fly ball and threw home as Giants baserunner R3 Pablo Sandoval attempted to score from third base. Replays indicate Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero's glove and baseball touched Sandoval's right oblique before Sandoval's hand contacted home plate, the call was incorrect. At the time of the ejection, the Giants were leading, 2-0. The Diamondbacks ultimately won the contest, 4-2.

This is Tom Hallion (20)'s fifth ejection of 2013.
Tom Hallion now has 4 points in the UEFL (6 Previous + 2 MLB + -4 Incorrect Call = 4).
Crew Chief Tom Hallion now has 5 points in the UEFL's Crew Division (5 + 0 Incorrect Call = 5).

This is the 155th ejection of the 2013 MLB season.
This is the 76th Manager ejection of 2013.
This is the Diamondbacks' 8th ejection of 2013, 2nd in the NL West (LAD 11; ARI 8; SF 4; COL, SD 3).
This is Kirk Gibson's 3rd ejection of 2013 and first since June 12, 2013 (Clint Fagan; QOC = Irrecusable).
This is Tom Hallion's first ejection since August 18, 2013 (James Russell; QOC = Incorrect [Crewmate]).

Wrap: Arizona Diamondbacks vs. San Francisco Giants, 9/5/13
Video: Sandoval collides with Montero at home plate, scoring the run on a sacrifice fly (ARI)

MLB Ejection 154: Mark Ripperger (1; Bo Porter)

HP Umpire Mark Ripperger ejected Astros Manager Bo Porter for arguing a safe call in the bottom of the 8th inning of the Astros-Athletics game. With two out and one on, A's batter Alberto Callaspo hit a 1-2 fastball from Astros pitcher Jorge De Leon back to the mound, fielded by De Leon as A's baserunner R3 Stephen Vogt attempted to score from third base. Replays indicate Vogt's foot contacted home plate prior to Astros catcher Matt Pagnozzi's glove with ball touching Vogt's hip, the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the Astros were leading, 3-2. The Astros ultimately won the contest, 3-2.

This is Mark Ripperger (90)'s first ejection of 2013.
Mark Ripperger now has 5 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 3 AAA + 2 Correct Call = 5).
Crew Chief Greg Gibson now has X points in the UEFL's Crew Division (X + 1 Correct Call = Y).

This is the 154th ejection of the 2013 MLB season.
This is the 75th Manager ejection of 2013.
This is the Astros' 2nd ejection of 2013, T-3rd in the AL West (OAK 6; TEX 3; HOU, LAA 2; SEA 1).
This is Bo Porter's 2nd ejection of 2013 and first since August 7, 2013 (Mark Carlson; QOC = Incorrect).
This is Mark Ripperger's first ejection since October 3, 2012 (Andrew Brown; QOC = Incorrect).

Wrap: Houston Astros vs. Oakland Athletics, 9/5/13
Video: Vogt slides under the tag of Pagnozzi to score Oakland's second run; Porter also run (OAK)

MLB Ejection 153: Joe West (3; Joba Chamberlain)

1B Umpire Joe West ejected Yankees pitcher Joba Chamberlain for arguing a check swing (ball) call in the top of the 10th inning of the Red Sox-Yankees game. With one out and one on, Red Sox batter Shane Victorino attempted to check his swing on a 1-2 slider from Chamberlain. Replays indicate Victorino did not appear to attempt to strike the pitch, the call was correct. After review by the UEFL Appeals Board, the call is now incorrect. At the time of the ejection, the Red Sox were leading, 9-8. The Red Sox ultimately won the contest, 9-8.

This is Joe West (22)'s third ejection of 2013.
Joe West now has 2 points in the UEFL (4 Previous + 2 MLB + -4 Incorrect Call = 2).
Crew Chief Joe West now has 3 points in the UEFL's Crew Division (3 + 0 Incorrect Call = 3).

This is the 153rd ejection of the 2013 MLB season.
This is the 67th player ejection of 2013. Prior to ejection, Chamberlain's line was 0.2 IP, 2 H, ER (L).
This is the Yankees' 4th ejection of 2013, 5th in the AL East (TOR 12; BOS 8; TB 6; BAL 5; NYY 4).
This is Joba Chamberlain's 1st ejection of 2013 and first since August 30, 2007 (Angel Hernandez; QOC = U).
This is Joe West's first ejection since June 1, 2013 (Dale Sveum; QOC = Incorrect [Crewmate]).

Wrap: Boston Red Sox vs. New York Yankees, 9/5/13
Video: West ejects Chamberlain for arguing a check swing call made earlier in the 10th inning (NYY)

Roster: MiLB Triple-A Postseason Umpires, Round 1

Triple-A umpire assignments for the MiLB AAA post-season: round one are now available. Courtesy of UEFL'er and AAA reporter Russ, here are the crews, with the number of ejections during the MiLB season in parentheses. Post-season crew chiefs are denoted by -cc, while an asterisk (*) signifies the umpire was a regular season crew chief.

International League (IL):
Indianapolis vs. Durham: (CC) David Soucy (1), *Jeff Gosney (5), *Kelvin Bultron (4), Ben May (4)
Rochester vs.  Pawtucket: (CC) Chad Whitson (0), *Brad Myers (6),* Jon Byrne (3), Adam Hamari (5)

Pacific Coast League (PCL):
Omaha vs Oklahoma City: (CC) Kellen Levy (7), Joel Hospodka (1), Brian Hertzog (11), Brandon Misun (6)**
Las Vegas vs. Salt Lake City: (CC) Gerard Ascani (6), Scott Mahoney (6) ***, Marcus Pattillo (2)

** Misun became a CC at the All Star break after Quinn Wolcott was made a rover.
***Mahoney became a CC when Stephen Barga resigned in June.

The fourth Vegas vs Salt Lake umpire has yet to appear; speculation is that Mark Ripperger was originally slated, but was called up to MLB-Arizona on Wednesday for Jerry Layne.

Labor Day: Celebrating the 2013 Major League Umpire

On this Labor Day, the UEFL looks at MLB umpire achievement in 2013 and the work that has brought us to this point of the season.

Ejections and Points: Through Labor Day, September 2, the UEFL most notably has tracked 152 ejections, led by Chad Fairchild and Clint Fagan (tied with eight apiece), Sam Holbrook (6) and Dan Bellino/Marty Foster/Tim Timmons (5). Fagan's 28 points lead the league, followed by Fairchild (23), Bellino (16), Brian Knight (13), Andy Fletcher (12) and Dan Iassogna (10). Jerry Layne's crew leads the chief category with 11 points, followed by Brian Gorman/Dana DeMuth (10) and Jeff Kellogg/Mike Winters (9).

Ejection Slacker: Gerry Davis has the longest active streak amongst the eligible staff of officiating zero-ejection baseball.* Davis last ejected on August 2, 2011 (Kevin Youkilis). Lance Barksdale previously led this category, but broke his two-season+ streak without an ejection when he tossed Dale Sveum on August 28.

*When opening the category up to ineligibles, which includes umpires who had significants stints on the Disabled List, Bruce Dreckman is the winner, last ejecting on June 6, 2010 (Joe Girardi).

But umpires have labored this year in ways other than ejections. For instance...

Innings: In terms of strictly plate umpire IP, per Baseball Prospectus, 2013's present leader is Brian Knight, whose 586.2 innings behind the plate not only lead second place Bob Davidson (569.0) by nearly two games, but indicate Knight's vacation time is clearly bottom heavy. Rounding out the top 10 are Mark Carlson (562.0), Marvin Hudson (555.2), Gary Darling (555.0), Paul Nauert (552.0), Jeff Nelson (547.1), Jim Joyce (547.0), Mike Winters (537.1) and Hunter Wendelstedt (534.2).

Squats: The ever important squats title was won by Gary Darling in 2012, who squatted 11,216 times in 38 games, followed closely by Fieldin Culbreth's 11,036 pitches seen. Thus far in 2013, Brian Knight leads with 9,815 pitches seen with one month to go, followed by Marvin Hudson (9,443), 2010 squats champion Bob Davidson (9,409), Mark Carlson (9,333), 2003 squats champ Jeff Nelson (9,052), Hunter Wendelstedt (9,018), Mike Winters (9,005), Paul Nauert (8,980), 2012 winner Darling (8,962) and Tom Hallion (8,913). Knight has seen the most strikes (6,106) and called the most balls (3,709).

ERA: Can an umpire lead the league in ERA? Surely he can. 2013's Clayton Kershaw of the umpiring variety is Kerwin Danley, whose 2.70 ERA leads all full-timers and minor league call-ups; his 1.09 WHIP is equally #1. Other umpires with a low ERA are Brian Gorman (3.07), Dan Iassogna (3.20), Ron Kulpa (3.21), Lance Barrett (3.27), Rob Drake (3.33), Eric Cooper (3.38) and CB Bucknor (3.39). Umpires with the highest ERAs include Ed Hickox (4.79), Marvin Hudson (4.75), Tim McClelland (4.58), Angel Hernandez (4.55), Jeff Kellogg (4.44), Tim Timmons (4.42), Cory Blaser (4.42), Bob Davidson (4.41) and Scott Barry (4.32).

AVG: High ERA umpire Marvin Hudson leads the league in batting average with a .282-mark, followed by Jordan Baker (.274), Ed Hickox (.271) and Chris Guccione (.270). Meanwhile, Kerwin Danley (.216) is much more unhittable, as are Lance Barrett (.230), Dan Iasogna (.231), Bill Miller (.233) and Clint Fagan (.234).

SO/BB: Doug Eddings has the highest strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.19) with Jerry Meals (3.14), CB Bucknor (3.12) and Paul Nauert (3.08) in hot pursuit. For the second straight season, two MiLB umpires have the lowest ratios, Clint Fagan (1.80) and Lance Barrett (1.83) joining 2012's John Tumpane (1.56) and Mark Ripperger (1.75) for the devastating one-two punch.

Call-Ups: And speaking of minor leagues, all but two of the 19 call-up umpires have made an appearance in the bigs this season. The only two holdouts are longtime call-up Angel Campos and fill-in eligible newbie Chad Whitson.

Injuries: Since Seth Buckminster broke his hand and Tim McClelland called balls and strikes from the middle infield during Spring Training, 10 plate umpires have been forced to leave games due to injury during the regular season. By comparison, eight plate umpires left ballgames due to injury during the 2012 regular season while just four plate umps left games in 2011.

According to retrosheet.org, the first case of an umpire leaving a game before its completion was Frank Wolke's second-inning departure during August 11, 1871's Forest Cities-Kekiongas contest. Wolke was replaced by "Mays," who was replaced by Mort Dawson in the 8th inning after Mays left to catch a train home.

The NL's #1 was Red Connolly leaving the 10/6/1884 Cardinals-Dodgers game, replaced by Bill Morgan.

MLB Ejection 152: Dana DeMuth (2; Robin Ventura)

2B Umpire Dana DeMuth ejected White Sox Manager Robin Ventura for arguing a no catch (safe) call by 3B Umpire Paul Nauert in the bottom of the 4th inning of the White Sox-Red Sox game. With one out and one on,

F5 lunges toward 3B as the baseball bounces.

Red Sox batter Dustin Pedroia hit a 2-0 changeup from White Sox picher Charlie Leesman to third baseman Conor Gillaspie, who attempted to catch the line drive and tag third base in advance of the retreating Red Sox baserunner R3 Jacoby Ellsbury. Replays indicate Gillaspie received the batted ball into his glove, but did not demonstrate secure possession nor intentional and voluntary release pursuant to OBR Rule 2.00 (Catch); Gillaspie did not appear to "come up" with the ball after falling to the ground during the catch attempt pursuant to the MLB Umpire Manual #7-3, the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Red Sox were leading, 6-4. The Red Sox ultimately won the contest, 7-6.

This is Dana DeMuth (32)'s second ejection of 2013.
Dana DeMuth now has 5 points in the UEFL (2 Previous + 2 MLB + 1 Correct Call [Crewmate] = 5).
Crew Chief Dana DeMuth now has 10 points in the UEFL's Crew Division (9 Previous + 1 Correct Call = 10).
*Rule 2.00 (Catch) states, in part, "A CATCH is the act of a fielder in getting secure possession in his hand or glove of a ball in flight and firmly holding it...In establishing the validity of the catch, the fielder shall hold the ball long enough to prove that he has complete control of the ball and that his release of the ball is voluntary and intentional." The officially adopted MLBUM rule interpretation additionally states, "If a fielder gets a hand or hands on the ball and falls down in the attempt, a fielder must 'come up' with the ball to be ruled a catch."

This is the 152nd ejection of the 2013 MLB season.
This is the 74th Manager ejection of 2013.
This is the White Sox's 6th ejection of 2013, T-2nd in the AL Central (DET 8; CLE, CWS 6; KC, MIN 3).

This is Robin Ventura's 3rd ejection of 2013 and first since August 23 (Greg Gibson; QOC = Correct).
This is Dana DeMuth's first ejection since July 23, 2013 (Dale Sveum; QOC = Correct). 

Wrap: Chicago White Sox vs. Boston Red Sox, 9/1/13

Video: Ellsbury scores on bobbled and dropped sharp liner to third base (BOS)

Video: Ventura ejected after arguing the point to no avail with Nauert, DeMuth (CWS)