Rangers-Astros Bench-Clearing Produces No Ejections

Houston, Texas: A bench-clearing shoving match between the Rangers and Astros during the 9th inning of Saturday's Rangers victory proved much ado about nothing as the 50-person argument at home plate dissipated without disciplinary action from Chief Gerry Davis' umpiring crew.

A delay dispute cleared the seats.

The dispute began when Rangers batter Rougned Odor failed to timely enter the left-handed batter's box, drawing protest from Astros catcher Hank Conger and HP Umpire Tony Randazzo, the former standing up to confront Odor as Randazzo stepped in between the duo and Rangers on-deck batter Prince Fielder ran in to pull Conger away before pushing Odor out of the fray.

Replays indicate that at one point, Rangers Manager Jeff Banister and Astros skipper AJ Hinch appeared to grab eachother's jerseys and yell as 2B Umpire Phil Cuzzi attempted to break up the argument, before being joined by Randazzo and 1B Umpire Will Little.

Odor was not charged an automatic strike for failing to timely occupy the batter's box, pursuant to a pre-season directive stating players may be warned by the league or fined $500 for delaying the game in such a fashion. Less than a month after the season began, however, MLB and the player's association agreed to reset the warning and fine penalties with each new series, effectively meaning Odor (and all MLB players) started anew after the All-Star Break.

Time of Odor's delay into the batter's box before Conger stepped up to confront him: About seven seconds.
Total delay caused by both benches clearing after Conger stood up: About two minutes, 56 seconds.
Video: Conger and Odor have a disagreement at home plate, resulting in a 9th-inning bench clearer (HOU)

MLB Ejection 127: Chad Fairchild (1; Terry Collins)

HP Umpire Chad Fairchild ejected Mets Manager Terry Collins for arguing a strike one call in the top of the 7th inning of the Mets-Cardinals game. With none out and none on, Mets batter Lucas Duda took a 3-0 fastball from Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn for a called first strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the heart of home plate and below the hollow of the knee (px .002, pz 1.509 [sz_bot 1.760]), the call was incorrect. At the time of the ejection, the Cardinals were leading, 2-1. The Cardinals ultimately won the contest, 3-2.

This is Chad Fairchild (4)'s first ejection of 2015.
Chad Fairchild now has -4 points in the UEFL Standings (-2 Previous + 2 MLB - 4 Incorrect = -4).
Crew Chief Greg Gibson now has 9 points in Crew Division (9 Previous + 0 Incorrect Call = 9).

This is the 127th ejection of the 2015 MLB Regular Season.
This is the 57th Manager ejection of 2015.
This is the Mets' 4th ejection of 2015, 2nd in the NL East (WAS 5; NYM 4; ATL, PHI 3; MIA 1).
This is Terry Collins' 3rd ejection of 2015, 1st since June 25 (Larry Vanover; QOC = N [Safe/Out]).
This is Chad Fairchild's first ejection since March 30, 2015 (Clint Hurdle; QOC = U [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: New York Mets vs. St. Louis Cardinals, 7/17/15
Video: Down by a run, Collins protests a non-walk from the dugout and is ejected from the game (NYM)

Major League Debut of Umpire Carlos Torres (37)

Umpire Carlos Torres made his MLB debut during the Indians-Reds game on July 17 in Cincinnati. Torres joined chief Jeff Kellogg's crew, serving as the second base umpire alongside Brian O'Nora and Cory Blaser.

Torres is on the International League roster for the 2015 season, which is his third season in the IL and in Triple-A (2013-15 IL). He has also worked the Gulf Coast, New York-Penn, South Atlantic, Carolina, Southern and Arizona Fall Leagues, in addition to MLB Spring Training in March 2015.

Torres wears the uniform number 37 at the Major League level, which was last worn by Gary Darling, and makes his MLB debut at the age of 36. Torres presently resides in Acarigua, Venezuela and becomes the second Venezuelan umpire to officiate an MLB game (Manny Gonzalez, who also worked the IL).

Discussion of the 2015 MLB All-Star Game

Crew Chief Tim Welke leads the All-Star Game umpires as the Mid-Summer Classic's home plate umpire. He is joined in Cincinnati by 1B Umpire Jerry Meals, 2B Umpire Paul Schrieber, 3B Umpire Ron Kulpa, LF Umpire James Hoye, and RF Umpire Alan Porter with Replay Official Brian Gorman stationed at MLBAM headquarters in New York. The UEFL opens the floor for 2015 All-Star Game discussion. Notes include home plate umpire performance according to pitch f/x and UEFL Rules 6-2-b-a (horizontal bound, "Kulpa Rule") and 6-2-b-b (vertical strike zone, "Miller Rule"). Plays include significant plays, if such plays occur.

- 7/14/15, AL@NL: HP Umpire Tim Welke: pfx. (101/103 Balls, 36/48 Strikes = /151 = 90.7%). +2 NL.

Close or Notable Plays (Green = QOC Correct / Red = QOC Incorrect / Yellow = QOC Irrecusable).
- 1st: 1B Umpire Jerry Meals rules Bryce Harper out on bang-bang play to end the opening frame
- 5th: 1B Umpire Meals calls AL All-Star MVP Mike Trout safe at first on a fielder's choice
- 9th: 1B Umpire Meals calls Braun's triple a fair ball, mirrored by RF Umpire Alan Porter

Replay Review Records (2015 Season, Opening Day through All-Star Break) - RAP
PU Tim Welke: .400 RAP (4 Affirmed / 10 Total).
U1 Jerry Meals: .400 (4/10).
U2 Paul Schrieber: .333 (2/6).
U3 Ron Kulpa: .545 (6/11).
U4 James Hoye: .600 (6/10).
U5 Alan Porter: 1.000 (2/2).

Overall Team Review (TSP) and Managers' Challenge (CSP) Success Percentages:
AL Manager Ned Yost: TSP = . 500 (7/14) - T-10th. CSP = .538 (7/13) - T-11th.
NL Manager Bruce Bochy: TSP = .478 (11/23) - T-17th. CSP = .526 (10/19) - 13th.

2015 Season Second Half Prop Bets

UEFL Prop Bets for the 2015 season's second half are now available. Pursuant to UEFL Rule 4-6, "Prop predictions are forecasts of what might occur during an upcoming season, series or game. They may be numerical (e.g., "On what date will the first ejection of the MLB season occur?") or objective (e.g., "What umpire will finish the season with exactly 10 ejections?")." As has been past practice, you are free to wait before submitting your predictions, but be advised that if a particular bet is fulfilled before, and up to an hour after, you submit your form (e.g., Tim Welke doles out his ejection before or up to an hour after you have submitted your form), you will be ineligible to participate and receive points for that particular prop bet. The hour-after period is to account for developments occurring within ballgames that might influence prop betting and only applies to single-event props. At the latest, the form itself is due July 31, 2015.

Click here to access the 2015 Second Half Prop Board and to submit your wagers.

All prop prediction, case play, and bonus points from the season's first half have been added to the standings.

MLB Ejections, Replay Stats at the 2015 All-Star Break

MLB Ejection & Instant Replay Review Statistics and Umpire Sabermetrics through All-Star Break 2015 are now available. Visit 2014's Instant Replay Review Statistics 101: Week 1 Sabermetrics for an introduction to Ejection & Replay Review definitions and terms, including Review Affirmation Percentage (RAP), also known as QOC (Quality of Correctness), Replay Percentage of Success (RPS), alternatively, 1.000 - RAP = RPS, and Manager's Challenge Success Percentage (CSP). Also included is Team Success Percentage (TSP), which includes all Replay Reviews; both Manager's Challenges and Crew Chief Reviews.

The following presentation includes summaries and detailed analysis for ejections and replay data gathered during baseball season's ceremonial first half.

Summary, Ejections.
>> 126 Total Regular Season Ejections through July 12, 2015 ("Ceremonial First Half").
>> Umpires were 67.0% accurate on calls associated with ejection.
>> The Padres were ejected more often than any other team; the NL West led all MLB divisions.
>> The D-Backs & Marlins were ejected least often; the AL West trailed all MLB divisions.
>> Ex-Manager Bud Black formerly of the Padres led all managers in ejections.
>> Player Matt Kemp of the San Diego Padres led all players in ejections.
>> Umpire Holbrook led all umpires; Tripp Gibson was the most accurate ejector (highest E-QOC).
>> Tim Welke & John Hirschbeck's crews tied to lead all of baseball in ejection activity.
>> Most ejections occurred in the 7th inning; Ejections from 7th and on comprised 50% of all tosses.
>> Most ejections occurred on Sundays. Weekend series (Fri-Sun) featured 48% of all heave-ho's.
>> The most common reason for ejection was Balls/Strikes, followed by arguing a Check Swing.

Summary, Replay Reviews.
>> 687 Total Replay Reviews, of which calls were affirmed 53% of the time (47% overturned).
>> The Tampa Bay Rays used replay more than any other team, but were the 2nd least accurate (LA).
>> Manager Kevin Cash (TB) led all managers in filing challenges, but was fairly inaccurate.
>> Don Mattingly (LAD) and Cash (TB) were the league's worst challenging managers (lowest CSP).
>> Chip Hale (ARI) led the league in accuracy.
>> The league average manager was successful in challenging a play 49% of the time.
>> Umpires Baker and Bucknor saw at least 15 of their calls reviewed, each, more than any other umpire.
>> John Hirschbeck's crew led all of baseball in replay activity by a significant margin.
>> Umpire Alfonso Marquez led the league in accuracy with all of his calls affirmed by replay.
>> Umpire Paul Nauert experienced the highest rate of his calls being overturned by replay.
>> Most reviews occurred in the 8th inning. Reviews from 7th and on comprised 41% of all reviews.
>> Most reviews occurred on Sundays; Calls were most often overturned in daytime conditions.
>> The most common reason for review was Safe/Out, followed by HR/Not HR and HBP/Foul.

For detailed sabermetric analysis of MLB umpire ejections and instant replay review outcomes, follow the "read more" link below. The advanced data below includes team and individual (by manager/player/umpire) ejection and replay review leaders and statistics, including manager's challenges and crew chief reviews. Complete listed ranking of least and most successful managers in challenging, most successful teams (manager's challenges + crew chief reviews) and review percentages by umpire are included.

MLB Replay Reviews, Week 14 (July 6 - July 12, 2015)

MLB umpires experienced 57 instant replay reviews during the week of July - July 12, 2015 (+6 over prior week). Games played during this period featured the following MLB Replay Review decisions:

MLB Ejection 126: Jerry Meals (1; Jose Bautista)

HP Umpire Jerry Meals ejected Blue Jays DH Jose Bautista for arguing a balk no-call in the top of the 8th inning of the Blue Jays-Royals game. With two out and one on, Bautista took a 1-1 cutter from Royals pitcher Wade Davis for a called second strike before fouling the subsequent pitch delivered from Set Position. Replays indicate the 1-1 pitch was located over the inner edge of home plate and belt high (px -.934, pz 3.139) while Davis appropriately came to a stop after the stretch before delivery of the 1-2 pitch, the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the game was tied, 10-10. The Royals ultimately won the contest, 11-10.

This is Jerry Meals (41)'s first ejection of 2015.
Jerry Meals now has 2 points in the UEFL Standings (-2 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 2).
Crew Chief Jerry Meals now has 9 points in Crew Division (8 Previous + 1 Correct Call = 9).

This is the 126th ejection of the 2015 MLB Regular Season.
This is the 60th player ejection of 2015. Prior to ejection, Bautista was 1-4 in the contest.
This is the Blue Jays' 6th ejection of 2015, 2nd in the AL East (BOS 7; TOR 6; BAL, NYY 4; TB 3).
This is Jose Bautista's first ejection since August 24, 2014 (Bill Welke; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).
This is Jerry Meals' first ejection since June 1, 2014 (Anthony Rizzo; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: Toronto Blue Jays vs. Kansas City Royals, 7/12/15
Video: Upset about the 1-2 hole, Joey Bats continues chirping about balls and strikes, is tossed (TOR)