Manfred on CIN-STL Missed Call: Price Failed to Challenge

MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said Reds Manager Bryan Price opted not to challenge a game-ending missed call resulting in a Reds loss in St. Louis on September 29, noting (as we did in our analysis on the night of the incident) that Price failed to timely seek out the umpires after they left the field on the walk-off double.

Replay Regulation II.D.1 specifies that, "A challenge to a play that ends the game must be invoked immediately upon the conclusion of the play, and both Clubs shall remain in their dugouts until the Replay Official issues his decision."

In comments to the media ahead of Wednesday's National League Wild Card Game in New York, Commissioner Manfred acknowledged the missed call, a boundary play that should have resulted in a two-base award instead of a live ball that allowed a runner from first to score the game-winning run:

There was a call. It was missed. Replay was available via manager challenge, and the manager, if you think about it, the manager elected, right? Or did not opt to challenge within the confines of a clearly defined rule. It says 'immediate' in the rules.

After losing the game, Price blamed MLB's timeliness rule, opining that 10 seconds (or, for the purposes of II.D.1, "immediately") is not enough time in which to decide or discover whether to challenge a game-ending call.

Manfred disagreed and said that, "Bringing folks back out on the field after some of those things [walk-off celebrations, etc.] have happened in order to continue a game because of a replay call is not appealing."

He also reasoned that, "If a manager has a challenge left and it's the last play of the game...there's no reason to hang around and figure out whether you want to use your challenge. You're either using it or going home, one or the other. There's no real reason for delay."

In sum, Manfred said he didn't consider the incident as "indicative of any problem with the replay system."

Discussion of 2016 AL and NL Wild Card Games

Discussion for the postseason's AL and NL Wild Card Games is now open. 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 and instant replay reviews, if such plays occur. Call +/- also included/highlighted.

- 10/04, BAL@TOR ALWC: Gary Cederstrom: pfx (103/107 Balls + 55/58 Strikes = 158/165 = 95.8%) +1 TOR.
Game Over. Blue Jays advance to the American League Division Series (1-0).

- 10/05, SF@NYM NLWC: Mike Winters: pfx (92/99 Balls + 35/40 Strikes = 127/139 = 91.4%) +2 SF.
Game Over. Giants advance to the National League Division Series (1-0).

NOTE: The highest plate score during the 2015 Wild Card Games was Eric Cooper's 95.6% (ALWC). The highest plate score overall during the 2015 Postseason was Paul Emmel's 98.5% (NLCS Game 4).

Instant Replay Reviews (R-QOC Colors: Green [Confirmed], Yellow [Stands], Red [Overturned]):
- 2B Umpire Mike Everitt's out call on Denard Span's SB attempt stands in New York
NOTE: There were no Replay Reviews during the 2015 Wild Card Games.

Other Notable Plays (QOC: Green [Correct], Yellow [Irrecusable/Inconclusive], Red [Incorrect]):
- RF Umpire Will Little gets his first postseason action on Pillar's diving catch in right-center field
- 2B Umpire Eric Cooper calms Orioles Davis, Kim, and Showalter as fan tries to interfere with catch

2016 Wild Card Game and Division Series Umpires

MLB's 2016 Wild Card Game and Division Series umpires are now available and posted here by umpire crew assignment. Where applicable, postseason umpires are listed by position as appearing in Game 1 of the series to which they are assigned. Umpire crew rotation for the best-of-five Division Series is clockwise in the infield and counterclockwise in the outfield, such that Game 1's home plate umpire will serve as Right Field umpire for Game Two, Left Field for Game 3, Third Base for Game 4, and Second Base for Game 5. The Replay Official does not join the on-field crew for any games of the Division Series.

AL Wild Card 'A' (American League / Baltimore Orioles @ Toronto Blue Jays)
HP: Gary Cederstrom -cc
1B: Ted Barrett*
2B: Eric Cooper
3B: Bill Welke
LF: David Rackley^
RF: Will Little^

NL Wild Card 'B' (National League / San Francisco Giants @ New York Mets)
HP: Mike Winters -cc
1B: Jeff Nelson*
2B: Mike Everitt
3B: Jim Wolf
LF: CB Bucknor
RF: Quinn Wolcott^

Wild Card Replay Officials (MLBAM / NY): Scott Barry and Mark Carlson

ALDS Crew A (ALWC Winner [BAL or TOR] @ Texas Rangers)

HP: Chad Fairchild
1B: Lance Barksdale
2B: Sam Holbrook
3B: Hunter Wendelstedt
LF: Joe West -cc
RF: Cory Blaser^

ALDS Crew B (Boston Red Sox @ Cleveland Indians)

HP: Brian Knight
1B: Phil Cuzzi
2B: Tony Randazzo
3B: Paul Emmel
LF: Bill Miller -cc
RF: Vic Carapazza

NLDS Crew A (NLWC Winner [SF or NYM] @ Chicago Cubs)

HP: Todd Tichenor
1B: Alan Porter
2B: Larry Vanover*
3B: Marvin Hudson
LF: John Hirschbeck -cc
RF: Mike Muchlinski^

NLDS Crew B (Los Angeles Dodgers @ Washington Nationals)

HP: Dan Bellino
1B: Chris Guccione
2B: Ron Kulpa
3B: Tom Hallion*
LF: Jeff Kellogg -cc
RF: Manny Gonzalez^

Division Series Replay Officials (MLBAM): Chris Conroy, Kerwin Danley, Gerry Davis, Adrian Johnson

-cc denotes Game/Series Crew Chief, * denotes regular season Crew Chief, BOLD TEXT denotes first postseason assignment, ^ denotes first assignment for that specific round of the playoffs. Per UEFL Rule 4-3-c, all umpires selected to appear in the Wild Card games shall receive one bonus point for this appearance. Umpires assigned to the Division Series shall receive two bonus points for this appearance; crew chiefs shall receive one additional bonus point for this role (two or three points total). Officials assigned to replay review only do not receive points for this role.

UEFL's MLB Umpire Sabermetrics - 2016 Regular Season

MLB Umpire Sabermetrics for the 2016 regular season featured 190 ejections and 1,468 Replay Reviews through 2,428 games played (two games were cancelled).

An unusually raucous September featured 43 ejections, leading to 190 ejections, which is still the fewest in the expanded replay era, and fewest overall since 2013's 180-ejection season. For the first time in MLB history, more calls were overturned during the regular season than were upheld by Replay Review.

Summary, Ejections.
>> 190 Total Regular Season Ejections during the 2016 regular season (fewest since 2013 [180 EJ]).
>> Umpires were 64.2% accurate on calls associated with ejection.
>> The Blue Jays were ejected more often than any other team. The Pirates led the NL.
>> Manager John Gibbons of the Toronto Blue Jays led all managers in ejections.
>> Players Josh Donaldson (TOR) and Yunel Escobar (LAA) led all players in ejections.
>> Umpires Dale Scott and Todd Tichenor led all umpires in ejections.
>> Chief Dale Scott's crew led all umpire crews in ejections.
>> Most ejections occurred in the 8th inning; Ejections from 7th and on comprised 47% of all tosses.
>> Most ejections occurred on Sundays. Weekend series (Fri-Sun) featured 52% of all heave-ho's.
>> The most common reason for ejection was Balls/Strikes, followed by Throwing At.
>> All else equal, a team tied at the time of ejection ended up winning the game 97% of the time.

Summary, Replay Reviews.
>> 1468 Total Replay Reviews, of which calls were affirmed 48.3% of the time (51.7% overturned).
>> The Toronto Blue Jays used replay more than any other team, but were worst in the league at it.
>> The Kansas City Royals were the League's most successful team in review.
>> The Minnesota Twins experienced fewer reviews than any other team, and were average.
>> The Toronto Blue Jays were the worst MLB team in terms of Replay success.
>> Umpire Dan Iassogna had a league-leading 31 calls reviewed, and was fairly inaccurate.
>> Mike Everitt's crew led all of baseball in replay activity, and performed at about league average.
>> Umpire Quinn Wolcott led the league in accuracy with most of his calls affirmed by replay.
>> Umpire Toby Basner experienced the highest rate of his calls being overturned by replay.
>> The 7th inning had more reviews than any other inning. 41% of all reviews occurred from 7th-on.
>> Most reviews occurred on Sundays; Calls were most often overturned in daytime conditions.
>> The most common reason for review was Out/Safe, followed by Pulled Foot and HBP/No HBP.

For detailed sabermetric analysis of MLB umpire ejections and instant replay review outcomes, follow the "read more" link below.

MLB Umpire Bob Davidson Retires After 28 Year Career

MLB veteran umpire Bob Davidson is retiring after a 28-year Major League career spanning over 3900 games, according to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim press notes.

Bob Davidson has retired.

Davidson leaves the field after 28 years of service that spans either side of the turn-of-the-century Major League umpiring mass resignation, which resulted in Davidson's eight-year absence from Major League Baseball as he worked his way through the minor leagues to regain MLB status for the 2007 season. Davidson has officiated three All-Star Games, three Division Series, two League Championship Series and the 1992 World Series, in addition to the 2006 World Baseball Classic.

Robert Allan Davidson, born in Chicago in 1952, officiated his first Major League game in 1982 (National League), and logged 166 career ejections, including his final on June 15, 2016 (Anthony Rendon; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]), though he also requested a fan's removal on August 2.

He was voted the UEFL's Most Improved Umpire following the 2012 season.