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Saturday, May 11, 2024

MLB Ejection 044 - Chad Fairchild (1; Bud Black)

HP Umpire Chad Fairchild ejected Rockies manager Bud Black (Replay Review: denied manager's challenge [ran out of time] on out call by 2B Umpire Carlos Torres; QOCN) in the bottom of the 5th inning of the #Rangers-#Rockies game. With two out and one on, Rockies baserunner Ezequiel Tovar attempted to steal second base on a 1-1 fastball from Rangers pitcher Andrew Heaney to Rockies batter Ryan McMahon, ruled a ball by HP Umpire Fairchild as Rangers catcher Jonah Heim threw to shortstop Corey Seager, whose tag of Rockies baserunner R1 was ruled an out by 2B Umpire Carlos Torres. Replays indicate that after oversliding the base with his hand, the runner's foot touched second base and no tag was applied while the runner was off the base, the call was incorrect. At the time of the ejection, the Rangers were leading, 2-1. The Rockies ultimately won the contest, 8-3.

This is Chad Fairchild (4)'s 1st ejection of 2024.

This is the 44th ejection report of the 2024 MLB regular season.
This is the 20th manager ejection of 2024. Ejection Tally: 20 Managers, 7 Coaches, 17 Players.
This is Colorado's 1st ejection of 2024, 3rd in the NL West (SF 3; SD 2; COL 1; ARI, LAD 0).
This is Bud Black's 1st ejection since April 21, 2023 (Alex Tosi; QOC = U [HBP Check Swing]).
This is Chad Fairchild's 1st ejection since June 28, 2023 (Bob Melvin; QOC = Y [HBP Check Swing]).

Wrap: Texas Rangers vs Colorado Rockies, 5/11/24 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 043 - Vic Carapazza (2; Alex Cintron)

3B Umpire Vic Carapazza ejected Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron (strike three call by HP Umpire Adam Hamari to Mauricio Dubón; QOCY) in the top of the 3rd inning of the #Astros-#Tigers game. With none out and one on, Astros batter Dubón took a 0-2 fastball from Tigers pitcher Tarik Skubal for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer edge of home plate and thigh-high (px 0.80, pz 2.82), the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Tigers were leading, 7-0. The Tigers ultimately won the contest, 8-2.

This is Vic Carapazza (19)'s 2nd ejection of 2024.
*UEFL Rule 6-2-b-1 (Kulpa Rule): |0| < STRIKE < |.748| < BORDERLINE < |.914| < BALL.
This pitch was located 1.37 horizontal inches from being deemed incorrect.

This is the 43rd ejection report of the 2024 MLB regular season.
This is the 7th coach ejection of 2024. Ejection Tally: 19 Managers, 7 Coaches, 17 Players.
This is Houston's 2nd ejection of 2024, T-1st in the AL West (HOU, OAK 2; LAA, SEA, TEX 1).
This is Alex Cintron's 1st ejection since Sept 19, 2023 (Phil Cuzzi; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).
This is Vic Carapazza's 2nd ejection of 2024, 1st since April 1 (Dylan Moore; QOC = U [Check Swing]).

Wrap: Houston Astros vs Detroit Tigers, 5/11/24 | Video as follows:

Friday, May 10, 2024

Mystery of the Vanishing Umpires - Ballou & Brown Go Missing

During MLB umpire Chris Conroy's rehab assignment last Sunday in Triple-A, two umpires mysteriously vanished from the Charlotte Knights vs Lehigh Valley IronPigs game in the 4th inning and haven't worked a game—neither minor nor major league—ever since. An umpire leaving mid-game without any apparent injury is rare, but two? What happened to MLB fill-in umpire Brock Ballou and fellow MiLB colleague Matt Brown?

Crew Chief Edwin Jimenez, who began the game as the third base umpire, left the field in the 4th inning to put on his plate gear. By the top of the 5th, both Ballou and Brown had left the field, an unnamed third umpire was added to the Jimenez/Conroy crew, and the game continued only to end on a controversial out call by the mystery umpire, likely an emergency standby or alternate called upon in case the crew ran short (MiLB crews with multiple call-ups [Jimenez, Ballou, for this crew] are susceptible to this due to the nature of these call-ups traveling to work MLB games...if the crew falls to two, an emergency local may be called on to fill in until a Minor League umpire arrives [usually a day later]).

Further complicating matters, Official Baseball Rule 8.02(d) states, "No umpire may be replaced during a game unless they are injured or become ill," which means that the league office has no rules authority to remove an umpire during a game...of course, that assumes the league is actually following the rules of the game, which may actually not be the ironclad defense it might first appear to be.

We've seen one umpire exit, usually due to injury, but two at practically the same time? And for both Ballou and Brown to have not worked a single MiLB or MLB game in nearly two weeks? MiLB umpires don't take vacations like their major league counterparts.

An umpiring mystery, indeed! | Video as follows:

Tuesday, May 7, 2024

MLB Ejections 041-2 - Alex Tosi (1-2; BAL x2)

HP Umpire Alex Tosi ejected Orioles DH Ryan O'Hearn and manager Brandon Hyde (strike three call; QOCY) in the top of the 9th inning of the #Orioles-#Nationals game. With one out and none on, O'Hearn took a 1-2 fastball from Nationals pitcher Kyle Finnegan for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer edge of home plate and thigh-high (px 0.87, pz 2.27), the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Nationals were leading, 3-0. The Nationals ultimately won the contest, 3-0.

These are Alex Tosi (66)'s 1st and 2nd ejections of 2024.
*UEFL Rule 6-2-b-1 (Kulpa Rule): |0| < STRIKE < |.748| < BORDERLINE < |.914| < BALL.
This pitch was located 0.53 horizontal inches from being deemed incorrect.

These are the 41st and 42nd ejection report of the 2024 MLB regular season.
This is the 17th player ejection of 2024. Prior to ejection, O'Hearn was 0-4 (2 SO) in the contest.
This is the 19th manager ejection of 2024. Ejection Tally: 19 Managers, 6 Coaches, 17 Players.
This is Baltimore's 1/2nd ejection of 2024, 3rd in the AL East (NYY, TOR 4; BAL 2; BOS, TB 1).
This is Ryan O'Hearn's first career MLB ejection.
This is Brandon Hyde's 1st ejection since August 8, 2023 (Edwin Moscoso; QOC = Y [Out/Safe]).
This is Alex Tosi's 1st ejection since Sept 15, 2023 (Bryce Harper; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).

MLB Ejection 040 - Andy Fletcher (1; John Schneider)

HP Umpire Andy Fletcher ejected Blue Jays manager John Schneider (check swing ball [HBP] call by 3B Umpire Paul Clemons) in the bottom of the 4th inning of the #Phillies-#BlueJays game. With one out and two on, Phillies batter Kyle Schwarber attempted to check his swing on a 2-2 pitch from Blue Jays pitcher José Berríos, ruled a ball and hit-by-pitch by HP Umpire Fletcher and affirmed as no swing by 3B Umpire Clemons. Schneider was ejected following Bryce Harper's grand slam and during Toronto's subsequent pitching change. At the time of the ejection, the Phillies were leading, 8-0. The Phillies ultimately won the contest, 10-1.

This is Andy Fletcher (49)'s 1st ejection of 2024.

This is the 40th ejection report of the 2024 MLB regular season.
This is the 18th manager ejection of 2024. Ejection Tally: 18 Managers, 6 Coaches, 16 Players.
This is Toronto's 4th ejection of 2024, T-1st in the AL East (NYY, TOR 4; BOS, TB 1; BAL 0).
This is John Schneider's 2nd ejection of 2024, 1st since April 17 (Ryan Wills; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).
This is Andy Fletcher's 1st ejection since July 23, 2023 (Yuli Gurriel; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

Skunk in the Outfield - When a Runner Runs into RF

How can a runner run well into the grass in right field and not be ruled out of the base path? Welcome to baseball's skunk in the outfield play, a distraction gambit that works because of the base path rule's wording regarding tag attempts and most defensive teams' tendency not to know the rule nor how to respond to a play like this.

Usually occurring with runners on first and third, the skunk in the outfield play begins when the runner on first activates by jogging into right field—usually diagonally toward deep center. The runner's positioning is key because this play in which the offense tries to distract the defense by drawing a play on the 'skunk' in the outfield, thus enabling the runner on third base to score during the confusion, relies on a legal exploitation of baseball's out of the base path rule.

Official Baseball Rule 5.09(b)(1) states that, "any runner is out when they run more than three feet away from their base path to avoid being tagged (exception: to avoid interference). A runner's base path is established when the tag attempt occurs and is a straight line from the runner to the base they are attempting to reach safely."

The "when the tag attempt occurs" part of this rule is very important for this play to work, since the offensive team relies on the defensive players' confusion, such that the fielders may forget to try and make a play on the runner in right field. Without a tag attempt, a base path is not established and, thus, the runner playing the part of 'skunk' cannot be declared out for running outside of their base path.

This is not abandonment (OBR 5.09(b)(2)) because the runner is not abandoning their effort to touch the next base (they'll run toward a base eventually if the play works properly) nor is this a travesty of the game since the runner is not running the bases in reverse order to make a travesty of the game (they might be running sideways, but not in reverse order).

As soon as the fielder attempts a tag attempt, even from tens of feet away, the runner's base path to whichever base they are trying for is established and the runner is in jeopardy of an out-of-the-base-path call if they run more than three feet away from the direct line between them and that base, if their running away is in order to avoid the fielder's tag (or play).

BUT—and here's another big reason the 'skunk' play is legal—if the runner then moves toward the other base in the rundown (e.g., retreats toward first base if they were previously trying for second), then the base path drawing process starts over and there needs to be a new tag attempt to establish the line toward the new base they are attempting to reach safely—first base.

And so on and so forth until someone gets tired of one of baseball's last legal ways to waste time.

Video as follows:

Monday, May 6, 2024

Calls of the Month - April 2024

CloseCallSports
' Top 5 Calls of the Month for April 2024 feature umpires whose concentration and keen eye allowed them to accurately assess close plays across Major League Baseball.

5) Alex Tosi's check swing hit-by-pitch in Cincinnati is confirmed via Replay Review.

4) Brian Walsh's out of play ruling on an overthrown ball is confirmed in Cincinnati.

3) CB Bucknor's out call on a force play at second base in Detroit is confirmed.

2) Angel Hernandez's HBP call in Los Angeles is confirmed by the slightest of margins.

1) Jonathan Parra's out call on a stolen base attempt in DC is confirmed by a tag on the heel.

Video as follows: