Please Bud fix this new Black Sox scandal
The following excerpts are from the Official Baseball rules section 9.05: The umpire, shall watch out for dropped balls after you have called a man out. Do not come running with your arm up or down, denoting “out” or “safe.” Wait until the play is completed before making any arm motion. Do not call the plays too quickly But remember! The first requisite is to get decisions correctly. If in doubt don’t hesitate to consult your associate. Umpire dignity is important but never as important as “being right.”
“When he rings him up with a fist, he’s out,” Scioscia said.
‘’That’s my mechanism for calling ’strike,’ when it’s a swinging strike,” said the Doug Eddings.
Dear Bud,
I am counting on you to do something for the good of the game today. For the good of the game you need to step up to the plate and rule that Doug Eddings made a mistake, and the game will be called a tie, and before the start of game 6, game 2 will be completed, starting in the tenth inning. It is not because of the mistake of whether the ball hit the ground first, it was because of the emphatic out call made by Eddings. I realize the rule book states that you can’t protest a game, because of an umpire’s decision, but that call was not a decision. When he rung him up, everyone on the Angels saw the out signal, and left the field. Now is the time to do the right thing, admit the umps got it wrong and correct it. Not only will this be for the good of the game, but it also will show everyone, that you can change something if you were wrong. FOX will benefit from this, as when the series shifts back to Chicago, (provided the Angels don’t sweep the next 3 games) it will be the most anticipated game 6 in playoff history. It all comes down to doing the right thing. Bud Selig Commissioner of baseball needs to step to the plate today and tell the baseball world, we made a mistake and we are going to do the right thing. You need to say, “We are going to play game 2 starting from the 10th inning in a 1-1 game.” The way to avoid only one inning being played next Tuesday would be to play the entire game 6 first and then to play the one inning after if one team has a 3-1 lead in the series. If it is tied 2-2 then start the tenth inning first. Either way it will be done for the good of the game.
I am
The Fan’s Commish
Rick Swanson
October 13th, 2005 at 10:19 pm
Why don’t they simply make an official rule regarding visual signs for an “out” call?
The “safe” sign is nearly universal. The “out” signal should be standardized to the closed fist. The only time a closed fist can be used to denote any other play is during an appeal to a third or first base umpire, at which time the umpire may signal “strike” by clenching his fist in front of him, or “ball” by making the safe sign. Neither a “safe sign” or a “clenched fist” symbol may ever be used on the field to denote anything other than above.
Though this would help fix things, umpires all have different “strike mechanics”. In my opinion, “strike mechanics” should be absolutely standardized, except in the case of a “third-strike-and-out” combination, which may be a flamboyant, unneccessary gesture (examples are “pulling the string”, “pumping the fist a few times”, “generally acting like you’re important”, etc), since it seems to be the style. If this stylistic move is declined, the appropriate gesture will be a finger pointing, and then a clenched fist. In all other cases, a point to the right will be used to denote “strike”. Any “third-strike-and-out” must be accompanied by a verbal “out” call, because obviously, the catcher cannot see the call as he catches the ball.
In this case, third-strike-and-dropped pitches will be signaled with the third strike call (and certainly not the “third strike and out” call). Both a verbal signal and a separate left hand signal (for example, “waving the left hand up and down”) will be used to denote dropped balls throughout the game.
These additions to mechanics aid the infielders, who need to know exactly what’s happening on every play, the catcher, who obviously cannot see the signals and thus needs verbal confirmation, the batter, who may have swung through without realizing the pitch was dropped, the fan, who will be able to more accurately judge what the umpire thought he saw, and most importantly, umpires themselves, who will benefit from having documentation of their calls in a redundant verbal and visual form. As it has been pointed out, Umpires are right far more often than they are wrong. But especially in critical situations, being able to interpret the Umpire’s judgement is incredibly important. Documentation of these signals will provide Umpires with data on their own performance, as well as a clearer picture for the other umpires on the field.
Umpires who deviate from these mechanics will be responsible for explaining their own mechanics to each team, and teams may request standardized mechanics at no penalty or risk. Deviations will be strongly discouraged by baseball.
Sound fair?
October 15th, 2005 at 5:08 am
There is alot Baseball can suggest to help umpires with the flow and control of the game.There is little they can really accomplish short term.They have wanted to have a strike zone called as written in the rule book for how many seasons now?There is a tradition and history umpires have developed going back to Silk O’Loughlin and the early years of the American League.Basic umpiring teaches “sell” calls for close plays,to assert in the game a certainty the call is correct,final and it’s time to continue to play ball.I’ve long believed that all calls signaling any out at home should be emphasized with a sell.I believe it would add a flavor to the game,and allow an umpire to display a style fans could recognize and remember and add to thier enjoyment in watching.I had an Aunt who went to Court every week with some friends just to watch a certain Judge at work.The change to sell all outs at home will instantly correct the problem caused by the strike call and out call being simular.It would help us recover a style and a flair that has always been intended to be in the game.There are other problems this would help in the game like players showing up umpires with glares and words, esspecially used to intimidate umpires at the player’s home field.Derek Jeter comes to mind as excessively being guilty of this.The sell call would cause any player’s gesture to bring the emotion level up in the game just enough,for one second, for a player to compose himself and reconsider before he takes action to show up an umpire.The same solution used throughout the game to keep the game going after all close calls.There is a reason we want Judges to have complete control of thier courts.Baseball needs to just be careful who they hire as umpires,like hiring umpires whose strike zone matches what they want to begin with,after that give them the control of the game from “Play Ball!” to final out.Since Silk’s days umpires have been encouraged to develope personal styles esspecially on sell calls. It can become an emotional release for an ump during a game and be a useful tool.Remember a home plate ump will make over 300 calls during a game if he makes only 2 mistakes he’s still 99+% accurate but it’s what 2 mistakes and where and when he makes them that will determine if he had a good game or not.Do you really want to add more pressure on one man than that?