Umpiring: Braves series, Bradley incident, etc. (Latest: game-ending call in NL wild card tiebreaker)

[windiv07]

Watch the replay again FTJ, the delayed safe call was initiated by McClellan before the second tag was applied by Barrett. To me that indicates indecision on McClellan's part.

[TooLiveBrew]

I agree with that 100%, windiv. If he were making a delayed-safe call regarding Barrett's posession/not of the baseball, he would have been able to see the ball squirt out way before he made his call. It was indecision, and I think that's pretty obvious. I don't know if being in any spot aside from where McClellan was gives a better look at that play, so I can't pin it on laziness (personally) - especially since he hustled to get to where he was. I just think he really didn't know/see what happened, and went with an assumption that Holliday "must've" caught some part of HP with his hand. Oops.

 

EDIT: Just for the sake of being blatant, with Holliday called out at the plate, it would've been two outs, runner (Helton) on first, and Brad Hawpe up to bat (who had walked three times, struck out twice, and was 0-3 in 6 TPA)

[Fear The Chorizo]

Umpiring as a whole has been a joke this year - scouts, gms, managers, and players have all been upset at many different occasions at blown calls, and blatant arrogance/callousness by umpires across the board.

 

Their union may want to set up a system that punishes umpires for making incorrect calls - I'm not only talking crazy ball/strike calls, plays on the basepaths and home run calls are getting ridiculous. I think MLB needs to take a look at instant replay for determining close home run/fair-foul homerun calls - either that or MLB needs to have right and left field line umpires so they can get closer looks at those type of plays during the regular season, the same # of umps that work playoff games. If that means bringing a slew of new umpires into the league to handle the schedule I'm all for it.

 

The human element of umpiring in baseball is part of what makes the game great, as long as the umpires in those positions conduct themselves properly within the framework of the game. IMO, too many umpires are trying to steal the limelight from where it should be focused on - the players. A great umpire isn't noticed during a game. Aside from individualized ball/strike calls and signals behind the plate, umpires should leave their personality, temper, and grudges for players and managers in the umps' locker rather than act like time bombs waiting to go off and run anyone who as much as looks at them funny.

[Fatter than Joey]

Watch the replay again FTJ, the delayed safe call was initiated by McClellan before the second tag was applied by Barrett. To me that indicates indecision on McClellan's part.

 

I didn't explain myself well -- I agree it was indecision -- all I was saying is that initially "no-call" should have been made, and my first reaction was that the umpire was going to get it right, and then the umpire called the runner safe, which should not have happened, and then Barrett tagged Holliday.

[jason21nl]

if he was safe right away, there is no reason for a delayed call, unless he though barrett had caught the ball from the start. Which I don't think is the case. I think the ump was in position, delayed his call because he knew that holliday missed the plate, then said, screw it I'm calling him safe or I'm not getting out of here alive. Honestly, I think the ump knows he blew it, and still didn't care.

[1992casey]

TooLive, I don't recall anything in your post that was strikeable, and I enjoyed your first image. http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/smile.gif

[Bruce Ciskie]

Honestly, I think the ump knows he blew it, and still didn't care.

 

I can't believe an ump would knowingly get such an important call wrong.

 

I think way too much is being read into the initial indecision by the plate ump. That guy's calls are always slow. http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/smile.gif

[jason21nl]

Honestly, I think the ump knows he blew it, and still didn't care.

I can't believe an ump would knowingly get such an important call wrong.

 

I think way too much is being read into the initial indecision by the plate ump. That guy's calls are always slow. http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/smile.gif

 

I would like to think he would want to make it correctly. MLB needs to do something with umps strike and ball calls too. With that ump, you had no idea if it was a strike or a ball until 2 seconds had passed. Make the call, make it right, and make it so everyone knows what the call was. Not only for the fans, but for the players too. I don't know how many times a player stood there either thinking it was ball or a strike and not knowing what it really was. Or a catcher double clutch his throw back to the pitcher because the pitch was called something other than what he thought it was. This ump is horrible, and shouldn't be allowed to call any more games this year. You just can't blow calls like that, that decide who goes to the playoffs.

[brewcrewreview]

I think you many of you need to get your facts straight before blasting this umpire. The umpire is Tim McClelland who is a very decorated official. He has worked 4 different World Series, 6 different League Championship Series, and 3 All Star games. He has also been involved in crazy games as well. He was the home plate umpire during the George Brett pine tar incident. He was also working during Sammy Sosa's corked bat. His resume proves that he is a highly respected official.

Also, Bud Black said after the game that he thought that the runner was safe as well. So for people to say he should never umpire a big game again is just plain wrong and misinformed.

[Fatter than Joey]

He has worked 4 different World Series, 6 different League Championship Series, and 3 All Star games.

 

In all fairness -- There are conditions to being chosen to umpire the WS, and AS game, McClelland has been around long enough to have worked when they rotated umps, before they installed the merit system However even with the merit system, you can't work back to back post-seasons, and can only be in one "special event" a season, so there is an element of a rotation in effect. I think McClelland is rated well enough though.

 

He was the home plate umpire during the George Brett pine tar incident.

 

Yep. He blew that call as well, and had his ruling overturned.

 

His resume proves that he is a highly respected official.

 

My resume says that I am hard-working and easy to work with. The fact he has worked in a number of "special events" is more of a function of the fact that he has been an umpire 25 years.

 

Also, Bud Black said after the game that he thought that the runner was safe as well.

 

There was no reason for Black to say anything else. It is not as if he complained about it, anything good could come of it.

 

So for people to say he should never umpire a big game again is just plain wrong and misinformed.

 

If he blew a call he should be held accountable, just like everyone else.

[don1481]

He was the home plate umpire during the George Brett pine tar incident. He was also working during Sammy Sosa's corked bat. His resume proves that he is a highly respected official.

Shouldn't that last sentence be in blue based on the George Brett pine tar incident alone...? MLB upheld the Royals' protest of his decision to throw out Brett and the game was replayed from right after Brett's home run. Granted, it was his first season in the AL, but the Brett incident would almost seem to be a black - pine-tar covered - mark on one's career as an umpire, right?

McClelland's resume is probably very typical of a very senior umpire's. Yes, he's "consistent" with his strike zone - which does earn him respect among pitchers, even though his strike zone is generally very tight, but really... he's pretty much immune from any retribution by MLB because of his seniority.

 

Bud Black's response was obvious because he knew there was no way he could win an appeal on that call and he would really come across as a "sore loser" if he said anything other than what he did. Matt Holliday, however, went on record saying that he "didn't know" whether or not he touched home... basically, if you listen to Holliday's TBS post-game interview, he came extremely close to admitting he never touched the plate.

[Baldkin]

It seemed to me as though he was ready to call Halliday out, he was waiting for Barrett to show him the ball (as all Umps will do), and once he saw the ball on the ground he called him safe.

 

But that's just my opinion.

[don1481]

It seemed to me as though he was ready to call Halliday out, he was waiting for Barrett to show him the ball (as all Umps will do), and once he saw the ball on the ground he called him safe.

 

Which makes sense, but at the same time, since he had a clear view of home (based on what others have said in this thread), he should have been able to tell that Holliday never touched the plate, meaning that he never should have signalled "safe" after a couple of seconds.

 

The amount of blown calls and confrontations that have been spurred on by the umps this season should be evidence enough that something needs to be done.

[davego]

Bud could say that he thought the runner was out and not draw the ire of ML-Baseball. It is how he goes about it. If he goes all "Davey Lopes", well sure he is going to get in hot water.

[RoseBowlMtg]

McClelland takes for ever to call a strike. That is his way of doing it. He saw the ball loose then called him safe in his typical fashion which in everyone's opinion isway too long. Don't you remember Uecker going on and on of McClelland's delays.

 

Too say Hawpe wouldn't have gotten a hit when the previous 4 batters roped the ball is a leap imo but who knows. Hawpe with his 116 RBI's could very well hit one of Hoffman's belt high 85 mph fastballs. Hoffmann left every hit pitch up and got smoked!

[windiv07]

Also, Bud Black said after the game that he thought that the runner was safe as well. So for people to say he should never umpire a big game again is just plain wrong and misinformed.

Do you think Barrett thought Holliday was safe? Then why did he tag him a second time? And since when does a manager in the dugout have a better angle than the man applying the tag? Holliday was out and Barrett failed to argue this. He just gave up. And so Black naturally would have accepted the call. Thanks for the lecture.

[sbrylski]

C'mon guys, crap happens. He got himself into a good position, was watching the play, and the play just happened in a way he couldn't quite be positive he touched the plate. The ball rolled away, and Holliday didn't try to get back to the plate. Its not like the ump didn't try or didn't care or anything. Based on everything going on, all signs pointed to safe. And would you rather error on the side of calling him safe when he very well should have/could have been? Or calling him out when there's a pretty good chance (in the umpire's mind who wasn't quite sure) he actually touched the plate? Imagine the uproar then, if the replay showed he really did get the corner of the plate.

 

Like most plays, it happened in a split second. I'm willing to give the ump a pass.

[Oldcity]

I don't think the ump should be suspended or anything. Bad calls happen. I just can't imagine how upset I'd be if that were the Brewers in that situation.

[homer]

If they had gotten the home run call right earlier, the play at the plate never would have happened. At least the right team won to balance out the karma scales.

[TooLiveBrew]

RBM, I never said anything about Hawpe not being able to come through, just wanted to establish a game reset. Trevor was more like Offman last night, and I agree that everyone was seeing good pitches to hit. To Hoffman's credit, he took full responsiblity after the game. I could not feel worse for the Pads & their fans.

 

I agree that the McClellan made a human mistake, and that this was not a cut-and-dried call, but the fact of the matter is that he blew the call in a very high-leverage situation. The culprit was indecision, even though I agree his balls-and-strikes calls are very slow. There is nothing wrong with an umpire taking time to make sure his call is correct (ie making sure the ball is in the catcher's glove before signalling 'out' , but his body language relatively clearly indicated that he was waiting for either Holliday to return to slap the plate, or a tag from Barrett. And then all of a sudden, the safe call.

 

Even with a delay on a safe call - looking if Barrett had the ball or not - the signal would have come sooner than it did. I don't think this was a case of 'I have to make the call for the home team,' I just think indecision reared its ugly head last night. McClellan husteld, got himself in the right position, and then doubted what he saw/whether or not he saw it correctly. Not a good feeling as an umpire. http://static.yuku.com//domainskins/bypass/img/smileys/frown.gif

 

EDIT: Casey, post #95 has been returned to its original glory

[jason21nl]

So for people to say he should never umpire a big game again is just plain wrong and misinformed.

 

yes, everyone is wrong for having their opinion on what should happen, or what happened. you're wrong for saying that. Nice brett reference by the way, since he was wrong on that call

[logan82]

I would like to think he would want to make it correctly. MLB needs to do something with umps strike and ball calls too. With that ump, you had no idea if it was a strike or a ball until 2 seconds had passed. Make the call, make it right, and make it so everyone knows what the call was. Not only for the fans, but for the players too. I don't know how many times a player stood there either thinking it was ball or a strike and not knowing what it really was. Or a catcher double clutch his throw back to the pitcher because the pitch was called something other than what he thought it was. This ump is horrible, and shouldn't be allowed to call any more games this year. You just can't blow calls like that, that decide who goes to the playoffs.

 

If you are talking about the guy I am thinking of, he makes the calls so the players can hear, but has a delayed gesture. The players know right away, but it is hard for the TV and radio guys because they don't know right away.

[Postseason2006]

If they had gotten the home run call right earlier, the play at the plate never would have happened. At least the right team won to balance out the karma scales.

So one bad call deserves another? I guess I'm lost on that one.

 

And just because McClelland is one of the God's of umps http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/eyes.gif shouldn't make him exempt from making the right call. His biggest fault was not watching where the hand was and realizing the laws of physics don't allow a hand to go through feet. And his biggest mistake was not making a call right away when the ball bounced away if he was safe. He should get reprimanded for that alone. Any umpire will tell you that.

 

And with his age, maybe we should get umpires that aren't geriatrics like the NFL and have eyesight left because I was screaming at home that he never hit the plate because him arm never extended like it should've.

[Postseason2006]

Speaking of which with balls and strikes, why aren't the umps fitted with monitors for K zone? If the ball crosses the plate and he hears a buzz from his buzzer, he makes a strike call. This eliminates that crap we dealt with in the Cubs series when Hart was called out on a pitch that was in the other batter's box. It would also eliminate fat-gutted pigs such as the goof that thought he could show up Fielder. I still don't get whey Yost didn't go out there and stick up for his player that game.http://forum.brewerfan.net/images/smilies/mad.gif

 

 

[brewcrewreview]

Tim McClelland is working the plate in Game 1 of the NLCS.