Comments on: Joe Torre doesn’t think Brett Lawrie was trying to hit the ump

By: samu0034

samu0034 — Thu, 17 May 2012 08:06:20 +0000

Does the ump have an overhead view of the plate? Can he see if from half a dozen different angles? No? Then why should he be expected to get every call perfectly correct, based upon information that he doesn’t possess? Was strike-2 a ball? Yeah. Was it some kind of “The umpires all suck and deserve to be treated with disrespect because they suck so hard” level blown call? Absolutely not, and the inability of people here to understand that split second decisions can’t always be perfect astounds me. You’re watching the game on TV, with a zoomed in camera view in HD, with replays from different angles. Of course your ball/strike calls are going to be better than the umpires, they’re informed by FAR more data.

By: sabatimus

sabatimus — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:09:59 +0000

Torre’s right: he didn’t mean to hit the ump. But it was terribly ill-advised to do what Lawrie did. The fact that the helmet did hit the ump, though, indicates probably 10 games off. If Lawrie turns around and slams his helmet down like that behind him, this probably isn’t a story unless the ump decided to eject him for it.

Even Lawrie himself admitted he screwed up. Which hopefully will mean that he’ll take his suspension quietly, without appeal, and get on with life.

By: 32bigg

32bigg — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:34:02 +0000

LOL drewsylvania!!!!

If people thumbs up, it proves your point. If they thumbs down, it proves you point. What a well crafted argument (mocking sarcasm)

The only point that has been proven is that your IQ hovers somewhere below the average.

By: Gamera the Brave

Gamera the Brave — Wed, 16 May 2012 19:23:33 +0000

A lawyer? We need the Friends’ Psychic Network!

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:17:22 +0000

Continuing to prove my point, I see.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:11:41 +0000

Whee look at me I’m a Jays homer downthumber!

By: psuravens19

psuravens19 — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:04:45 +0000

Looks like MLB will need an aribitor for this one… oops never-mind.

By: mydadyourmom

mydadyourmom — Wed, 16 May 2012 18:03:08 +0000

i would love that shite. would spice up life dramatically.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:57:42 +0000

Yes, let’s blame the ump for Lawrie’s temper tantrum.

By: hasbeen5

hasbeen5 — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:57:40 +0000

You guys are clowns. I hope someone comes into your office and throws a beer at you when you screw up a report or something.

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:56:47 +0000

If this had been Harper, you’d all be feasting like vultures.

Instead some of you are defending Lawrie. WTF

By: drewsylvania

drewsylvania — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:55:24 +0000

Spoken like your douche namesake.

By: mydadyourmom

mydadyourmom — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:53:43 +0000

it wasn’t hard – i watched the game. didn’t need to convince myself of anything. did you see the overhead shot of strike two? a retarded blind mule wouldn’t have called that a strike. the third strike was also clearly a ball.

By: hasbeen5

hasbeen5 — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:53:26 +0000

So here’s a question, kind of ties into a question Craig asked in an earlier post.

If you’re going to type “horsebleep” or “dung,” but everybody clearly understands what you’re trying to say, is it really any better than just typing “shit?” I mean, why are those 4 letters so much more offensive when you’re clearly conveying the same meaning?

By: myedayok

myedayok — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:44:42 +0000

Sooner or later umpires are going to have to be held accountable for their actions “too”. That ump clearly knew Lawrie was upset at the 1st of the 2 bad calls. It was almost like he called the 3rd strike as payback for showing him up on the call before.

By: samu0034

samu0034 — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:42:59 +0000

How have you convinced yourself that these calls were so terrible? The 5th pitch was Maybe 4″ outside, about 1.5 ball diameters. That’s not a good call, obviously, but it’s hardly reprehensible. And strike 3 was right on the edge, so close that it’s preposterous to argue that the ump made some huge mistake. That the bashing of umpires has gone so far that fans are trying to justify Lawrie’s behavior because of one badish and one borderline call is shameful.

By: paperlions

paperlions — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:22:08 +0000

No, it doesn’t.

It really doesn’t matter how bad a call is…it does not justify going after the ump.

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:18:40 +0000

10 free tickets!

By: proudlycanadian

proudlycanadian — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:16:48 +0000

Agreed! Both calls by the ump were horse dung. MLB owes Lawrie an apology.

By: mydadyourmom

mydadyourmom — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:13:05 +0000

Serious question – does the fact that the ump made a completely embarrassing call factor into the length of the suspension? Lawrie should get 4 games and Miller should get 6 games for being an embarrassment to umpires around the world. The fan who nailed him with the beer should get 8 free tickets.

By: Detroit Michael

Detroit Michael — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:11:25 +0000

When Pete Rose was suspended for 30 days for bumping an umpire, he was a manager, not a player. Given that players have collective bargaining rights and managers don’t, the Rose situation probably isn’t useful precedence.

By: jeffbbf

jeffbbf — Wed, 16 May 2012 17:00:09 +0000

For once, I’d like to see the suspension announcement from the league to be something like: “We understand why the player was upset, because the calls were clearly inaccurate. However, we cannot condone his dangerous actions.” Seriously, call out the ump on this one. Horsebleep calls.

By: kopy

kopy — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:55:06 +0000

First Degree Umpslaughter.

By: ezthinking

ezthinking — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:54:18 +0000

There could be transferred intent if Lawrie intended to hurt or scare someone else and wound up hitting the ump. In this case, it’s recklessness and he is responsible for the foreseeable consequences of his recklessness, i.e. it is foreseeable that a helmet thrown at max effort a couple of feet away from a person could hit that person. Therefore, he is responsible for the contact.

My guess; gets 10, appealed, winds up with 5.

By: deathmonkey41

deathmonkey41 — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:45:21 +0000

Yeah, it’s not like he tossed it several feet away and it took a one-in-a-million hop to clip the ump. He threw it with all his might directly at his feet. I would have been more surprised had the helmet bounced away WITHOUT hitting the ump. I’m not a fan of the umps and think they’re generally confrotational, but Lawrie was completely in the wrong here. The ump- like most in MLB- had a crappy strikezone, but that’s all he was guilty of in this situation. Even a lib, ex-lawyer like Craig would have a hard time defending his actions…unless he went with something like fetal alcohol syndrome or something…

By: heyblueyoustink

heyblueyoustink — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:40:32 +0000

You’re right, I’ve heard that Lawrie has a umpire inspired dummy in his backyard where he practices bouncing various equipment off of various surfaces just so he can ding an ump in a game and make it seem like it was allllllll an accident.

Wonder what Milton Bradley is up to these days. It’s an honor to be put in the same sentence as him.

By: callidus

callidus — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:33:37 +0000

Hopefully Joey Bats so we can squeeze one more year of roto 3B eligability out of him.

By: colehamelz

colehamelz — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:32:09 +0000

Absolutely agree. The game has gone soft these days. Guys like me appreciate the Old School days when guys had that fiery intensity, and if it happened to intimidate a pansy umpire once in a while, all the better.

By: stlouis1baseball

stlouis1baseball — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:25:55 +0000

Of course he wasn’t trying to hit him. Cause’ ummm…he threw the helmet into the ground.
Unless he and the ump were playing a game of richocet. If so…then he definately tried to hit him.
Either way…I would say (5 – 7) games tops on the suspension.
Just a guess of course. But it seems about right to me.

By: skeleteeth

skeleteeth — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:25:26 +0000

Probably because he was scared Lawrie would rip his head off. In the gif from the other post he clearly was startled by the whole thing.

I think Lawrie got the result he wanted from throwing his helmet to the ground so close to the ump. Doubt he wanted it to hit him but seems it was close on purpose.