That all said, umps are also told that if they don’t think they can move and get set in time to make a stationary judgment, they should stay put. But bottom line, this is McClelland’s fault, no other way to see it. Being “almost right” is in some ways worse than being totally wrong, because he obviously knows what to do and didn’t do it properly.

Maybe umps should work on their footwork – or just lose some damn weight while they’re at it.

Read the entire pasted rule like paperlions said. Now, try it again. Eventually, it will sink in.

Oh, and lay off the caffeine.

So they will always be wrong in your mind, and the players always right. Get over it

Not speaking for pc, but I’ll admit that 99% of the time the umpires are right. However, they do a ton of wrong things during that 1% when they are wrong. And while I wasn’t a umpire, I was a soccer referee for about 7 years, and we couldn’t do 1% of the crap MLB umpires get away with. Causing fights, yelling at coaches/players, swearing, etc. Any of us would get banned from referring for doing that crap, MLB umps don’t even get a slap on the wrist (and notice no other profession sports officials do that either…)

We get it. You struck out for the last out of an important game, because you didn’t take the bat off of your shoulder. But because you didn’t swing, and your teammates raised hell with you, it wasn’t your fault. It was the umpires. So they will always be wrong in your mind, and the players always right. Get over it.

This is the first time I’ve ever said this, but I have to now. Have you ever actually been on a baseball field during an actual game? Because the things you write make me think you haven’t.

“Rule 9.02(a) Comment: Players leaving their position in the field or on base, or managers or coaches leaving the bench or coaches box, to argue on BALLS AND STRIKES will not be permitted. They should be warned if they start for the plate to protest the call. If they continue, they will be ejected from the game.”

Nothing in there suggests that a player or manager should be ejected simply for arguing or questioning a call if they don’t leave their position….it also clearly states that players/managers should be warned before being ejected…..in many cases it is clear that no such warning was issued…so the umpires clearly are not following the rules they are charged with enforcing.

Except when pitchers get perfect games and no-hitters. Then it’s okay.

But only then.

Let me guess: “I think I know what someone said, therefore I’m right?”

Not exactly Descartes, but I guess it’s as close as close-minded people can get.

What part of the rule that you just quoted don’t you understant?

Idiot!!!!

McClelland was at the ONLY angle where you could see between the catcher and the runner (unless you want him to be somewhere up the third base line, which is silly), and thus tell whether or not the tag was applied. Could he have been closer? Sure. But I doubt being 5 feet closer to the play is going to make a difference. The angle is the most critical thing here, and McClelland was perfectly positioned.

When will umpires start calling interference for catchers that block the plate without the ball? That is against the rulebook (and thus against the edict of umpires to enforce the rules).

When will umpires stop calling “neighborhood plays” or runners out when the ball arrives before the runner but the runner isn’t tagged out. They are making up their own rules, which is against the edict of the umpires.

When will umpires stop calling balls that are not in the strike zone strikes and start calling the strike zone defined by the rule book? It is not for the umpires to decide what the strike zone should be, but to enforce the strike zone defined in the rule book.

Players that are horrible at their jobs lose them….umpires that are horrible at their jobs (either calling the game or acting as moderator/arbiter) should lose their jobs as well.

McClelland did have an option besides immediately throwing out the catcher. He could have tried to talk to the catcher and calm him down first and then warned him he was gone if he didn’t….but he didn’t, he just threw him out of the game (a game arguably decided by multiple bad calls on the bases by the umpiring crew). Players/managers should be expected to get emotional, they have vested interests in outcomes….umpires do not (or, at least, shouldn’t) and should be expected to maintain composure in the face of such emotion (not “throw my helmet at you” emotion, but surely “you gotta be kidding me, he was out” emotion.

9.02
(a) Any umpire’s decision which involves judgment, such as, but not limited to, whether a batted ball is fair or foul, whether a pitch is a strike or a ball, or whether a runner is safe or out, is final. No player, manager, coach or substitute shall object to any such judgment decisions.
Rule 9.02(a) Comment: Players leaving their position in the field or on base, or managers or coaches leaving the bench or coaches box, to argue on BALLS AND STRIKES will not be permitted. They should be warned if they start for the plate to protest the call. If they continue, they will be ejected from the game.

Explain to me where Long left the bench to argue it. Girardi left the dugout to protest Long’s ejection. Actually, it appears that he mentions that Long didn’t leave the dugout.

Also, if “you made a mistake” escalates the situation, then the umpire in question needs some anger management classes or at the very least, a vacation. The only time Girardi was acting like a child was after Davidson ejected him after he said “you made a mistake.”

Players, coaches and managers are disciplined by way of suspensions and fines all the time. Why not umpires? After all, as you said, fair is fair.

Long clearly was arguing balls and strikes, which is against the rule book. He was ejected, as the umpire has a right to do.

The umpire walked away and did nothing to escalate the situation. The manager than came out and started an arugment with the umpire, and when he was ejected, the umpire walked away and did nothing to escalate the situation. The manager, on the other hand, acted like a complete dick.

If you want to discipline umpires for not being good at their job, fine. Discipline the umpires and coaches for escalating the sitution and acting like children.

Fair is fair.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=21977447&c_id=mlb

Gotta love that he listens to Girardi’s rant, walks away, hears Girardi say, “you made a mistake” and then tosses him. So swear at the umps all you want, as long as you don’t say they were wrong.

It looked like Trout was probably safe (though he really couldn’t tell if the lead foot was down or just in the air over the plate), but from McClelland’s vantage point, there is no way for him to know that.