umpire Page 8 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights
When Do Umpires Mess Up Balls And Strikes Calls?
Baseball umpires are not immune to psychological biases, and it's an old adage of baseball commentating that strike zones get smaller when there are two strikes, and larger when there are three balls. In their Sloan finalist paper "What Does it Take to Call a Strike? Three Biases in Umpire Decision ...
MLB Is Adding Manager Challenges To Its Replay System
Major League Baseball has announced that the players' and umpires' unions have approved a substantial expansion of the league's current replay system. In short, baseball is getting an NFL-style challenge system, because it's deeply important to always get the call right unless the manager has alread...
MLB Approves Instant Replay; Here's How It Will Work
At the owners' meetings in Orlando yesterday, MLB's 30 owners unanimously approved funding for an extensive instant replay system to be implemented for 2014. From a practical standpoint, this means we now have our first official description of what the system will look like....
What Dana DeMuth's Blown Call Means For Instant Replay
The next time someone argues that instant replay will unacceptably slow down baseball, remember this: Between the umpire conference and Mike Matheny's argument, it took four minutes and 26 seconds to get an obvious call right....
Longtime MLB Ump Wally Bell Dies
Veteran umpire Wally Bell passed away in his Ohio hometown last night, apparently after suffering a heart attack. Bell, 48 years old, had 21 years of MLB experience and had most recently worked the Cardinals-Pirates NLDS....
This Umpire's Strike-Three Call Is "Whoomp There It Is!"
Via former MLB pitcher Mark Mulder, who told Busted Coverage that Bobby Crosby, his former A's teammate, sent it to him. Crosby's brother, a scout in Northern California, took the video. There it is....
Chris Stewart Struck Out On A 1-1 Pitch
Yankees catcher Chris Stewart is...not a good hitter. He might be better if he didn't give up after two strikes....
Brian O'Nora Is A Tough Sonofabitch
Home plate ump Brian O'Nora took a ball right in the throat protector during the seventh inning of last night's game. After gathering himself, and making sure his larynx hadn't been crushed, his first words were: "That's ball four."...
Baseball's New Replay System Will Include Manager Challenges
The expanded use of instant replay in MLB that was reported yesterday has officially been announced, and we now know exactly will trigger a review. It'll come down to manager challenges, and not everyone's happy about that....
MLB Set To Consider Instant Replay For Just About Everything
According to a report from USA Today, MLB owners are considering a proposal that would completely overhaul baseball's replay system, instituting it for every play besides balls and strikes. It could—could—be in place in time for the 2014 season....
Here's The Controversial Call That Ruined Yu Darvish's Perfect Game
Yu Darvish had retired the first 17 batters he faced (that's like a 1-2-3 inning against non-Astros teams!). He got what he thought was strike three against Jonathan Villar to end the sixth, but home plate ump Ron Kulpa didn't see it that way....
Catcher Restrains Umpire From Charging The Mound
Make room for Eric Cooper in the annals of unprofessional ump behavior. ...
Hey, An Umpire Blew A Call That Affected The Outcome Of A Game
And it was Jerry Meals! And, say, he's done this sort of thing before!...
A Lip Reader Deciphers The Manager-Umpire Arguments Of 2013
Evan Brunell is a baseball writer and the president of the Massachusetts chapter of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. You can read more about his lip-reading methods in his post rounding up the best manager-ump arguments of 2012....
Veteran MLB Umpire Brian Runge Fired For Violating League Drug Policy
MLB has fired 14-year veteran umpire Brian Runge for a violation of the league drug policy, according to the Associated Press. Runge is believed to be the first umpire punished under big league random drug testing protocols....
MLB Umpires Manage To Blow Two Calls On The Same Play
Our old pals Tony Randazzo and Jordan Baker should have another set of companions in internet ignominy today: third-base ump Cory Blaser and first-base ump Ed Hickox both blew calls in the 12th inning of Padres-Rockes last night. And each of those blown calls came on the play where the Padres scored...
Ump John Hirschbeck Gets Drilled With Fastball, Crew Still Blows Call
Umpiring comes with all sorts of occupational hazards, not the least being that a catcher might just whiff on a 93-mph fastball, allowing it to connect directly with one's bare hand. ...
Weirdo Rookie Umpire Fills Left Field With His Chewed Gum
Major-league umpires are kind of the worst. Blown close calls we can grudgingly abide, but blown not-all-that-close calls punctuated by ego trips, well, not so much. And yet that's what umpires do! Jordan Baker, a minor-league umpire who has filled in on Dana DeMuth's crew over the past week, keeps ...