The Left Field Corner
July 2014
THE LEFT FIELD CORNER Gil’s Call: Patience is Key
In the LF Corner…
The UEFL is Proud to Take the Time to Get it Right.
‘New for 2014’ Rules Blips Recent reviews highlight the foreseen can of worms known as runner placement and the mid-play overturned call. But is there a blanket solution?
3
MLB continues tweaking its new rules for the season by excluding force plays at home plate from Rule 7.13 consideration. Other 3 issues remain.
Featured Sabermetrics
As the season passes its halfway mark, I will address a key dichotomy plaguing our two industries—sports journalism, statistics and officiating in general. With today’s world of Twitter (@UmpireEjections), Facebook (/UmpireEjections)
and the like, the consuming public has been fed an endless stream of unfiltered voluminous information whose style has changed drastically over the course of the past decade, and not necessarily for the better. Continued on page 2
This article evaluates the most commonly overturned play and whether Manager’s Challenges or Crew Chief Reviews are riper for 7 reversal. Replay Review Success Rates: See the best and worst teams, rated by Replay Review Success Rate.
5
Objectively tracking and analyzing umpire ejections, video replay reviews and their corresponding calls, with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game.
Moving Day: Wolcott Hired, Darling Retires, Ump Crew Changes On July 4, Major League Baseball confirmed the UEFL’s reported rumor of Quinn Wolcott’s hiring to the full-time Major League staff to replace Gary Darling, who has retired. Here are the details behind this and several other moves regarding personnel switches and umpiring’s disabled list.
who entered umpiring school following graduation from Emerald Ridge High School in 2005.
Who’s In? Quinn Wolcott (Puyallup, Washington),
Continued on page 4
At the age of 19, Wolcott was the youngest umpire hired into Minor League Baseball in 2006, working his way up through the Arizona Rookie League,
This publication was produced by Close Call Sports and the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. All Rights Reserved.
The Left Field Corner
July 2014
Gil’s Call (continued) I refer to the immediacy of culture and online news, described by the Sage journals as “the visibility of journalistic processes and a restructuring of journalistic authority.”
Patience rules the day on the field and, as we conduct ourselves at UEFL “with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game,” here too. The UEFL Appeals Board can grapple with a complex case for days—weeks at a time. It’s all about getting it right and not rushing through things.
Sports officials have been directly affected by this atmosphere of brisk justice: After all, baseball now has expanded instant replay review and most other levels have been known to feature an overly exuberant fan in the stands more than eager to offer the umpire, referee or judge a replay of the “obvious call” on an iPad, phone or camera. Swift, brisk justice.
During a Yankees game not one week ago, the broadcast referenced another website that tracks Replay Review decisions, but unlike us, does so using an algorithm that reads the @MLBReplays twitter account to compute all variables involved.
Immediacy can be a great attribute, of course. For instance, emergency management personnel can use Twitter to instantaneously communicate valuable information to citizens, thus enhancing safety and decreasing casualties.
What did surprise me—just momentarily until I remembered the immediacy of modern journalism—was that YES Network cited the erroneous data without bothering to fact check.
Yet other areas and fields may not actually require such instantaneous response. At Close Call Sports & the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League, our mission is to “objectively track and analyze umpire ejections, video instant replay reviews and their corresponding calls, with great regard for the rules & spirit of the game.” Breaking down the meaning of those elements, tracking is self-explanatory. Event A happens, we log it. That part is fairly simple. It’s the analysis that, by virtue of its very definition, cannot responsibly be immediate. Analysis is the “detailed examination of the elements or structure of something, typically as a basis for discussion or interpretation.” Even the Rules Book (OBR)’s General Instructions to Umpires states, “Carry your rule book. It is better to consult the rules and hold up the game ten minutes to decide a knotty
2
problem than to have a game thrown out on protest and replayed,” and later, “wait until the play is completed before making any arm motion.”
Is it immediate? Yes, insofar as MLB tweets it out. Is it accurate? Well… That particular website’s data is significantly inaccurate and incomplete.
Partially for this reason, the UEFL will never revert to a solely automated system: Baseball requires a human element and, so too, does its online umpiring explanation and analysis. To do otherwise would be irresponsible and irreverent. Call it quality control—that’s our business, which also explains why post-All-Star Break, the UEFL’s posting format will change slightly. During the season’s ceremonial second half, Replay Review decisions will be compiled daily in a single entry, ala the old Technical Foul Fantasy League’s daily recap. Ejections are still of high priority and will continue to receive their own dedicated entries. This move is meant to improve accuracy while fostering an easier platform for discussion. In all, the hard work has proven its value time and time again. So don’t forget to slow down, take a step back and let it all marinate. Baseball is bestenjoyed one grass clipping at a time. Cheers, Gil
This publication was produced by Close Call Sports and the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. All Rights Reserved.
The Left Field Corner
July 2014
The Other Shoe: Another Can Opens on Mid-play Overturn July 3, 2014: It’s Independence Day weekend and a warm, partly cloudy day in Oakland. The Blue Jays have loaded the bases with one out in the top of the 2nd inning of a scoreless matinee as batter Anthony Gose steps to the plate.
Kawasaki, resulting in an easy out call for HP Umpire Bill Miller at the plate. No run and one out. Not so fast.
Jays skipper John Gibbons challenges the safe call on R1 Kawasaki and, after review and a 10-minute delay, the 649th Replay Review of the season Gose grounds a first-pitch fastball to A’s first baseman Nate results in an overturned call as Kawasaki is declared out and R3 Freiman, who attempts to tag Encarnacion safe at home, as Vogt Blue Jays baserunner R1 never tagged the runner. 1-0, Jays. Munenori Kawaski running by before throwing to A’s catcher A’s Manager Bob Melvin elects to file Stephen Vogt, who is standing a protest, but as the A’s ultimately on home plate (well, at least Rule win the game, the protest is dropped. 7.13 no longer applies to force plays at home!). Had the A’s lost, the protest would have been denied as Replay Review 1B Umpire Vic Carapazza rules decisions can not be protested F3 Freiman missed the tag on R1 (Replay Regulation II.K.4).
Bill Miller’s crew discusses the complex play in Oakland. Nonetheless, Replay again has brought forth a can of worms, an unraveling of a critical chain of events. From the catch/transfer interpretation change and reversion to the Rule 7.13 force Continued on page 5
Force the Issue: MLB Removes Force Plays from Rule 7.13 Praxis MLB continued its changes to expanded instant replay and experimental Rule 7.13 as the result of a seemingly benign force play on June 18 at PNC Park. With the bases loaded, Reds batter Alfredo Simon grounded to Pirates pitcher Stolmy Pimental, who threw to catcher Russell Martin as Reds baserunner R3 Devin Mesoraco slid into home plate. While HP Umpire Mike DiMuro called the out, Reds manager Bryan Price emerged from the visiting dugout and requested a review under the auspices of Rule 7.13 from crew chief Jerry Layne.
This decision that ruled F2 violated Rule 7.13 by blocking access to home plate was MLB’s impetus for taking force plays out of the equation.
Minutes later, Layne signaled the runner safe and ejected Pirates skipper Clint Hurdle for arguing the reversed call. Rule 7.13 had been used for the first time to award a run to the offense on a force play. Continued on page 6
This publication was produced by Close Call Sports and the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. All Rights Reserved.
3
The Left Field Corner
July 2014
2014 MLB Umpire Crews, UEFL Snapshot (July 6, ‘14) A: Nelson, Diaz, Carlson, Barry B: Miller, Everitt, Fairchild, Carapazza C: Barrett, Marquez, Schrieber, Little (3A) D: Joyce, Eddings, Hudson, Blaser E: Kellogg, O’Nora, Bellino, Reyburn F: Vanover, Hernandez, Nauert, Johnson
H: Gorman, Randazzo, Wolf, Rackley I: Cederstrom, Danley, Barksdale, (3A) J: Meals, Emmel, Conroy Baker K: Hallion, Cooper, Guccione, (3A) L: Culbreth, Reynolds, Knight, Gonzalez M: Winters, Wegner, Fletcher, Muchlinski
G: DeMuth, Kulpa, Hickox, Barrett
N: Davis, Gibson, Cuzzi, Wolcott
O: Layne, Wendelstedt, DiMuro, Estabrook P: Scott, Iassogna, Bucknor, (3A) Q: West, Foster, Drake, Porter R: Welke T, Dreckman, Timmons, Tichenor S: Davidson, Welke, Hoye, (3A) BL: Hirschbeck, Holbrook DL: McClelland
Moving Day (Continued) Northwest, Midwest, Carolina, California, Southern and Pacific Coast Leagues, the latter promoting Wolcott in 2011 at the age of 24, bestowing him with Crew Chief status two years later. The Umpire Ejection Fantasy League has followed Wolcott’s journey since his promotion to AAA and immediately tagged his story with a *Rising Star Alert* due to his young age and fast ascent to the 2012 Arizona Fall League Championship Game, World Baseball Classic Qualifiers, Minor League Call-Up ranks and MLB debut on Memorial Day, May 27, 2013. Wolcott’s 149 MLB games at the time of his fulltime appointment are the least in recent memory and eclipse Jordan Baker’s 197 games over two seasons at the time of Baker’s hiring prior to 2014.
postseason and two All-Star Games. His 111 career ejections begin in Shawn Dunston’s generation (1986) and concluded with Mike Aviles’ ilk in 2013. He officiated one Wild Card Game, 10 Division Series, five Championship Series and two World Series. He serves as president of the Board of UMPS CARE Charities. Who Moved? Since MLB released its initial 2014 crew list earlier this season, the following umpires, coming off the Disabled List, have produced movement in the grouping ranks: Mike Everitt, Chad Fairchild (Crew B), Alfonso Marquez (Crew C), Tony Randazzo (Crew H), while John Hirschbeck and Sam Holbrook’s moves to the Bereavement List concurrent with Tim McClelland’s full-season stint on the DL have made crew chiefs out of Jerry Meals (J), Larry Vanover (F) and even Bob Davidson (S).
Who’s Out? Unlike newly tenured 28-year-old Wolcott, veteran Gary Darling leaves the field with The above table portrays an updated listing of the MLB umpire crews, circa July 2014. ∎ 28 years of Major League umpiring experience, including 3,270 regular season games, 85
4
This publication was produced by Close Call Sports and the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. All Rights Reserved.
The Left Field Corner The Other Shoe (Continued) play at home and now this mid-play overturned call scenario of nullifying the act of the missed call, Replay is clearly not perfect.
July 2014
Replay Review success rates
Nor was it ever supposed to be in its inaugural season. Going forward, however, the precise question of the mid-play overturned call looms large. We’ve surely seen this before with the most obvious overturned call liable to cause trouble—the catch/trap call in the outfield—yet those calls are fairly rare, compared to the standard safe/out tag or force out call on the bases. MLB spent much time and effort in considering runner placement should a call be overturned and, according to the league, this very issue has remained a “significant concern” even months into the already-half-completed regular season. It is the very reason baseball mandated the installation of standardized high-home cameras at all 30 ballparks and why nearly the entirety of Replay Review Regulation IV. Correcting an Incorrect Call pertains to the placement of runners, a tough decision MLB has made completely indisputable: “The decision of the Replay Official regarding the placement of runners, or runners being declared out, shall be final and binding on both Clubs. On-field personnel shall be ejected if they argue or otherwise challenge the placement of runners.”
Worst…STL Mike Matheny’s St. Louis Cardinals eclipsed the Cincinnati Reds for poorest reviews record, achieving a Team Success Percentage of just .222 in four-of-18 chances. Matheny himself was also the league’s least successful manager with a .154 overturn rate.
MLB clearly anticipated runner placement as an Achilles’ Heel of expanded instant replay and took appropriate steps to protect itself. Yet just because the subject is not open for discussion on the playing field doesn’t mean the issue isn’t being considered: Bob Davidson ejected Angels Manager Mike Scioscia on June 9 for arguing an overturned call that overturned Davidson’s home run call to a fan interference-aided double for Angels star Mike Trout (Davidson 10|3). But the catch/trap and even the Davidson/Scioscia plays are cake compared to Bob Melvin’s contention that F2’s failure to tag R3 was caused by U1’s improper safe call that kept the force at the plate. The UEFL in 2012 rejected adoption of the proposed Scott Rule, which would have deemed ejections stemming from incorrect mechanics as incorrect, preferring instead to continue evaluation on a case-by-case basis. To a certain extent, this too is MLB’s strategy…How will it play out? ∎
First…ATL The Atlanta Braves regained the top spot in baseball with a TSP of .714, thanks to several Crew Chief Reviews that didn’t go the way of last week’s leader, Miami. Fredi Gonzalez is successful in challenging calls at a CSP of .714, second in baseball.
This publication was produced by Close Call Sports and the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. All Rights Reserved.
5
The Left Field Corner Force the Issue (Continued) Mere hours later, MLB began to reconsider the home-plate collision rule that mandated an out call be reversed to safe if the catcher without the ball failed to provide a baserunner with a path to the plate—even when the catcher was required to occupy that space by virtue of tagging home plate on a force play. After all, home plate is unlike all other bases in that it lies flat and simply cannot be vertically brushed with the side of the shoe. The catcher, Hurdle and many others argued at the time, simply must stand with a foot on home plate in order to secure the out on a force play. Nary one week later, MLB agreed and issued a bulletin instructing its umpires not to enforce experimental Rule 7.13 on force plays at home plate, although umpires may still consider the issue of obstruction, which like interference is not reviewable. Rule 7.13(2) Applicability: Only for Catchers Later in the month, Dodgers baserunner R2 Dee Gordon attempted to score from second base on a wild pitch by Cardinals pitcher Lance Lynn, who dove in front of home plate while receiving catcher Yadier Molina’s throw, effectively blocking Gordon from reaching home plate for an out. Dodgers manager Don Mattingly walked to HP Umpire Mike Everitt and crew chief Bill Miller, requesting and receiving a Crew Chief Review for a potential violation of Rule 7.13. The problem? Rule 7.13 doesn’t apply to pitchers. For that matter, Rule 7.13’s defensive provisions do not apply to the first baseman, second baseman or any defensive player other than the catcher:
6
July 2014 “Unless the catcher is in possession of the ball, the catcher cannot block the pathway of the runner as he is attempting to score.” Whereas Rule 7.13(1) prohibits runners from deviating to initiate contact “with the catcher (or any other player covering home plate),” Rule 7.13(2) makes no such distinction for the defense, which means that in the absence of obstruction, a pitcher can theoretically block a runner’s access to home plate in the same manner a catcher would, the difference being that the pitcher’s play would be legal while the catcher would be called for a Rule 7.13 violation and the runner awarded the score. The key distinction, of course, is that a defensive player (pitcher, catcher or otherwise) may block access to the plate as long as he has the ball in his possession or is required to occupy his position in order to receive a throw. Insofar as Lynn actually had possession of the ball when he blocked access to home plate, the play was legal and is not exactly the poster child for Rule 7.13 defensive position incongruence. Nonetheless, the theoretical issue pertains to a defensive player at home plate receiving a thrown ball when he is not required to occupy the “block” position. For a pitcher, this play is legal. For a catcher, it is a violation. Back to Dodger Stadium, the play should not have been subject to Crew Chief Review. The Dodgers had a challenge to use for the issue of Safe/Out and, because Rule 7.13(2) does not apply to the pitcher, there was nothing to review as relates to Rule 7.13. Now that the potential for a problem play has been spotted on a sunny day in Los Angeles, it may be prudent to examine the potential for future misunderstanding. Until then, the new PFP has F1 or F3 covering home for everything. Play ball. ∎
This publication was produced by Close Call Sports and the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. All Rights Reserved.
The Left Field Corner
July 2014
Crunching the Numbers: Most Common Overturn Reason is… The Manager’s Challenge remains the most prevalent method of initiating review, accounting for 558 (83%) of the 671 total reviews.
With 54.4% of the season (1322 of 2430 regular season games) in the books, it should bear no surprise that the most commonly requested review is the safe/out call and, of that, the issue of timing at first base.
Managers have been successful in their challenges over half the time, umpires earning a RAP of .484 for all Managers’ Challenges, compared to .699 for Crew Chief-initiated Reviews.
Of MLB’s 671 Replay Reviews through Sunday, July 6, over three-quarters of them (506, or 75.4%) have been for the reason of Safe/Out, with 265 of them occurring at first base, 155 at second, 40 at third and 46 at home plate. By contrast, the second most reviewed play is of the HR/Not HR “grandfathered boundary” variety, comprising 56 calls to New York. Reason for Affirmed Following this are Review Crew Chief Reviews of Rule 7.13 29 experimental Rule 7.13 HR/Not HR 38 (35 reviews), HBP/Foul 12 HBP/Foul (22), Safe/Out 249 Catch/Trap (15), Fair/Foul 5 Fair/Foul (11), Record Catch/Trap 2 Keeping (7), Catch/No Total (All) 349 Catch [or Transfer, all by the 2B Umpire] (5), Base Touch (3), Time Play (3), Ground Rule & Stadium Boundary Non-HR (3), Appeal Play (2) and Passing Runners (1). In terms of raw numbers, it follows that the Safe/Out review has resulted in the most overturned calls (257), followed by HR/Not HR (18), then Catch/Trap (13), HBP/Foul (10), Rule 7.13 (6), Fair/Foul (6), Record Keeping (4) and so forth. Proportionally, however, the most commonly reversed call is that of the Catch/Trap variety, which has been reversed 86.7% (13/15) of the time. In all, the class of review (Manager vs. Crew Chief) also correlates with Review Affirmation Percentage (RAP).
Of MLB’s 30 teams, only the Baltimore Orioles (0-2), Detroit Tigers (0-1) and Milwaukee Brewers (0-1) are associated with Crew Chief Review RAPs less than .500. Overturned 6 18 10 257 6 13 322
RAP % .829 .679 .545 .492 .454 .133 .520
On the opposite side of the spectrum, the Seattle Mariners have had absolutely no success with their eight Crew Chief Reviews (1.000 RAP), while the Arizona
Diamondbacks (5), Toronto Blue Jays (4), Chicago Cubs (2), New York Yankees (2), San Diego Padres (2) and Kansas City Royals (1) have been shut out of Crew Chief Review overturns. The Oakland Athletics, whose 13 Crew Chief Reviews comprises the only doubledigit sum in baseball, sat through five overturns for a .615 RAP. With bias to boot, Managers appear to be better than Crew Chiefs in initiating reviews that are more likely to overturn the original ruling. Meanwhile, managers’ most challenged plays include Safe/Out (491-of-506, 97%), HBP/Foul (22-of-22, 100%), Catch/Trap (14-15, 93%) and Fair/Foul (11-11, 100%). ∎
This publication was produced by Close Call Sports and the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. All Rights Reserved.
7
The Left Field Corner
July 2014
Just the Stats: A glimpse at the UEFL Leaderboard UEFL – Regular Division # 1 2 3 3 5 6
Pts 60 59 52 52 50 49
UEFL – Express Division # 1 2 3 4 4 6
Member youthministeradam Russ BkSl14812 toss ‘em AlwaysOsinski Chewy6294
Pts 60 47 41 37 37 35
Umpires - Ejections # 1 1 1 4 4 4
EJ 5 5 5 4 4 4
Member youthministeradam Tom Slick kickersrule hohnforpresident Red@ssump QuickTrigger3
Umpires - Points
Umpire Name Dan Bellino Jordan Baker Bill Miller Greg Gibson Toby Basner Fieldin Culbreth
# 1 2 2 4 5 5
Pts 20 18 18 17 14 14
Umpire Name Dan Bellino Greg Gibson Tim Timmons Will Little Toby Basner Quinn Wolcott
Umpire Vic Carapazza warns Blue Jays coach Kevin Seitzer three times before ejecting him for bench jockeying.
From the Board: A look at Recent UEFL Appeals Board Cases Case #
Decision
Vote
Synopsis
E-084
Denied
1-0-0
R-526
Affirmed
4-0-0
R-540
Denied
1-0-0
Cert denied as the Board previously held in R-140 that it does not review Replay Officials’ judgment call decisions. Unanimously confirmed Gonzalez as calling umpire for play in which his original ruling was changed after on-field umpire consultation and, following Replay Review, was changed back to the original call. Cert denied pursuant to R-074 Kulpa 01 precedent, which stated that even though MLB admitted an error at Replay HQ, the ruling on the field of “confirm/stands/overturned” will still rendered and assigned points according to the schedule in UEFL Rule 4-7-a|b.
The UEFL Appeals Board is comprised of: Gil Imber (Chair), Jeremy Dircks (ex-officio), tmac, RichMSN, Arik G, Turducken, and JD. Non-voting members include johnnyg08, Joe Gravina and cyclone14.
This publication was produced by Close Call Sports and the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League Objectively tracking and analyzing umpire ejections, video replay reviews and their corresponding calls, with great regard for the rules and spirit of the game. All inquiries regarding the content of The Left Field Corner may be sent to info @ closecallsports.com. Close Call Sports, Umpire Ejection Fantasy League & The Left Field Corner are unaffiliated with Major League Baseball, its teams, or any associated properties or interests. Material contained herein is not an endorsement or complicity on behalf of MLB. This research pamphlet has been produced for educational purposes.
