MLB And Umpires: Time To Cut Some Fat?
For the record, I am not in favor of firings or people losing their jobs. That said, if you're not doing your job correctly, why do you still have a job? That is the ultimate question we need to ask.
This week in Atlanta, the Nationals beat the Braves on Tuesday night 3-1. The controversy though at the end was when Shawn Kelley struck out Chase d'Arnaud with the bases loaded on a pitch in the dirt. Even the Braves announcers called it with Chip Caray saying "pitch in the dirt...Wieters steps on home plate and the ballgame is over." (all Matt Wieters need to do was step on home plate and force out the runner on third as it was bases loaded) I turned off my television and hopped into bed.
I woke up watching MLB Quick Pitch and saw that the Nationals celebrated, the Braves headed back to the dugout and SunTrust Park's grounds crew went to the field to do their thing. But CB Bucknor, the home plate umpire, who had been ridiculed and vilified all night with his inconsistent strike zone, said d'Arnaud made contact with the ball, thus being a foul ball. Replays showed that d'Arnaud was nowhere near hitting the ball. Next pitch, he struck out. Game over. As the game ended, Jayson Werth (who was rung up on Bucknor on a questionable 3rd strike) looked like he nearly charged after Bucknor. I have NEVER been a Jayson Werth fan and he is one of my least favorite players in all of baseball, but I dislike him a lot less with the comments he made as he is spot on 100%.
Of course the next night, Bucknor completely botched up another call when Bryce Harper hit a bloop in the outfield where Emilio Bonifacio dove for a catch, but came up short by a mile. Instead, Bucknor called Harper out. Umps bailed out the call as he was overruled. But CB Bucknor has been regarded as one of the worst umpires in baseball by fans, managers, and players alike, with questionable strike zones, safe/out calls, etc. and has been voted so upon MLB players in 2003, 2006, and 2010.
And he isn't the only one.
Getting into a discussion of other umpires by fans on Facebook and Twitter and seeing replies from them, we agree you have to wonder how these guys have a job. I get there is an umpires union so it pretty much means short of a crime, they're fired. And we semi-joked of a list of umpires that need to go in part because even with replays now, they are still ruining the game in some manner and have to put themselves in the midst of it, whether it is a pride issue or a sense of they believe they are actually right. It is a problem with baseball and it needs to be addressed soon. So which umpires would make the list of maybe need to change their ways or just get out of dodge besides Bucknor?
1. Joe West. I am not one who has ever been a guy that thinks one way or the other on Joe West. I think there are better umpires than him but I think there are far worse umpires. Has he made bad calls? Yes. Is he trigger-happy with ejections sometimes? Yes. He has drawn the ire of Ken Harrelson for sure over the years as if West is umping a White Sox game and a call is blown against the White Sox, Hawk will talk about it the whole game and then blamed the White Sox loss on West. He has been a bit outspoken, ripping the pace of play notably in Red Sox/Yankees games, infuriating fan bases of those. Again, though, I haven't had a serious issue with West, he just needs to work on his strike zone which is very rough.
2. Doug Eddings. To me this guy should get his walking papers, though Ken Harrelson should be buying him a steak dinner for 2005 and 2008. If you go back to 2005 in the ALCS between the Angels and White Sox, a strike 3 miss by AJ PIerzynski to end the 9th should have happened. Eddings, who was behind home plate, rung him up and called him out. AJ ran to first base, selling he swung the pitch and it hit the dirt (though the catcher caught it fully). Eddings then said it hit the dirt and AJ was right. Sox scored in the 9th and beat the Angels en route to a 4-1 ALCS series win and a World Championship. Eddings defended his absurd action. 3 years later the White Sox and Rays were playing a late season game on a Sunday where the game was close and again Pierzynski was on 2nd and as the Rays player tried to tag Pierzynski, he batted the ball out of the player's glove, causing the ball to drop (similar to ARod's bit in 2004 with the Red Sox in the ALCS). Instead, Eddings said the player never had control of it and Pierzynski was safe. White Sox won, and would later win the Division on a 1-game playoff. But he is known as having a horrid strike zone, argumentative with players who don't like his calls and tossing players & managers very quickly.
3. Angel Hernandez. I think before instant replay really took over, Hernandez would have been the first guy on everybody's list of wanting to see gone. I think there are numerous head-scratching calls he's made pre-instant replay (and even one where Hernandez blew on replay of an obvious home run that was called a double and he kept it as a double) and others, notably calling somebody out at first base in Colorado when the first basemen did not have their foot on the bag. However, since replay has been in, we really haven't heard a lot of controversy on him. I think he has at times made some tough, but correct calls (i.e. Paul Janish leaning in for a ball to get hit at first before Hernandez pulls him back). I also think he isn't as combative as he once was towards players. Not sure if his strike zone is all that great still however.
4. Sam Holbrook. Has a short trigger with players and has made his fair share of poor calls. But the one that sticks out was that Holbrook in the 2012 NL Wild Card game as he called what was practically a fly ball an infield fly rule. It was a pivotal moment as the Braves were trying to climb back in the game against St. Louis and the ball dropped in the outfield, which would have been bases loaded and one out. Holbrook called an infield fly rule, which negated that. Cards won the game and went to the NLCS that year. Many believed it was one of the worst calls in baseball history (though I can think Eddings blunders were far worse). But others said he was in the right according to the rule book, which is bogus in my eyes. That said, his short trigger with ejecting players and managers is a key here.
Those are the key ones at this point. Maybe Hernandez has not been too rough in the last few years, but some do not need to be umping the strike zone for their inconsistencies like Hernandez and West. But guys like Eddings and Bucknor probably need to go. I know I am missing a fair share, but these are the ones who are always rank near the top of the list for being subpar and inept umpires.
-Fan in the Obstructed Seat
