Sports Then and Now

When you evaluate the home plate umpires for the World Series after two games, clearly Dan Iassogna called a better game than Gerry Davis did.

Overall the Umpire Strikezone Scores on Close Calls, Iassogna had .923 and Davis had .838 correct.

When you look at the split between left and right handed batters Davis was not very consistent.

On left handed batters Gerry Davis had 33 pitches within six inches of the plate where he had to make a call.

He called seven pitches strikes that were off the plate, and two pitches balls that were really strikes. Nine wrong calls out of 33 game him a USS.727.

On RHH Davis missed only four pitches total for a USS of .915.

If Davis ever looked at these numbers and graphics he would see that he always calls a pitch that is really outside a strike, but he only does this with left handed batters.

Home plate is 17 inches across for both right and left handed batters.

Why do many umpires continue to make the plate wider for left handed hitters than they do for right handed hitters?

Iassogna is in the lead for the best ball and strike umpire of the 2012 World Series. His .923 total is going to be the number to beat.

What do you think the umpires would do if these graphics were shown in every park while each game was being played?

Do you think they would learn to call that outside pitch to left handed hitters a ball, if everyone saw how they missed it so many times?

Gerry Davis 2012 World Series Game 1

USS total .838. 80 close call pitches 13 incorrect calls

LHH USS .727 33 close call pitches: seven balls called strikes, two strikes called balls

RHH USS .915 47 close call pitches four balls called strikes, zero strikes called balls

Dan Iassogna Game 2 2012 World Series.

USS total .923 91 close called pitches seven incorrect calls

LHH USS .857 28 close call pitches: three balls called strikes, one strike called a ball

RHH USS .952 63 close call pitches: one ball called a strike, two strikes called balls

Replay Will Cut Down On This.

The non-call at second base during Game One of the NLCS was another example of not using replays to make the right call.

Clearly Matt Holliday was past the bag, and he used a barrel roll into Marco Scutaro. Any competent umpire should have called runner interference, and ruled it a double play.

How could Rich Gedman be called for being out of the baseline (in 1988 ALCS) for what he did, when Holliday was past the bag when he started to slide?

He should have been ejected and banned from the next game.

One look at the replay and you could see he broke the rules. It was a dirty play. Umpires need to follow the rules, and then don’t.

If you looked at a replay you can tell in one look if he made the wrong call.

Just give each manager three chances a game to use instant replay.

If you get them all right, you can keep using them all game.

Each time a manager throws the red ball on the field he will be challenging a call. No need to argue, just toss the red ball and we all get to use instant replay.

The umpires will turn and everyone in the park will watch the big screen and in 10 seconds there will be four angles of the questionable play, and at the end of ten seconds the ball, glove, and player will be frozen on the screen.

The umpire will either raise his hand in an out signal or signal safe with both hands.

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The Yankees lost Derek Jeter for the rest of the season with a broken ankle in the 12th inning of game one of the ALCS.

The New York Yankees suffered two significant losses in opening game of the League Championship Series. Not only did the Yankees drop a 6-4 decision in 12 games to the Detroit Tigers, but they also lost their captain, Derek Jeter, for the rest of the season with a broken ankle. Losing Jeter is not just a major blow to the chances for the Yankees, but also a huge loss for Major League Baseball.

Even for baseball fans whose two favorite teams are the squad they follow and then whoever is playing the Yankees, this isn’t the way you want to see the Yankees go down. Only fans that have far crossed the line can be pleased to see the symbol of the franchise for the last 15+ years lying on the ground agonizing in pain.

In an era where star power is a major driver of fan interest, Derek Jeter has been among the steadiest players in the game. Though he has never been the league MVP or posted lofty power statistics, Jeter has been a key member of five World Series Champions and collected more than 3,000 career hits. In just the last few weeks some were debating whether he might be the one to break the all-time hit mark held by Pete Rose.

After Jeter went down while diving for a ground ball in the 12th inning of the opening game against the Tigers the thoughts are no longer about potential records, but instead of what baseball will be like without the Yankee captain.

That is something the Yankees have little time to digest as they will be back in action today for game two against the Tigers and must try to overcome not just his loss, but also the fact they are trailing in the series. Read the rest of this entry →

A blown umpire call let the St. Louis Cardinals get away with a major blunder in the eighth inning on their way to defeating the Atlanta Braves in the Wild Card Playoff Game.

Even after nearly eight hours of baseball, one of the worst calls in playoff history, uneven play by every team and victories by the two road teams, it is still hard to know exactly what to make of the first “Wild Card Day” in Major League Baseball history.

Since in the old playoff system the Orioles and Rangers, who were tied with records of 93-69, would have been meeting in a one-game playoff, there really was just one game that was added to the playoff schedule in the new format. And while there was some excitement, there was also controversy and ultimately a team having their season end in a one game showdown despite finishing six games better than the other team during the 162 game regular season.

For the Atlanta Braves, it marks the second straight year that they have been edged out of a trip to the LDS by the St. Louis Cardinals. However, unlike in 2011 when the Cardinals used a month-long Braves collapse to sneak ahead of them in the standings, this time they did it with a head-to-head wild card victory.

Some have used the awful infield fly call in the eighth inning as justification as to why you need more than a one game “winner take all” playoff to determine which team will advance. The thinking being that over time breaks even out and seasons shouldn’t be decided on one questionable call.

I understand the argument, but the reality is that while the eighth inning call will go down as one of the worst umpiring mistakes in playoff history (whether MLB wants to acknowledge it or not), there were many other instances that contributed to the Braves’ loss. The atypical fourth inning error by future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones directly led to three runs and erased an early 2-0 Braves lead. The Braves made three errors during the game and only two of the six runs given up were credited as “earned runs.” Read the rest of this entry →