Attention Shane Victorino, There is a Reason that the Umpire is Behind Home Plate and not in Center Field
by Jeff Zimmerman (TucsonRoyal) on Aug 10, 2009 1:08 PM EDT
20 comments
Last night Shane Victorino was thrown of the Phillies - Marlins game for showing his disgust for on how home plate umpire Ed Rapuano was calling balls and strikes. Supposedly Shane had already thrown up his arms in disgust several times, but this was the pitch that got him thrown out on:
I can't understand how he is worrying about about ball and strike calls from 250 feet away. It is also nice that he put a person in a position they aren't used to and that person had a one run error later that inning.
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On the other side of the umpire-correctness spectrum,
that pitch on the right was the final strike of the game to Ryan Braun yesterday:
E: George 4 (5, throw, throw, throw, throw).
This one was truly ridiculous.
I understand that there are many other factors that determine a game, but a pitch happens almost every “play” and over the course of a game getting calls like this wrong could have an huge impact. I mean that pitch is a good six inches off the plate.
I watched that game
and was a little dumbfounded. The Marlins broadcast didn’t show Victorino until after he was thrown out began a light jog into a shove of his own teammate.
I thought the whole thing was ridiculous. As you mentioned Jeff, he’s got no business making that call from all the way out there, whether it was in or out. And it was out.
It’s fruitless to pass judgment on Victorino’s behavior without the context. Both teams had been complaining about the umpire all game. It started pretty much at the first pitch when the umpires needlessly demanded that the stadium lights be turned on because it was a bit too cloudy for their liking. Rapuano was very inconsistent with his strike zone to both sides. One inning he’d have a postage stamp strike zone; the next, you could fit a hippo through his strike zone.
Ryan Howard was visibly upset with a called strike three. I believe it was the next inning — Rodrigo Lopez took the mound and went 0-2 on Wes Helms quickly. The next pitch was the one charted above: yes, it was outside, but that was being called a strike at various points throughout the game, particularly for Marlins pitching.
As I was watching on TV, I wasn’t able to see how many times Victorino made any gestures towards the home plate umpire, but even if he did it after every pitch, it’s not grounds for an ejection. The umpire has way too much power in his ability to instigate — and Rapuano was, in fact, instigating at various points during the game — and then punish a player and his team (indirectly rewarding the other team) for responding to the instigation.
Personally, I think Rapuano’s behavior yesterday was deplorable. I think that the umpire’s power to eject players should be removed, or at least given some oversight so that their ego doesn’t goad them into making a foolish decision. Furthermore, umpires need to have the fear of a fine/suspension stricken into them because umpires like Rapuano, Bill Hohn, etc. have no imperative to change their immature behavior.
And the yelling/hat-throwing/dirt-kicking etc. antics between player and umpire is downright embarrassing. It’s not tolerated in any other sport, but it is in baseball because anything traditional is thereby awesome.
by Crashburn Alley on Aug 10, 2009 2:24 PM EDT up reply actions
Oh come on,
You dont know what he was saying either. Even if he did take too much initiative in ejecting him, Victorino has no right to be throwing temper tantrums in center.
You ask to be ejected, and you’ll get it; Victorino did just that
I agree the umpiring was somewhat suspect in that game, but the rules are pretty simple. Players cannot argue balls and strikes. It will get you thrown out of the game. And you especially can’t do it in a way that openly challenges the umpire’s authority. Charlie Manuel admitted as much.
by Tommy Bennett on Aug 10, 2009 3:14 PM EDT up reply actions
I don’t really see how throwing your arms up in the air is challenging the umpire’s authority. How hyper-sensitive can Blue be?
Do we really want our athletes — entertainers — to be emotionless robots?
by Crashburn Alley on Aug 10, 2009 3:55 PM EDT up reply actions
Generally speaking
Players can say whatever they like while their heads are down. That’s why a lot of arguing happens toward the dirt.
When players are looking at the umpire, they are not allowed to say anything about the specific ball/strike call or about the umpire personally.
When Victorino threw his hands up, it was clear he was arguing balls and strikes precisely BECAUSE there had been so much arguing about balls and strikes that game. And as soon as it became clear what Victorino was doing (and it really was extremely clear), the ump didn’t really have much of a choice. It was dumb of Victorino, and I’m sure he knows that.
by Tommy Bennett on Aug 10, 2009 3:59 PM EDT up reply actions
I’m sure that centerfielders have thrown their hands up in the air like that frustrated with ball/strike calls, but I have never seen a player get thrown out from centerfield for arguing balls and strikes before yesterday. There’s a reason.
I was surprised
And of course I was upset, also being a Phillies fan. But as far as I am concerned, once you argue balls and strikes you have surrendered any right to be upset when you get thrown out of a game.
by Tommy Bennett on Aug 10, 2009 9:58 PM EDT up reply actions
I love it when people say athletes are "entertainers"
They aren’t entertainers the way that stand-up comics are entertainers. They entertain us by playing the sport, not by whining.
Also, would you say that Albert Pujols is entertaining? His nickname is “The Machine.” How about Charlie Gehringer, who was known as “The Mechanical Man”? Was Paul O’Neill’s whining more entertaining than those guys?
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
Who said they aren't?
I said they are not entertainers the way stand-up comics are. There are a few baseball players who are more compelling because of their personalities (Ichiro, Griffey, etc.), but for the most part ballplayers should just play ball.
Do you watch the Phillies to see Shane Victorino steal second or do you watch the Phillies to see Shane Victorino complain about balls and strikes? With a few exceptions, the actual game-playing is the entertainment. I can just as easily leave the “entertaining” to wrestlers.
And my point was directed to your question, “do we want our athletes — entertainers — to be emotionless robots?” — the wording makes it seem like these guys are entertainers first and athletes second. That’s not the case.
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
I'm not entertained by whining and gossip, but many many baseball fans are.
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Possibly, but I'd hold that they're not entertained as baseball fans
They’re entertained as sensationalists. When the paparazzi follows Alex Rodriguez around, the folks who are most interested aren’t really baseball fans.
Either way, in this case, I don’t think Victorino was trying to entertain, I think he was just whining.
"Look at me! I'm Tomokazu Ohka of the Montreal Expos!"
this is why he's angry
there’s at least 5 called strikes in that same area for when josh johnson was pitching
http://brooksbaseball.net/pfx/location.php?xml=http://gd2.mlb.com/components/game/mlb/year_2009/month_08/day_09/gid_2009_08_09_flomlb_phimlb_1//pbp/pitchers/435178.xml&batterX=0&innings=yyyyyyyyy&sp_type=1&s_type=3
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