my question is about earned runs. If a pitcher walks a player and then the player comes in does that count as an earned run?

Unearned runs only come into play if an error is committed in the field. So if there are no errors, the run would be earned.

Is a passed ball considered an error or just a passed ball?

simply a passed ball, no error is charged.

If a runner advances to third on a passed ball with one out, scores on a sacrifice fly, then the next batter flies out, is the run considered an earned run?

It's still an earned run. If no error was committed, and a passed ball is not an error (nor is a wild pitch, for that matter), the run is earned.

that is incorrect. Runs that score as a result of a passed ball are considered unearned, even though no error is charged.

Wild pitches that lead to runs are earned.

Josh

Hmmmm. If they're going to make that distincton then they should call it an error on the catcher instead of calling it a passed ball.

I wanted to ask you a quick question about your crews.

Ive noticed now that a lot of guys are taking vacations and there are a few who are out with injuries. My question is, do injuries like these affect the crew? Reliford (crew chief) and Runge have been out an awfully long time, and I was wondering if there are any problems with the remaining crew members, especially with a crew chief being out for so long, or is it a situation where all fill-ins are so good it isnt a big deal. How does a crew and its remaining members deal with situations like these? Thanks.

We rarely have problems with those AAA umpires who fill in for guys injured or on vacation (at least the crews on which I have been haven't had any problems).

The guys who come up and fill spots are those AAA umpires who have paid their dues in a sense and who have been judged by MLB supervisors to be competent to come up.

Each umpire gets 4 one week breaks, three of these breaks are taken as a crew, when we all are off at the same time. The remaining one week is individual, which is why you may see a regular crew missing one of its guys. Our crew, for example, not too long ago had our crew chief out on his one week break. When that happens, the next most senior guy on the crew is referred to as the crew captain ("crew chief" is a permanent term reserved to those appointed as such).

When an AAA guys is called up, we as a crew go over many things just to be sure we're all on the same page. While there are many standard mechanics, each crew has its own style in a sense, and for temporary call-ups, we try to familiarize them with what we as a crew usually do.

Normally, I side with the MLB Ump. Last week, we saw an Ump take the end of the bat off the leg. I felt bad. 99.9% of the time the ump gets the call right. But today, even when the ump gets a call 100% correct, to see him intentionally bump a major league manager.. the umpire Dana DeMuth deserves a 4 game supsension. Uncalled for. It't time for the league to step in and publicly punish an umpire for conduct detrimental to baseball.

It looked like Melvin went in front of DeMuth which led to the bumping. Is this an off limits area for you MLB Ump, because I understand it might be.

I had seen that replay on ESPN myself, and it sure seemed like Dana at least drew the guy's gut into his own. Has MLB done anything to Demuth?

Perhaps, MIB.

Ump, I was watching the Cards-Cubs games this week, and I have to say, Jim Wolf is HOT! And he's such a well-built stud! I know that's not you (or is it?), because his MLB bio says he's married. He worked the plate Thursday and was at third base Friday afternoon.

He looks like a chisled hunk. You're not on his crew, are you? If you were, I don't know how you'd be able to keep your focus, especially in the locker room. eek!

MLB Ump,

It seems that in the past few seasons, I have developed the habit of turning my head with my strike call (and away from the field for a brief second). I switched to pointing to the side which really helped my timing (I developed a Dale Scott-esque call which really helped and has worked well), but some people on some umpire boards were saying how bad it is to take your eyes off the field for a second even in a 2 man crew. I know a lot of MLB guys have this same call, but you have the luxury of working a 4 man crew. What are your thoughts?

No, I'm not on his crew. If I was, I'd be working at Wrigley at this very moment. I'm on later this evening. I will agree with you that Jimmy is a very good-looking guy, but as you said, he is married.

mrm, I also turn my head to the side when I signal strikes, which I do out to my side. That's just the way I've been doing it for years, including at the amateur level and lower minors when I worked two-man crews.

Does it pose a potential problem? Perhaps. If you are able to alter your style and remain comfortable with not going to the side, then that wouldn't hurt you, but don't let people tell you that you must do this because they say you should.

Truthfully, a quick turn and signal to the side may indeed cause you to miss something, and in baseball there are many things that can occur at the plate in literally a milisecond or so. Just try to remain alert. You might want to compromise a bit and point and signal to the side but try and keep your head straight and focused on the batter. Give this a shot and let me know how it works, and if you have any other questions about it, drop back in here and follow up.

Gotta run. Later...

[ September 17, 2005, 01:08 PM: Message edited by: MLB UMPIRE ]

I've always turned my head to the side for years, briefly on strike 1 and 2, and a bit longer for a called strike 3.
This year when I worked with my assignor, he recommended that I change, and start calling strikes facing forward.
It took a few games to get used to (especailly after 15 1/2 seasons of turning my head), but it really didn't phase me all that much.

Josh

Ump, I do have a question, and of course the horrenddousness of the LCS Ump-ing has prompted me to ask this....Is there any repercussions for Umps who CLEARLY make awful mistakes? When I say this, I know people see certain things differently, and those calls I'm not talking about. I mean like the Ump in the Cards LCS game when they even proved on TV that the exact same pitch kept getting called differetnly. Or when a runner is safe by a mile, but the Ump calls him out. And I do mean visibly safe, not a frame by frame breakdown.

Do they get bad reviews? Do they not get asked back to the specific ballpark?

We are evaluated several times during the course of a season, and we are under a microscope during the postseason, which makes these two LCS's all the more frustrating for some.

There is no blacklisting in terms of not going back to a given venue. We receive our entire season schedule, minus special event assignments, before the season starts, so this would preclude being kept away from any specific location.

I noticed at the end of the MLB season, there were quite a few people who switched crews. I noticed Greg Gibson & Angel Hernandez switched to McClelland's crew to work while 2 members of his crew went to work with Ed Montague's crew. Why do they make these changes with the season winding down? To get these people they want to work big games?

Changes are made for several reasons, so it really depends on the situation. For example, Gerry Davis hails from St. Louis. He requested Major League Baseball to be switched to the crew working the last home series at Busch so he could be a part of Busch's finale. The Commissioner's office granted his request and switched him. Coincidentally, he had the post-season Cardinals series, too, so he once again was able to be a part of Busch's last post-season game.

There are times an umpire may be switched in order to bring in one or more veterans due to a problem that is foreseen, or because of a previous problem involving a team. For example, if there is bad blood between two teams and their last meeting resulted in numerous beanball incidents, ejections, etc., the front office might move a veteran from one crew to the one originally assigned to that upcoming problem game. In that case, usually one of the less experienced guys is sent elsewhere. Note that this should not be taken as a slight against the less experienced umpire, but the need for someone more thick-skinned and experienced to come in temporarily.

There are also personal matters, illnesses/injuries, and umpire vacations that play a part in guys moving all over the place.

MLB Ump - Perhaps no perfect answer to this, but is there any solution to the day when, you're the plate ump (obviously on amateur level-this doesn't happen in pros) and the pitcher is inconsistent all day in hitting his locations and the catcher is not particularly skilled in his framing and is actually making it even harder for you to call borderline pitches, and you're taking grief from the pitcher's head coach who constantly wants to know "Where was that?" This happens to me once in awhile on the college level, believe it or not and is aggravating - bad pitchers and catchers make us look inconsistent.

jockboy
I had that happen several times last year once in a college game and the second time was in the highschool state championships. Really there isn't much you can do. The coach came out in my highschool games asking me why he wasn't getting close pitches and I told him that his catcher wasn't framing it. He said something to the cathcer and he did alot better job the rest of the game. In my college game I typically ignore a coach question ball and strikes, but if the cather ask i just tell him to frame it better.

Saludos de la ciudad hermosa de Barcelona (después de un rato agradable en la tierra abajo debajo), en donde estoy gozando de un cierto resto pacífico en el sol. Ahora a su pregunta...

Josh, there's not a whole lot you can do if the pitcher is not in a rhythm. That happens sometimes. What I did when this happened in my NCAA ball was to talk to the catcher, to subtly explain to him that his pitcher is off and that he needs to go and talk to him. I've also suggested the catcher privately explain this to the manager (or head coach as they call him in college). If the head coach starts bitching to me, I'll tell him not to make me the fall guy for his pitcher's inability to throw strikes.

Truthfully, this really pisses me off when a manager gets all over my case when the fault lies with his pitcher who's not having a good day. One heated exchange of this sort took place during the regular season with the World Series manager. Among other things, he accused me of squeezing his pitcher when I repeatedly suggested to him that his pitcher at least try and throw the ball in the same zip code as home plate.

Regardless of the situation, try not to let it get to you, because if you do, you'll begin to think you're the problem when in fact you're not.

Hey, Ump, have you started your season yet? I know you probably won't say where you're working. I was just wondering if you started yet.

Anyone of you other blues on the board start your season yet? I started mine on March 23rd, and every day has been freakin' cold! Well, except for one day where it was just "cool."

It also didn't take me long to get my first ejection, which I don't like to do. I booted a pitcher in a D-III game yesterday. What made it worse is the fact that this team's head coach I tossed in a game last spring as well. Somebody up there is having fun watching me suffer!

It isn't fun when you always seem to have problems with a particular team. I can understand why you might think that the Man Upstairs is toying with you. Call it bad karma or whatever you wish, but it's not something that any umpire could possibly desire.

Hopefully that's the only ejection you so far have had this season. wink

THE UMP IS BACK! - PLAAAY BALLLLL!
If ya get to the new St. Louis stadium this season can you give us your opinion of it? Do you favor any particular of the new parks (since Baltimore changed stadium design) or are they all the same to you? :confused:

St. Louis did a nice job on their new home. We (at least the crew which I'm on) like it. For one thing, we've got more space than we did in the old Busch.

As far as new parks compared to old ones, I don't really get into what's nicer or not in a general sense because the newer ones are undoudbtedly going to be better. I measure the new ones by the umpires' facilities.

When it was first built, Oriole Park at Camden Yards was one of my favorite new parks. It was a quick trip from our hotel to the park, considering we usually stay at one of the hotels on the inner harbor.

Recently, I went to a game at Comerica Park here in Detroit. During the game, one of the Tiger hitters (I believe it might have been Carlos Guillen) had some words with the umpire about a called third strike, causing the third out of the inning. He then took his bat and tossed it in the air a bit in the direction of the dugout. My partner said that he should watch it before getting ejected. I questioned why he thought that way. He said that the umpire could have taken offense to that.

This leads me to the question. Given the picture I just painted, at what point, if any, do you feel that what he did would have been cause for ejection? I did not see where it would, but obviously my partner did.

Thanks,

Kevin

Each umpire, including those at the amateur level, is bound to have his own tolerance level; that is, how much or how little he may put up with in such situations. However, for the most part, umpires, myself included, will eject a player in such disputed ball/strike situations when he says something personal to us (such as "You suck!", "You're a piece of shit," etc.) Absent such personal comments, players are likely to get ejected if they obviously show us up, trying to embarrass us. Players do not like it if an umpire tries to show them up; we don't like it when they show us up.

At the risk of sounding like I'm splitting hairs, a player can toss his bat one way and not get ejected, and he can throw it another and get ejected. Does he bitch about being called out on strikes then in anger toward me he whips his bat to the dugout, causing it to go sailing? If so, he's gone. Does he just flip it somewhat nonchalantly? Then he's probably not going to get ejected.

It also makes a difference if he's been whining all game, if he accompanies his bat tossing/throwing with some inappropriate, colorful metaphor, or does something similar.

I hope I've answered your question.

How do you feel about "Watch the game?". Personally, I don't like comments like that. Whenever I hear "watch the game, or your missing a good game, that usually means they are getting tossed"

It seems Willie Randolph, who never argues when he should, got tossed Tuesday for just those words.

Just wondering, what sort of non-profane phrases are usually automatic ejections.

Josh

Josh,

As I alluded to above, generally anything that starts with "You" followed by a not-too-pleasant verb or "You're" followed by a not-too-positive adjective or noun will earn one an ejection.

I'm sure I sound like a Language Arts teacher, but that's the explanation I give when I teach clinics, and it's the explanation I was taught back in umpire school. If you think about it, it's pretty much common sense: don't insult or attack me personally. You want to say, "That call sucks!" or "That f**king call was horseshit!"? Fine. But the moment you say, "You suck!" or "You're horseshit!", you're gone.

In terms of nonprofanity verbiage that might warrant an ejection, there's no cut and dry words. Instead, it depends on what was said and how it was said. One of the most common things is usually something that questions my integrity. I'll miss a call or two--I'm human--but one thing I'll never do is make a call to get even, to exact revenge, or to even make-up a previous mistake (the so-called "make-up" call). I always wondered about this. If I kick a call, now why the hell would I want to kick another one soon after to "make up" for the previous one??? Now I've got BOTH sides pissed at me and I've compromised my integrity.

Sometimes we'll eject someone for incessant arguing in order to shut someone down who has gone on way too long. I sometimes call this the "persistent idiot" ejection. You want to persist in being a rambling idiot? Fine. Do it in someone else's game, not mine. I don't like long games or anything that prolongs them. Period.

Another area that tends to earn an ejection is when someone brings up something that happened earlier, whether it be much earlier in the game or even a previous game. I sometimes will tell such an individual to give it a rest, that it's over, but if they won't listen to me and choose to continue to bring up something in the past, I'll eject them. I'm one who tends to get pissed when someone dredges up a previous incident.

Have I answered your question enough?

[ May 05, 2006, 08:48 AM: Message edited by: MLB UMPIRE ]

Yes---I always appreciate the responses you provide---I find them very helpful and I try to use a lot of what has been discussed during my own games.

I guess no matter what the level, we all think alike. I pretty much operate the same way, although at my levels, you don't get too much profanity ejections. I, too hate the "earlier call arguments" as well.

I guess it's the persisent idiot one that gets me. I'm never sure when "enough is enough", especially if they aren't swearing or insulting my integrity. I guess it depends what my mood is, but I always feel those are the toughest situations.

Josh

I have heard rumlbings about generous buyout packages offered to senior MLB umpires at the beginning of the season. Since DeMuth & Hohn havent worked a game all year and Brinkman has been gone for a large portion of the season, is there anything you could tell us about this?

Is there a written set of guidelines that Bob Watson uses to determine the amount of fines and the lengths of suspensions? I couldn't find anything about this in the Umpire's Handbook or the Rules of Basball. It seems like Watson can do pretty much anything he wants to players involved in on and off the field transgressions. Also, why would the Players Association agree to grant him this omnipotent power and then turn around an appeal practically every decision he hands down? I know these questions don't usually interest umpires, but I would love to just once read, or get some kind of general understanding, of the guidelines that Watson employs for discipling players.

Can you confirm whether or not there was an update this year to the OBR which changed the dropped third strike rule to the batter being called out when he leaves the dirt area around the plate? A fellow poster on an umpire discussion board saw this in the Sporting News 2006 OBR book they publish. Thanks.

If only even we knew exactly how Mr. Watson makes his decisions--it's one of life's mysteries I suppose. To be honest with you, we are not privy to how discipline is arrived at. I'm sure that precedent often comes into play. With Barrett, for example, his suspension mirrored one handed down at the end of spring training this year when another player was punched.

I know to which forum and poster you are referring. Considering he and I have conversed about this, he is correct in his explanations on the many changes. Indeed, there were an unprecedented more than 20 changes to the Official Baseball Rules (OBR) this year. I can't recall a time when something like this ever happened. There were some editorial changes while other changes simply reflected official interpretations that were codified in the actual rule book.

The Players Association has to approve all changes to the playing rules, which is absolutely asinine. Did you know Baseball is the only sport where the players must approve rule changes? They've OK'd some already, but the rest are still pending. The third strike not caught change can be traced back to one play. Let's just call it the A.J. rule. I'm sure you understand.

ump....
very very concerned as i just flipped over to TBS watching the braves/marlins for a bit...

what happened to jerry layne tonite is goddamn scary...
please wish him the best and please keep us posted on his condition in case it isn't reported in mainstream media...

thanks

Josh

From the mainstream media:

Yes, Jerry is doing fine. He was a bit shaken up by what happen. I am sure if Jerry were able to reply personally, he would express his appreciation for your sentiments. And Josh, yes, what happened was indeed scary, especially when first viewed.

Would you throw out a ballplayer who called you a fag or queer in anger? Or, do you just ignore insults of all types? Just asking. I am gay myself.

Do umpires, referees or judges wear jockstraps? Do they wear them while officiating? I've always wondered especially of the NFL referees. Ed Hoculi wears his uniforms real tight. There isn't any obvious bulges or VPLs.

My apologies for not answering this earlier, Phil. It had slipped under the radar, I think. To answer your question, anyone who directs a personal crack at me is immediately ejected. I don't care if that crack is "fag," "idiot," "dumbass," or anything else, as long as it's personal. If someone wants to insult a call, that's one thing; but to insult me earns the prompt ejection.









I can't speak for Ed or the other NFL officials, only Major League Umpires. Yes, we all wear jockstraps of some sort, at least behind the plate. When working the stick, we of course wear protective cups. Some guys wear one in a traditional jockstrap, others wear one in an ankle-length undergarment. MacDavid Interawear, for example, which is akin to Under Armour (UA doesn't have an ankle-length undergarment with a cup pocket, unfortunately), has very good anke-length undergarments with cup pockets. This is a welcome change from the traditional jockstrap configuration.



On the bases, most of us generally just have the ankle-length undergarments under our pants (no cups). I think most folks would be surprised by how much we wear underneath our actual outer uniform (pants, shirt/jacket).

The Playing Rules Committee has just approved the 2007 changes to Official Baseball Rules. Most changes are simply 2006's that automatically went into effect this year due to the Players Association never acting on them; however, there are some additions, clarifications, etc.

You can view the changes here.

Here are the 2007 Major League Umpire Crews. Tim Tschida has been promoted to a crew chief, replacing Joe Brinkman following the latter's retirement December 31st. Crew chiefs are listed first in bold.

Bruce Froemming
Mike Winters
Mark Wegner
Brian Runge

Ed Montague
Jerry Layne
Bill Miller
Marvin Hudson

Jerry Crawford
Bill Hohn
Brian O'Nora
Phil Cuzzi

Randy Marsh
Bob Davidson
Hunter Wendelstedt
Sam Holbrook

Rick Reed
Chuck Meriwether
Alfonso Marquez
Tim Timmons

Gerry Davis
Brian Gorman
Mike Everitt
Paul Nauert

Dana DeMuth
Derryl Cousins
Kerwin Danley
Doug Eddings

Mike Reilly
Jeff Kellogg
Eric Cooper
Andy Fletcher

Tim McClelland
Fieldin Culbreth
Paul Schrieber
Marty Foster

John Hirschbeck
Wally Bell
Laz Diaz
Bill Welke

Tim Welke
Gary Cederstrom
Jim Reynolds
Lance Barksdale

Larry Young
Angel Hernandez
Ted Barrett
Mark Carlson

Dale Scott
Ron Kulpa
Paul Emmel
Dan Iassogna

Joe West
Ed Rapuano
C.B. Bucknor
Mike DiMuro

Charlie Reliford
Larry Vanover
Greg Gibson
Tony Randazzo

Gary Darling
Larry Poncino
Jerry Meals
Bruce Dreckman

Tim Tschida
Jim Joyce
Jeff Nelson
Jim Wolf

Are Mike DiMuro and Bill Hohn both poised to make returns to the field this coming season? If I remember correctly, between the two of them, they worked exactly 0 regular season games last season. What about Ed Montague? I know he worked some last season, but was definitely limited, if not shut down, after approximately July 31st. Joe Brinkman also fell victim to injury at approximately the same time, but, we now know what the ultimate resolution to that situation was.

Is there a pending final resolution to the ultimate status of Tom Hallion and Ed Hickox?

Joe Brinkman retired due to a minor heart condition and not an injury.