The Terrible Umpires Thread

[Transmogrified Tiger]

Same guy who ejected Counsell from 100+ feet away

[Derwood]

That's one of the worst calls I've ever seen.

[Wilson A2000]

Angel Hernandez is retiring effective immediately after reaching a settlement with MLB

[cl smooth]

[Rex Buckingham]

Petition to rename this thread:

The Angel Hernandez Memorial Terrible Umpires Thread

[JHBulls]

Angel Hernandez about to go full Joe West and edit his Wikipedia page to remove anything that makes him look bad. After 7 months at it night and day…

 

[soccer10k]

 

[Wilson A2000]

 

 

 

[We Got The Whole 9]

You can surely help the hitters batting average by calling strikes correctly you stupid ass league.

[Rex Buckingham]

the ones that seem especially harmful are when they get the first pitch or two of an AB wrong... going down 0-1 instead of up 1-0, moving to 1-1 instead of 2-0, really helps the pitcher. 

[Regular Show]

I'm glad they're utilizing this challenge system, but would have preferred a full ABS system instead. Hitters and catchers with a really great understanding of the strike zone will be rewarded in this new system.

I think there will be added benefits too:

- Umpires will stop making the egregiously bad calls (Angel Hernandez special) because no umpire wants to get overturned a bunch of times in a row/inning/game. 

- Younger players/managers will like the added strategy/ability to get the call right, and I believe they will eventually expand the system from 2 challenges per game to 3 challenges per game.

- Umpires will bitch and complain about this system anonymously lol

- Catchers with amazing pitch framing will stop being rewarded for stealing strikes, and making balls look like strikes on the edges of the strike zone. Framing won't completely go away, but it'll have less significance now.

The only thing I really dislike is that MLB might remove the K zone from broadcasts for some dumb reason. I get that the K zone shown on TV might not match up with the strike zone used by Hawk Eye & MLB, but you shouldn't get rid of it. Viewers have grown accustomed to it now and I prefer having it, and I'm sure they can eventually get it to match the strike zone used by MLB. They also mentioned having the K zone on the broadcast takes away from the "suspense" of knowing whether the challenge is right or wrong, but that's a really stupid reason to get rid of it IMO.

   

[PackLandVA]

 

 

Edited June 5, 2025 by PackLandVA

[Bobson Dugnutt]

I’m having Deja vu.

 

 

[Regular Show]

I knew an MLB player was eventually going to do this after a bad call, but I'm surprised he tried to deny it.

That wasn't a subtle gesture lol. 

[Derwood]

Excuse my ignorance, but what does tapping your helmet mean?

[Rob]

4 minutes ago, Derwood said:

Excuse my ignorance, but what does tapping your helmet mean?

That's what they used in spring training to initiate the ball-strike challenges.

[Derwood]

5 minutes ago, Rob said:

That's what they used in spring training to initiate the ball-strike challenges.

Ah, got it.

Petty bullshiit thing to toss someone over, but here we are

[javy knows my name]

Thank you both, I was lost too

[javy knows my name]

I think if you're not a special, emotional snowflake, you give him a warning for that and leave it there

[Stratos]

If they're going to implement the challenge system then just put in an automatic strike zone and let the umps call it.  Why slow the action down and also do it half-arse?  Take the ball-strike indicator (solid white ball icon) off the broadcasts so we can at least wait for the call from the umps.

[Derwood]

8 hours ago, Stratos said:

If they're going to implement the challenge system then just put in an automatic strike zone and let the umps call it.  Why slow the action down and also do it half-arse?  Take the ball-strike indicator (solid white ball icon) off the broadcasts so we can at least wait for the call from the umps.

Give the home plate ump an earpiece and let the computer that does the zone instantly indicate ball or strike. The ump can do whatever gesticulation he wants with the call

[PackLandVA]

 

Link

 

A few caveats out of the gate here. Umpiring, especially behind the plate, is extraordinarily difficult and Major League Baseball employs some incredibly talented individuals to do it. And the strike zone box that appears on television is far more specious and arbitrary than most viewers think, especially when it comes to the bottom and top of the zone. But even with those concessions, home plate umpire Phil Cuzzi did not have his best night on Monday working behind the dish in the Philadelphia Phillies-San Francisco Giants game.

After expanding the zone on Bryce Harper in the top of the eighth with the score knotted at 1-1, Cuzzi watched three Orion Kekering pitches to Matt Chapman potentially get a decent part of the zone without busting out a strike three call in the bottom of the frame.

Chapman would eventually aim a single through the right side of the infield, setting up the Giants' game-winning run in a contest they went on to win, 3-1.

 

[PackLandVA]

 

[Tangled Up in Plaid]

would not be surprised to see him pull an Angel Hernandez and retire mid-season

also, it looks like he just got concussed on a foul tip in Milwaukee. Had to leave the game. Crazy week

Edited April 1 by Tangled Up in Plaid