Quote:
Originally posted by Baseball_North
Another ejection situation that I want some input on, guys.
Bottom of the 6th inning. R1, R2, zero outs. Batter is at the plate with a 2-1 count. Squares around to bunt, noticed the fastball is coming in at him, tries to duck out of the way and gets plunked in the shoulder.
PU does not many any call. No point to first base. No "Yes he did! That's a strike!". Just silence. Opposing manager comes out to the PU and barks "Hey! That should be a strike", making reference to the fact that he thought the batter went around.
At that point, PU reluctantly and quietly goes, "Ya, that's a strike". Batter is pissed off and 3B coach comes in to argue. They asked him why he didn't make the call originally and why he waited for the "coach to make the call for him." They then asked him to at least ask his partner for help. He refused, and the batter continued to argue. Finally, PU ejects the batter.
Next batter comes up to the plate, strikes out. Under his breath, he muttered something as simple as "come on...". PU ejected him too, and looked really defensive in doing so. The defense was wondering themselves why he was thrown out, as they didn't hear him say anything and he had his back to the umpire.
In sum.....
#1) What should the call have been on the 1st batter in the situation? Does the position of the bat make the difference, or does it depend if he offered at it or not? Should he have made the call earlier? Should he have asked for help at least?
#2) Was he too defensive... and thus wrongfully ejected the second player?
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1) The umpire should take all the time he needs to make the call, but should not take so long that the coach comes out of the dugout before he has made a call. That's a LONG time. If a fastball is running in on him and he trys to duck and get's hit, my inclination would be to send him to 1B. Either way, 1 or 2 seconds max, there should be a call, one way or the other.
2) If the batter said "come on" and that's all he said, I would ignore that.