I have a question about MLB umpire protocol in changing a call. The situation is from yesterday's game between the Twins and the Nationals. The Nationals batter hit a fly ball that went into the right field upper deck. It was above the foul pole as it cleared the outfield fence.
U1 (Kulpa) ruled it fair and a home run. The following is from the press report on the game.
Quote:
"Gardenhire (Twins manager) talked with Kulpa and asked him to confer with his colleagues about the call.
Kulpa did, and the crew voted 3-1 to overturn Kulpa's ruling. The two-run homer was called off. Guzman returned to second and Young to the batter's box with a 1-2 count. ...
Crew chief Dale Scott, who was manning second base, said he and the umpires at home (Dan Iassogna) and third (Paul Emmel) thought Young's blast was foul.
"These foul poles don't go all the way up, and this was over the pole," Scott said. "So that makes it a lot tougher to try to judge where it was when it left the park. The key for us is, when you have a disputed thing like that, is to get together and make sure we're all on the same page. Obviously Ron (Kulpa) had it fair, but if we had it definitely foul, we're going to flip it."
|
Recognizing this account is from a sports reporter for the St. Paul Pioneer Press newspaper, is this explanation proper MLB umpire protocol for changing a call like this?