Quote:
Originally posted by PeteBooth
Jim if memory serves, while not on an intentioanl walk, wasn't there controversy (can't remember exactly what happened), over the way Havy Lopez of the Braves was catching? Didn't Cox get ejecetd over it? Perhaps you can expand
Pete Booth
|
Sure. Here's what happened.
Back during the season of 1999, the commissioner's office was making a concerted effort to get the umpires to squeeze the width of the strike zone. They felt too many hitters were leaning over the plate to take away the outside pitch, then getting busted inside. They felt that led to more hit batsmen, more beanball incidents, more fights, and more ejections. For those reasons, they wanted umpires to call strikes only on pitches that passed over the plate, and end the common practice of giving a ball width or two (or three) off the the outside corner. (It was for those same reasons that the commissioner's office mandated the high strike two years later)
At the time, the Braves' catchers had a well-known reputation for setting up outside the catcher's box. Many teams complained to the commissioner's office that umpires would call strikes on outside pitches because the Braves' catchers, set up wide of the plate, didn't have to move their mitts much at all to glove those outside pitches.
The whole issue began to heat up on Wednesday, May 26 1999 when the Braves played at Milwaukee. In the first inning, plate umpire Angel Hernandez stopped the game just as pitcher Bruce Chen initiated his delivery to warn Braves' catcher Javier Lopez to stay within the lines of the catcher's box.
"Lopez got the warning because Angel said he was setting up eight inches to a foot outside every time," crew chief Randy Marsh was quoted as saying after the game. Inexplicably, Marsh and Joe West both worked the plate for the first two games of that series and said nothing to the Braves' catchers. Some sources close to the incident reported that Brewers manager Phil Garner put that bug in Hernandez's ear.
Braves' manager Bobby Cox went ballistic. After probably suggesting that Angel Hernandez was sexually insane, he told Hernandez that, if he was going to be so picky, he should make sure every batter is entirely within the lines of the batter's box. Major League hitters commonly take their stances with their back foot over the back line of the box. Cox was ejected.
Fast forward to June 23, 2000 when the Brewers were visiting Hot-lanta. This time it was Milwaukee's new manager Davey Lopes who complained to plate umpire Ed Rapuano about Javy Lopez's position. The following night, on June 24, plate umpire John Shulock called a balk on the Braves' backup catcher Fernando Lunar for setting up outside the lines of the catcher's box.
Whether the crew decided to call the balk on their own, or whether they received guidance from the commissioner's office following the game on the 23rd, is unclear. What is clear is that Shulock had created a new rule just for the Braves' catcher.
The very next day, the Braves' flagship television station, TBS, aired video showing that the Braves had been drawing their catcher's boxes larger than the rules allow. The box was 4 to 5 inches smaller on the 24th - - the night the balk was called - - than on the 23rd. Since the Brewers complained about Lopez's position on the 23rd, and fearing that the catcher's box would be measured by the umpires on the 24th, the Braves went back to the dimensions allowed by rule.
That caused yet another storm of controversy. And the Braves responded by banning four TBS broadcasters from the team's chartered flights. The Braves quickly reversed their decision the very next day, but the buzz was already flying around baseball.
The controversy flared up again on July 22, 2000. This time it was good ol' Bobby Valentine, manager of the Mets, who complained to plate umpire Andrew Fletcher that the Braves' backup catcher Paul Bako was out of the box. Interestingly enough, Ed Rapuano - - the only umpire common to both 2000 incidents - - was working first base, and standing in for Jim McKean as the Crew Chief of a very young crew. It was probably a test for Rapuano.
Ralph Nelson, Vice President in charge of umpires, did his part to quash the controversy. He sent memos to the umpires asking them not to scrutinize any one team. He sent memos to the teams regarding the issue. He also fielded questions from the media. Although he would not publically admit that there was no rule to support Shulock's decision, he did say that the rules involved would be examined, and changes made for the 2001 season.
Needless to say, there weren't any catcher's balks during the 2001 season.