Did anyone see the Cubs Padres Game on August 12. There was a play at second where Grudzelanak makes a great play flips it to Nomar. Foremming calls the runner safe. It looked to me that he made the classic mistake of anticipating the play (timing seemed to be poor. There was no reason to rush the call.) because the replay clearly showed he was out by about 3 feet. Also the runner going in to second basically leg whipped Nomar causing a wild throw. I assume that's OK in the Pro's

Saw it. The runner was out, as you say, easily.

Bruce may be nearing the end of his usefulness in the majors. His performance behind the plate has, at times this year, also been inconsistent. I have seen him call cock shots balls and then go almost Gregg-like on the corners.

I saw this play too. It was clearly an easy out call. Froemming seemed to be a little out of position, and the runner appeared to make contact with him on his way to second. I don't know if this impacted his decision or affected his view, but it would be interesting to hear how he saw it. Still, the Cubs missed some opportunities to get back into the ball game.

Froemming said he had Nomar across the bag and that when he saw the replay after the game, he realized he missed the call.
I thought I heard on ESPN that he also said he did not have the best angle on it.

Blues also missed a homerun in the Colorado game. Ball was clearly over the fence. As I recall there was no runners on and the ball hit to right/right center so Wally Bell (2b Blue)would have been the one to miss that one if I understand the 4 man mechanic correctly on that.

While I have not seen much baseball on TV this year, it just seems to me the guys in the majors are missing more call than normal. I still feel that they totally kicked the Posada interfernce call against the Mets. The ball went under Piazza in the 1B cutout area, hit Posada behind him and they ruled F4 could have gotten there. Yeah if he was playing in right field. There was no shift on so there is no way you can figure F4 would have gotten way over there. Replay showed F4 not even in the background.
As well it seems strike zones look to be more inconsistant as well. Maybe questec has something to do with that as blues have admitted to changing their strike zone in tec parks.

These guys are the best and I don't want to seem hard on them (Angel Hernandez nailed an absolute tough call Wednesday night against Jeter in the 9th at 1b where Jeter was out by a fraction of an inch with the pitcher falling), but for some reason it SEEMS the overall level is down a little this season.

[Edited by cowbyfan1 on Aug 13th, 2004 at 05:46 AM]

I just don't understand what this world is coming to. Don't the perfectionist and major sports management get it?

Get rid of these incompetent, error-ridden, useless, 99% correct, human beings dressed as officials, that are ruining the sports world, and all their problems will be solved.

Time spent on Forums discussing mistakes will be shorter. There will be less sports writer, (which probably is not all that bad). The coaches will have more relaxed lives because they only have to concentrate on coaching. There will NEVER be any disputed Championships or disputed winners. They won't need Queztec, replays, and other devices to get it right, Heck you won't even need extra copies of rule books. This money saved can probably by George another Championship. He will be happy, (if thats possible). There will be no unruly fans because all the games will be perfect.

What a great idea!!!!!!!

So there you have it, get those dam human beings out of the officiating ranks and most ALL of our sporting event problems will be solved.

Thank you, Glad I could help gentlemen.

Not down...we are just scrutinizing it more.
More cameras...more sports shows...better athletes making closer and more spectacular plays - all mean calls we are seeing calls that are scary, at best. We all know, they never remember the ones we got right, but the one we miss lives on in infamy.

Ah, but if there are no umps making (perceived) mistakes, who will the incompetent coaches and players blame their L's on? ;)

John

Hey we all miss em!
 

We all miss em but what made this one unusual was that this play is usually given to the fielder (F6) in the doulbe play.

Here were his comments from ESPN:

<i>The Cubs argued Garciaparra had stepped on the bag; replays confirmed it, Froemming admitted. "On the field I had him coming across the bag, I came in here and looked at the replay. I wanted to know if I had it right. I did not have it right," Froemming said. "You don't like to miss them. But I mean I looked at the replay and it's clear that he got the bag." </i>

Thanks
DAvid

Not that it matters, but I have never been a Froeming fan. I started watching the Braves regularly in 82 on TBS, and in my non umpire (ie. rat fan) days, he was my least favorite umpire. It seemed like every time he was in a series, there would be something he would instigate...whether it affected the Braves or the opponent. He was consistent on that point. He has always seemed to be an instigator. As an official, ideally you blend into the background and no one knows your name. Not Bruce...I cringed everytime he was on a series. And he rarely let me down.

That being said, he is the second longest tenured umpire, and you have to be good to survive for 30 years. As an umpire now in my wiser years, I still find myself questioning some of his calls more than the other guys. JMO

One of the great myths of officiating.

Originally posted by TBBlue
Second easiest way to get a sh!thouse going.