In the dirt or not?

[David Emerling]

Originally posted by orangeump
Ok everyone, you can all sit there on your couches with your heather grey sweat pants on and think you are a big leaguer, but come on. Are you going to tell me that Doug Eddings mechanics are flawed, seriously? Give me a break.
He didnt get a "no contact" mechanic as Harold Reynolds says, he didnt give a "delayed dead ball" mechanic as one genius poster suggested. Come on folks.

Are you SERIOUSLY going to sit there and say "a more experienced catcher would have tagged him"? That is a joke, right? Not sure, but I think Josh Paul might be slightly better than league ball catchers that we're used to, no? He is a major league catcher for petesake.

How about instead of focusing on the one play the one play the Tim McCarver and the super slow motion replays told you that he MIGHT have missed, why not focus on the job he did last night?
Great foul ball call early in the game when it was very close to being a foul tip, he got that one right didnt he? Hmmm, same principal at work there. In fact, AJ threw the ball to third like he caught it, yet Doug was right.

Great calll at the plate in the second, great look, great mechanic. Great job.
That entire crew did a great job last night, but that one call, thats gonna go down forever. Someone start talking about that play at second base that Ron Kulpa nailed...do it, I dare ya.

I'm sure Doug Eddings is a great umpire. I have no doubt about it.

But let's all agree on something - many umpires, once they arrive in the big leagues, start adopting their OWN, unique, style. Some are pointers, some are hammers, and some have weird variants. One umpire, I forget his name, gives a quick flash of his hand as if he is a cobra striking or swatting at flys.

I'll bet they were all much more standardized as AAA umpires. Or, at a minimum, less "colorful". Most AAA umpires don't try to distinguish themselves by having unique styles.

Doug Eddings has the following habit/routine when calling a swinging third strike. He extends his right arm parallel to the ground, ostensibly indicating that the pitch is a strike. Then he follows it up with the classic hammer.

Not really a big deal, but it IS unusual. I don't think I've ever seen an umpire give a double signal to indicate a swinging strike other than when you POINT at the batter on a checked swing.

Normally nobody notices or cares. It doesn't really matter that much. And Eddings' unorthodox mechanic had NOTHING to do with the chaos that ensued on the play. Josh Paul never looked at Eddings so he can hardly claim he was confused by some signal Eddings may have given.

Unfortunately for Doug Eddings, when something unusual happens in a high profile game, your mechanics sometimes go under a microscope. The very thing happpened that would most highlight Eddings' unusual strike mechanic. The question was whether he had already called the batter out. He gives what many would interpret as a "strike" call (the extended right arm) and then follows it up with what many would interpret as an "out" call (the hammer). The confusion is understandable notwithstanding that Eddings had been calling it this way the entire game.

David Emerling
Memphis, TN