MLB Umpire admits blowing call

[jimpiano]

From MLB reports: Detroit 4 Minnesota 2, Sunday, July 13, 2008
===
Blackburn's first two runs came in the second inning after a missed call by the umpiring crew. With one out in the inning, Marcus Thames hit a ground ball to third baseman Brian Buscher. The throw by Buscher to first base required Justin Morneau to extend his reach to make the catch. First-base umpire Jim Wolf ruled Thames safe on the play, although replays clearly showed that Morneau's foot had remained on the bag.

Gardenhire went out to talk to Wolf and the umpiring crew met for a moment to discuss the situation. But the call stood because no other umpire saw the play.

"He told me he made a mistake and said, 'I'm just going to have to live with it. I made a call and no one else saw it,'" Gardenhire said. "How are you going to argue with that? He told me he screwed it up, and all you ever ask is for an umpire to be honest."

The call proved costly for the Twins, as Clete Thomas followed it with his first career Major League home run. The two-run shot to right field off Blackburn gave Detroit a 2-0 lead.

Still, Gardenhire didn't place blame on Wolf for the turn of events.

"He didn't throw the next pitch over the fence," Gardenhire said.

--------------------------------

What would be wrong with overturning your own call instead of asking another umpire to do it?

Admirable as it was to admit blowing a call, would it have been better to just reverse the call?

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by jimpiano

What would be wrong with overturning your own call instead of asking another umpire to do it?

Everything would be wrong with changing your call. If you call it, you eat it. You don't call it and then ask for help, or even worse, reverse yourself. That's horsesh*t. If you ain't sure, better ask before making a call.

Originally Posted by jimpiano

Admirable as it was to admit blowing a call, would it have been better to just reverse the call?

Absolutely not. Reverse the call and have the other manager up in your face for a second argument? Cha, I don't think so! And it's not always prudent to admit you blew a call. If you know you blew it, maybe, but don't make a habit out of it. The pros make very few bad calls, so admitting to an occasional error is not a big deal. Always using the "I blew it" defense is bush and a sign of a really weak umpire.

[soundedlikeastrike]

[QUOTE]What would be wrong with overturning your own call instead of asking another umpire to do it?

SLAS: Why would you? You call what "you" see.
When did he admit he blew it, was it after he saw the replay?
Well, there ain't no replay in BB, not yet anyway.

If he admitted it when coach asked him, then he is a knuckle head for not changing it. What would that sound like:
Coach: ah, can you get some help there, he held the bag.
Ump: Ah, I know coach, your right, but since I already called it, I can't change it now. I don't think so.

It sounded like the sit. was R1 only, so where was his help, was PU to busy to not see the foot on or off the bag?

Admirable as it was to admit blowing a call, would it have been better to just reverse the call?

Admirable? I suppose, but once it's on the big screens across the world, it makes it a whole lot easier to admit.
Reverse it, well sure it would, but again, I gotta think he had no other objective evidence for him to consider, he called what "he" saw.

And once he saw the replay, I'm sure he's a changed it then, if he could.

[jimpiano]

[QUOTE=soundedlikeastrike]

What would be wrong with overturning your own call instead of asking another umpire to do it?

SLAS: Why would you? You call what "you" see.
When did he admit he blew it, was it after he saw the replay?
Well, there ain't no replay in BB, not yet anyway.

If he admitted it when coach asked him, then he is a knuckle head for not changing it. What would that sound like:
Coach: ah, can you get some help there, he held the bag.
Ump: Ah, I know coach, your right, but since I already called it, I can't change it now. I don't think so.

It sounded like the sit. was R1 only, so where was his help, was PU to busy to not see the foot on or off the bag?



Admirable? I suppose, but once it's on the big screens across the world, it makes it a whole lot easier to admit.
Reverse it, well sure it would, but again, I gotta think he had no other objective evidence for him to consider, he called what "he" saw.

And once he saw the replay, I'm sure he's a changed it then, if he could.

There was no replay.

[jimpiano]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Everything would be wrong with changing your call. If you call it, you eat it. You don't call it and then ask for help, or even worse, reverse yourself. That's horsesh*t. If you ain't sure, better ask before making a call.



Absolutely not. Reverse the call and have the other manager up in your face for a second argument? Cha, I don't think so! And it's not always prudent to admit you blew a call. If you know you blew it, maybe, but don't make a habit out of it. The pros make very few bad calls, so admitting to an occasional error is not a big deal. Always using the "I blew it" defense is bush and a sign of a really weak umpire.

I don't disagree with anything you said in rebuttal, but:

If the call was wrong and the umpire admitted it why call a conference of the other umpires? The call was so bad that the home plate umpire, had he been hustling, could have easily overturned it.

It is interesting to note that a couple of days before Minnesota got a triple play taken way when an umpire blew a call on a trapped ball, a ruling reversed after a conference that led to Gardenhire's ejection and a 7 run inning by the Red Sox.

[bobbybanaduck]

how can you take away something that never was?

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by jimpiano

It is interesting to note that a couple of days before Minnesota got a triple play taken way when an umpire blew a call on a trapped ball, a ruling reversed after a conference that led to Gardenhire's ejection and a 7 run inning by the Red Sox.

Well, they didn't get a triple play taken away, because they never should have had one to begin with, as the ball the clearly trapped, not caught. The umpires correctly reversed the call. The fact that Ron Gardenhire got ejected was just a fringe benefit Charlie Reliford.

[SanDiegoSteve]

I just think the "get the call right at all costs" mentality should stop when it comes to force plays at a base. That's taking it a bit too far. Why not just have machines call the whole friggin' game, then we wouldn't need any umpires. Because that day is coming down the road, mark my words.

REPLAY SUCKS!

[David B]

Originally Posted by jimpiano

From MLB reports: Detroit 4 Minnesota 2, Sunday, July 13, 2008
===
Blackburn's first two runs came in the second inning after a missed call by the umpiring crew. With one out in the inning, Marcus Thames hit a ground ball to third baseman Brian Buscher. The throw by Buscher to first base required Justin Morneau to extend his reach to make the catch. First-base umpire Jim Wolf ruled Thames safe on the play, although replays clearly showed that Morneau's foot had remained on the bag.

Gardenhire went out to talk to Wolf and the umpiring crew met for a moment to discuss the situation. But the call stood because no other umpire saw the play.

"He told me he made a mistake and said, 'I'm just going to have to live with it. I made a call and no one else saw it,'" Gardenhire said. "How are you going to argue with that? He told me he screwed it up, and all you ever ask is for an umpire to be honest."

The call proved costly for the Twins, as Clete Thomas followed it with his first career Major League home run. The two-run shot to right field off Blackburn gave Detroit a 2-0 lead.

Still, Gardenhire didn't place blame on Wolf for the turn of events.

"He didn't throw the next pitch over the fence," Gardenhire said.

--------------------------------

What would be wrong with overturning your own call instead of asking another umpire to do it?

Admirable as it was to admit blowing a call, would it have been better to just reverse the call?

Bottomline, umpires will make mistakes. That's the beauty of baseball.

What a boring game it would be if every call was correct ...

We've all made calls we wish we could take back, but we just roll with the punches and continue on.

Have to admit the manager understood with his comment about the next pitch etc.,

thanks
David