Thanks Brian

[RPatrino]

Look at the last angle again. It is possible that the O's catcher had the plate completely blocked, so Polanco never touched it.

[jwwashburn]

Originally Posted by RPatrino

Look at the last angle again. It is possible that the O's catcher had the plate completely blocked, so Polanco never touched it.

Look at RECAP at the 2:24 mark. Polly was way safe. Foot on the plate before the O's catcher caught the throw.

I do not have detailed stats but, I think Runge is a dolt.

Joe in Missouri

[LDUB]

Originally Posted by jwwashburn

Foot on the plate before the O's catcher caught the throw.

No, the runner touched the plate and the fielder's glove was still 6 or 8 inches away. You're as bad as that idiot manager that yells that the runner beat the play by 3 steps on a banger at first base.

[JR12]

Does anyone think Brian was a little too close on both those plays at the plate?

[SanDiegoSteve]

Runge was not too close, as it was a tag play. You are supposed to be close to tag plays. He was in perfect position on 3BLX and correctly ascertained that the runner's front leg crossed over the plate without touching it. He was then tagged by the catcher before his trail leg touched the plate (the only leg that touched the plate).

Only a real homer (mmm...unexplained bacon) would argue this. Polanco gave up his argument quickly, as he knew he didn't really touch the plate, and no manager came out to get ejected, as you would have thought.

And none of the Runge's are "dolts." Not Ed, not Paul, and not Brian. Brian earned his way to where he's gotten. His job wasn't just handed to him. I'm sure his little quip at the clinic was said tongue-in-cheek, as Brian has had plenty of bangers in his career and probably much closer plays than a stupid little "clinic play."

[JR12]

[QUOTE=He was then tagged by the catcher before his trail leg touched the plate (the only leg that touched the plate)."[/QUOTE]




I dont want to argue, but I would disagree. Also I don't think Brian is a poor Umpire, he may have blown one and it went in my teams favor. $h1t happens! Check out the pics my son got from the video, it appears the runners foot is on the plate(at least to me).But the beauty of baseball is that nobody had a better view than Brian.



http://www.freewebs.com/cadet13/apps...lbumID=1723548

[SanDiegoSteve]

Not very good images are they? It's hard to determine from there. In the video, it sure looked like his leg came in higher, above the plate. Are you sure that the pictures weren't edited with Photoshop?

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by msavakinas

Beg to differ. He kicked the call. Get off his jock just because you know him. We understand that. I honestly think that Marty Brennaman is right and it's not a coincidence that sh!t happens every time he's behind the dish.

All three of his ejections have been his fault because he screwed up.

I'm not sniffing his jock at all. I know him, but we're not buddies or anything. I call sh!t either as it is or as I see it. From looking at the crappy video on MLB and the crappy still photos I've seen, I can't really tell if the plate is being touched.

And then there is the fact that twice I mentioned that umpires miss calls, which is to say "get over it." So, I twice admitted the possibility of a blown call. But from what I saw, it looked like his leg was in the air. I'm not defending Runge on a personal level, just basing it on what I saw in the crappy video clip.

The ejections were deemed to have been on correct calls by an independant source. I'm not making anything up. Plus, Manuel had no business coming out, and I would have run him much sooner myself, like as soon as he started arguing balls and strikes. Runge takes too much crap, IMO. And he tried to keep motormouth Beltran in the game, but the little pendejo couldn't keep his boca shut. Runge gave him chance after chance to pipe down, and just couldn't do it.

And as far as jock straps go, Brennaman couldn't hold Vin Scully's or Harry Kalas'. Highly overrated. Boy, oh boy!

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by msavakinas

Marty is the man... lol And he is right here. It's just an observation.

Spoken like a loyal fan

Originally Posted by msavakinas

Umm the independent source might be that umpire fantasy league site you referred to a couple weeks ago?? Not exactly credible... They also said that Andy Fletcher kicked the call where he dumped Sciosca a couple weeks ago. Not the case sir.

Here is the quotation of the story, so what part are you saying isn't the case?

HP Umpire Andy Fletcher ejected Angels Manager Mike Scioscia for arguing a foul ball call in the top of the 5th inning of the Angels-Rangers game. With one out and none on, Angels second baseman Howie Kendrick took a 1-2 fastball inside, the pitch deflecting off to the side of home plate. Fletcher called the pitch a foul ball, while Kendrick held his right elbow, claiming that the pitch hit him. Scioscia came out to argue, and after a discussion with Fletcher, returned to the dugout. After the next pitch, a foul ball, Fletcher turned to the Angels dugout and ejected Scioscia. Replays show that the pitch clearly hit Kendrick on the right elbow, the call was incorrect.

Originally Posted by msavakinas

He should have balked the Brewers pitcher in his first ejection. Brendan Harris stepped out and the Brewers pitcher balked because of it. It should have been no pitch because a batter cannot cause the pitcher to balk. Instead he rang up Brendan Harris and ended up ejecting Gardenhire.

I remember seeing this play on Sports Center. Gardernhire was ejected for arguing balls and strikes. There was no balk on the play. Harris stepped out without being granted Time, so the pitch was called by location. Here is what happened on the play exactly.

HP Umpire Brian Runge ejected Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire for arguing a called third strike in the top of the 8th inning of the Twins-Brewers game. With none out and none on, Twins shortstop Brendan Harris was called out on three strikes on an 0-2 fastball from Brewers pitcher Guillermo Mota. Harris had tried to call timeout before the pitch but was not granted time by Runge. Major League Baseball recently sent a point of emphasis to all umpires regarding the pace of the game; one of these points discourages the granting of time to a batter asking for it when the pitcher has already started his motion. Replays show that Mota had already begun his motion when Harris asked for time and the pitch was located over the heart of the plate, the call was correct.

Originally Posted by msavakinas

The second time the pitch was a strike, but he should not have stepped out like he did in front of Beltran. He should've said something with his mask on or went out and dusted off the plate and said something under his breath, just like Beltran was doing to him. Now if Beltran said enough to get tossed with his head down, he should've tossed him right away. He also bumped into Manuel... if they can't do it why can we?? And he paid his price for it with a night off and got paid for it.

Do you have documentation that says he got paid? That doesn't seem fair.

So what, he bumped Manuel? How many times have coaches bumped you? Well, when you've umpired for awhile longer you can answer that. The answer is that it happens. Arguments get heated. People touch. Oooooh, a bump...let's cry about it. It's not like he hauled off and punched him, come on. Haven't you seen video of the "pine tar" incident with George Brett. Look at all the bumping and wrestling that went on between Brett and the umpires. And on top of that, Runge apologized to Manuel for the bump. That still doesn't make coming out to argue balls and strikes right, nor does it make the bumping right. Manuel should have been ran long before any bumping could have occurred.

And Beltran was not talking "under his breath." What a crock! He turned his head and was jawing with Runge and putting on a show of disrespect. If he had kept his head down and truly spoken under his breath, nobody would have even known he was arguing, and that might have been the end of it. Runge got tired of the mouthiness and had a little talk with the guy while cleaning the plate. Why should he keep his mask on? I always remove my mask to clean the plate, why should anyone else do differently. When you keep your mask on, it dangles when you bend over. It only makes sense to remove it when cleaning the plate. And then, the discussion was over, and everything would have been okay, but Runge stands up from brushing the plate, and Manuel is right there in his face, where he doesn't belong. Where did he belong? Why, back in the dugout, that's where.

Originally Posted by msavakinas

There it is. He screwed the pooch both times when he did the tossing.

Apparently not. Only problem was in the way he handled the Mets situation. Too lenient and wanted to argue way too much. He should have just dumped them.

Originally Posted by msavakinas

Umpires miss calls. The point is he is at that level to get them right and shouldn't miss a call like the one in tigers game. He is supposed to be the example for the rest of us to learn from.

When I worked with him, I was the seasoned veteran and he was the raw rookie! He should have learned from me.

[FTVMartin]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

Runge was not too close, as it was a tag play. You are supposed to be close to tag plays. He was in perfect position on 3BLX and correctly ascertained that the runner's front leg crossed over the plate without touching it. He was then tagged by the catcher before his trail leg touched the plate (the only leg that touched the plate).

Only a real homer (mmm...unexplained bacon) would argue this. Polanco gave up his argument quickly, as he knew he didn't really touch the plate, and no manager came out to get ejected, as you would have thought.

"

Watch it again. He was clearly safe. His foot wasn't even in the air. Leyland got it right after the game when he said umpires make mistakes but that isn't why we lost. We had a 6-0 lead and the umps didn't cost us the game.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by FTVMartin

Watch it again. He was clearly safe. His foot wasn't even in the air. Leyland got it right after the game when he said umpires make mistakes but that isn't why we lost. We had a 6-0 lead and the umps didn't cost us the game.

I can't seem to get but one quick look at it from a horrible angle, the thing takes forever to load on this dinosaur computer of mine, and the action is choppy and broken up. I know I must be missing some critical part of it, because I swear he looks like his leg is elevated.

I don't really care one way or the other. The only view I've had was on this crappy little video clip, so I am probably wrong.

[ozzy6900]

Originally Posted by JR12

Does anyone think Brian was a little too close on both those plays at the plate?

I think that the fan with the broken nose is more important than worrying about this call!

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by jwwashburn

I do not have detailed stats

I do. Brian Runge has had 3 ejections this season, 2 of which were on one call (Manuel, Beltran). Both calls that led to the ejections were the correct calls. He doesn't blow that many calls to start with.

[jwwashburn]

Originally Posted by SanDiegoSteve

I do. Brian Runge has had 3 ejections this season, 2 of which were on one call (Manuel, Beltran). Both calls that led to the ejections were the correct calls. He doesn't blow that many calls to start with.

But, Polanco is little Joe's favorite player!

O-E-O PLA-CI-DOOOO