Bill Hohn: Worst MLB umpire or merely the most glaring?

[tarheelcoach]

Anyone can write an article on Bleacher Report. It is a fansite. The guy is an idiot - typical Brave fan.

[eagle_12]

What an idiot (the writer from the bleacher report)

I'm not usually one to advocate violence in any situation. But tomorrow night for the finale of this series, it would not bother me one bit if McCann accidentally moves his glove at the last minute to allow Hohn to catch one in that nasty porn mustache.

He is a bush league ump and had it in for the Braves tonight.



That's gonna have to have one heck of a lot of spin, or really bad aim to hit him down at third base. What a joke!

[GA Umpire]

Originally Posted by tarheelcoach

Anyone can write an article on Bleacher Report. It is a fansite. The guy is an idiot - typical Brave fan.

Typical, huh? I'm not a Braves fan. Just a baseball fan.

[SanDiegoSteve]

Originally Posted by GA Umpire

Typical, huh? I'm not a Braves fan. Just a baseball fan.

And you certainly don't qualify as "typical" anyway!

[Southside]

While it's impossible to know for sure how he ranks with the league, the fact that Hohn has only worked one post-season series since the shake-up of the staff in 1999 (2005 Division Series), suggests that he's not exactly impressing the powers that be. For someone with 20 years of service, three total postseasons (all Division Series) is pretty low. The only umpires with fewer postseason assignments were called up in 1999 or later, and most guys with Hohn's experience have around 7-8 playoff years. The fact that MLB has kept him out of the postseason in 17 of the 20 years he has umpired, including 9 of the 10 years since merit was supposedly given more weight in playoff assignments seems to suggest that he must be pretty close to the bottom of the league.

With most MLB guys, I'm honestly pretty surprised when they mess up. Every time I've seen Hohn work (admittedly not a lot of games), it seems like an adventure. Hohn and Paul Nauert (who's never been assigned a postseason game, besides the #6 spot on a division series crew in 8+ years [i.e. never been in a position where he could possible be behind the plate in a playoff game]), seem to be the two guys I've seen really struggle behind the plate, compared to most MLB guys. Obviously everyone misses a borderline pitch here or there, but I've seen Hohn and Nauert miss several not-borderline pitches over the years, which is not something you see very often from most of the guys who make it to that level. (I only mentioned balls/strikes, since that's generally what separates the "outstanding" from the "Major League-caliber" umpire.)

With so few spots opening up these days, and the logjam of AAA guys with lots of MLB games, it will be interesting to see if umpires like Hohn and Nauert who seem to struggle a bit more than most MLB umpires will be encouraged to "retire."

[jwwashburn]

Originally Posted by Southside

While it's impossible to know for sure how he ranks with the league, the fact that Hohn has only worked one post-season series since the shake-up of the staff in 1999 (2005 Division Series), suggests that he's not exactly impressing the powers that be. For someone with 20 years of service, three total postseasons (all Division Series) is pretty low. The only umpires with fewer postseason assignments were called up in 1999 or later, and most guys with Hohn's experience have around 7-8 playoff years. The fact that MLB has kept him out of the postseason in 17 of the 20 years he has umpired, including 9 of the 10 years since merit was supposedly given more weight in playoff assignments seems to suggest that he must be pretty close to the bottom of the league.

With most MLB guys, I'm honestly pretty surprised when they mess up. Every time I've seen Hohn work (admittedly not a lot of games), it seems like an adventure. Hohn and Paul Nauert (who's never been assigned a postseason game, besides the #6 spot on a division series crew in 8+ years [i.e. never been in a position where he could possible be behind the plate in a playoff game]), seem to be the two guys I've seen really struggle behind the plate, compared to most MLB guys. Obviously everyone misses a borderline pitch here or there, but I've seen Hohn and Nauert miss several not-borderline pitches over the years, which is not something you see very often from most of the guys who make it to that level. (I only mentioned balls/strikes, since that's generally what separates the "outstanding" from the "Major League-caliber" umpire.)

With so few spots opening up these days, and the logjam of AAA guys with lots of MLB games, it will be interesting to see if umpires like Hohn and Nauert who seem to struggle a bit more than most MLB umpires will be encouraged to "retire."

"Struggle"...interesting word

Is "struggle" the same word for a pitcher with a 7.67 ERA or a .217 Batting Avg?

[Tim C]

"ML has the ability and the history of offering an individual his own "special" retirement package."

And it appears that as many as four special packages maybe offered at seasons end.

BTW, this includes a possible career ending injury package.

[tballump]

Originally Posted by Tim C

And it appears that as many as four special packages maybe offered at seasons end.

BTW, this includes a possible career ending injury package.

Well, don't know if Montague has any problems. Reilly has vertigo every now and then. Reed has been out with his 2 strokes and had a stress fracture in his foot trying to come back. Crawford and Hohn have back problems but Hohn is not 55 yet and needs this year to get his 20 in.
Hirschbeck had neck surgery last year. Seems like Danley has had a lot of concussions.
It appears the disability policy is not as good as it was when Bonin had to retire with his concussion per an article on Bonin.
Years ago, Phillips negotiated some contracts that gave the umps something like 300,000 if they retired 2 years early in a 3-4 year contract and 200,000 if they retired 1 year early and there probably have been special "individual" retirement packages every now and then.
Back in the first half of the 80's the umps had to retire by 55. A friend of mine who went to the school years ago said this is why they strongly discouraged (but could not force) older students from seeking a job. They knew they could not get the 20 years in for retirement if they started at 35-40 in the minors and they felt guilty and bad for guys not getting their 20 years (full pension) in because of the retirement at 55 policy.
Then, in 86 Reagan said you could not force people to retire early. This allowed several umpires (Dutch & Pulli) to work past 55 even though they got to the big leagues after the age of 35 and get their 20 years in. This will also help Cedarstrom who spent 18 years in the minors (Dutch spent 17), Barksdale and Hickox.