Age had nothing to do with the miss. It could have happened to anyone of any age. Tim is still rated one of the top 3 balls and strike umpires in baseball on QuesTec (or whatever they call it).

He is so good, that after he umpired the one-game playoff (the 163rd game) two years ago, a coach (while wildly celebrating) actually stopped on air to congratulate Tim (by name) for calling a great game behind the plate and said he, "was a credit to his profession". That almost never happens in MLB. Not that a coach is qualified to evaluate umpires...but when MLB (via QuesTec) and the coaches and players (remember, Tim was also the highest rated umpire in MLB in the SI players' poll) rate you the highest, you must be doing something right.

It is so hard for an umpire to make the Hall of Fame for a lot of reasons...but if I had to bet on ONE current MLB umpire to be a future hall of famer, I'd put my money on him...even with that one miss.

Although Tim didn't make the excuse, the MLB and AAA MiLB umpires I've had the pleasure to speak with say Tim had the misfortune of experiencing a brain fart on six-man mechanics at the worst possible time. You can see in the photo that his position gives him a great view of the back of R3 and screens him out from the catcher's activity. He's in the wrong spot and he didn't adjust.

A huge mistake, no doubt, but given his performance over his career, not a fatal one.

The main people b!tching are media types, rats and others who either expect only perfection from professionals or have convinced themselves they can do better.

Well, in the DP situation, he had a 66% approval rating of the players involved. You can't buy better numbers.

That last part of the passage reflects the kind of thinking that literally allows for and readily excuses failure. (If you can't do any better yourself, you're not qualified to criticize.)

On a field, McClelland is lazy--perhaps due to age, perhaps due to disinterest--and that laziness comes into play quite often in his work on the bases. And that blown call wasn't merely a "mistake," it was a disservice to the game, its participants and its followers. And what was that other blown coverage and resultant horrible call on the Swisher tag play? Was that a "mistake" that none of us are qualified to criticize?

You can dismiss and defame me and his many other well qualified critics and remain blindly loyal to McClelland and anyone else you like. That's your choice to make. I choose to live my life with my eyes and my mind open. I also choose to base my observations on what is actually happening in the world around me, not what a certain segment says must be happening.

He kicked the crap out of a call that 99% of mediocre high school umpires would get right. And he did it in the world series. Doesn't make him a bad guy.

If only what I say or write is what is ascribed to me, then that would be quite a nice change. I look forward to that someday.

I never said anything about McClelland as a person or about his being a good or bad guy. I only questioned whether the level of performance of his work--especially in high-profile games--warrants his still being on a major league diamond after all these years, and I offered criticism of his techniques in arriving at those blown calls (and the one that decided the San Diego/Colorado playoff two years ago).

In the grand scheme of things: a small matter. In the rather precise and particular world of baseball: a significant matter.

McClelland: I met him once in passing after a game at Oakland many years ago. We had a brief conversation. He was a seemingly mild-mannered, professional gentleman. His work at that time was uniformly excellent. That was 1993. This is 2010.

Agreed, or a bad umpire.

He made a blatant, huge, disasterous, and stupid error.

His record and reputation will take a hit, and he will still be a good ML umpire, better than most.

Tim was an extremely good umpire.

He is still a better than average umpire.

He has lost a step (or two) due to age and injury.

In past years, he has made some gross misses in some high-profile games.

All that said, if we are painfully honest, we all have had gross misses in a lot lower profile situations. Does he one butchered call make us lousy umpires?
I hope not!

I think Tim McC should retire, along with Cowboy Joe. They are painful to watch, they can't move.

JMO

I find interesting all this talk about "So-and-so was a good umpire," because one has to wonder at what point do we focus on the "was" a good umpire and wonder if said person still is a good umpire.

After he retired, Johnny Carson was asked why he retired when he did, why he retired when he was still good, still funny, still relevant. Carson replied that he would rather go out while still at the top of his game, having people tell him, "You didn't have to retire; you were still good," rather than retiring too late and having people tell him, "You should have retired years ago."

I wonder if we can say this about some MLB Umpires or even about ourselves. I hope I stand by my promise I made to myself, that being when I am no longer able to physically umpire, or when I believe I am hurting the game, I will retire. The game deserves me at my best, in good enough condition to do an excellent job. When my abilities tank, it's time to go.

And there's the rub: for so many, the abilities don't "tank," but rather slowly ebb. Hard to know when to stop, since tomorrow's performance won't be noticeably different from today's. :(

I sat next to Kellogg at Wendlestedt's school, and Gorman was one of the minor league instructors....That's my brush with greatness. Or theirs! :D

JJ

New crews are out, and looks like 5 opens spots (or 4 if you don't count Meriweather on the DL)

2010 Umpire Crew

The boys at the PBUC camp have been told that 5 are moving up to MLB permanently.

Hmmm,
 

No one would ever confuse me with a professional umpire.

I selected to retire from umpiring possibily two years too early rather than one yet too late.

T

Like what happens often, apparently some heard something different than others. Some heard "four or five" will be moving up permanently. Some also heard that this year will see a major house cleaning at the Triple A level.