won't be the last

[dash_riprock]

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.

[Kevin Finnerty]

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.

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

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.

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.

[Arnold A.]

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

[UMP25]

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.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by UMP25

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.