Tampa Bay/NY Jeter HBP?

[rbmartin]

Just saw in Tampa Bay/New York game top of 7th. Umps got totally suckered by Jeter. Ball hit knob of bat, Jeter faked an injury and was awarded first. Not good.


Here, I just got the video clip:
Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | Must C Controversial: Jeter to first on phantom HBP - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by rbmartin

Just saw in Tampa Bay/New York game top of 7th. Umps got totally suckered by Jeter. Ball hit knob of bat, Jeter faked an injury and was awarded first. Not good.

Also not new. Been doing it his whole career.

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by mbyron

Also not new. Been doing it his whole career.

Jeter has fooled more fans into thinking he was Mr. Clean since John Stockton. He is, and has been, a lying rat, no better than any other.

[BSUmp16]

Hey - Players will do what players will do - that is why we umpires have to make the call as we see it and not as it's sold to us. Can't fault Jeter - he's trying to get on base. It's the umpire's responsibility to get that call right regardless of the theatrics.

[mbyron]

Originally Posted by BSUmp16

Hey - Players will do what players will do - that is why we umpires have to make the call as we see it and not as it's sold to us. Can't fault Jeter - he's trying to get on base. It's the umpire's responsibility to get that call right regardless of the theatrics.

Enabler.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

Jeter has fooled more fans into thinking he was Mr. Clean since John Stockton. He is, and has been, a lying rat, no better than any other.

MrUmpire:

You are not a Mets fan are you?

MTD, Sr.

[BK47]

well, my first initial call would be "Point Fair" for fair ball, however after seeing the video many more times I would then have to say, "Dead Ball" as I can see the ball hitting the bat but then bouncing off of Jeter which gives me a strike on the count and a dead ball as it hit him while he was still in the box.

I got fooled once on a play like this and told myself "Never Again". I can hear it hitting the bat, and I am part deaf but even I heard that.

thats just my 2 cents worth.

[rbmartin]

I think this is a good learning opportunity for umpires to watch the play and not to rely on a players reaction. I'm not saying this was an easy call (in real time) for the HP ump, I really think one of the field umpires should have been more observant.

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.

MrUmpire:

You are not a Mets fan are you?

MTD, Sr.

Nope.

[Umpmazza]

Originally Posted by MrUmpire

Jeter has fooled more fans into thinking he was Mr. Clean since John Stockton. He is, and has been, a lying rat, no better than any other.

come on it is just a HBP.. it's part of the game, it doesn't make him a bad guy, he is trying to get on base any way he can..

[rbmartin]

This is kinda like a defensive player in basketball "flopping". It's part of the game but it decreases my respect for the "actor".

[Adam]

Originally Posted by rbmartin

This is kinda like a defensive player in basketball "flopping". It's part of the game but it decreases my respect for the "actor".

Disagree. "Faking being fouled" is a technical foul in basketball; it's rarely called because very few players actually flop without any contact. Typically, they exaggerate the contact by falling backwards; but there's contact.
Jeter's move is the equivalent of falling (along with the gutteral scream) without any contact at all.

[celebur]

Originally Posted by Umpmazza

come on it is just a HBP.. it's part of the game, it doesn't make him a bad guy, he is trying to get on base any way he can..

Of course it's part of the game. But it does go to show that Jeter's not the paragon of virtue that some people make him out to be (including some people on this forum).

[MD Longhorn]

Wow...

I'm near the front of the line on Jeter-hating... but this has gotten silly. Local radio station has even been talking about Jeter's cheating all morning.

Good grief. This no more tarnishes his "paragon of virtue" than would a fielder, knowing he didn't catch a fly ball, who lifts his glove up as if to say "I Caught it!" or someone knowing they didn't catch the ball before the runner passed the base jogging off like he'd made the out.

This is not cheating, or even unethical.

[Mark T. DeNucci, Sr.]

Andy (my youngest son, a baseball player, and still in H.S.), MTD, Jr., and I have watched the replay numerous times. We all agree on the following points:

1) This is a very very very close play.

2) Yes, the ball did hit the end of the bat.

3) The key is: Did the ball hit the end of bat first and then Jeter's body, or did hit Jeter's body and then the end of the bat?

4) The contact between bat, ball, and body is very very very close.

5) Notice that the PU immediately signaled DB and was awarding Jeter 1B. From the PU's angle it appears that the ball hit Jeter first and then the end of the bat.

6) Jeter really didn't have to milk it because the PU immediately signaled DB and awarded Jeter 1B.

I have not read any quotes from the PU or Crew Chief, but I am willing to bet dollars to donuts that that PU, from his angle, saw the ball hit Jeter in the stomach, then hit the end of his bat, and then hit is stomach again.

MTD, Sr.