Wakefield, Hernandez, Francona and West

[dash_riprock]

Originally Posted by David B

I like what Francona said, he's been doing that same move for years and its never been called.

I don't believe that. If he had been doing that move for years, it would have been balked for years. He stepped toward the plate. Balk.

[MrUmpire]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

I don't believe that. If he had been doing that move for years, it would have been balked for years. He stepped toward the plate. Balk.

It's just coach speak. Bill Walkenbach said that to me in his first year at Cornell after a balk on a pitcher he had only seen in practice.

[ASA/NYSSOBLUE]

And speaking of ejections, the Biggest Idiot in All of MLB, aka Milton Bradley got ejected AGAIN last night for arguing what was a pretty good pitch on the low outside corner of the plate. His manger had to come out and physically restrain him from attacking the HP ump, a AAA fill in named Muchlinski.

Baseball Video Highlights & Clips | CWS@SEA: Bradley is ejected arguing a strike - Video | MLB.com: Multimedia

Includes the usual stupid "You can't the give the pitcher both sides of the plate" remarks from the mouths in the booth.....

Why do teams keep getting Bradley??

[DG]

I don't see a balk. Nobody steps toward third to deliver to the plate, this is classic 3rd to 1st move, that I once thought fooled no one at ML level. Joe West, at 3b did not call it.

[briancurtin]

Originally Posted by DG

I don't see a balk. Nobody steps toward third to deliver to the plate, this is classic 3rd to 1st move, that I once thought fooled no one at ML level. Joe West, at 3b did not call it.

I'm not seeing it either. I think it's pretty clear where he's stepping.

[jicecone]

So what else is new, shades of the old "I have to figure out someway to insert myself into this game Hernandez" arise again. He gained direction towards third and at no time did it ever look like he was going to deliver the ball to HP. Look at Hernandez he doesn't make the call right away, he hesistates and sees how far the runner is caught off the bag, then probably thinks that couldn't happen unless the pitcher did something illegal.

Yes it was borderline where he stepped but it was totally obvious what Wakefield was doing. Of course, Wakefields fat arse prevents him from keeping his legs together anyway. which worked against him here.

[rpumpire]

The comments over at the umpire ejections blog insist Wakefield stepped towards the plate. I put together a photo with two screen grabs that show his step was much more towards third than home, and they still insist on balk.



Obviously I don't know what Francona said to Hernandez, but the ejection seemed way too quick. Hernandez held out his hand as if to say, "Don't come out here" (much like West often does). It seems to me the interpretation that you can't argue balks doesn't preclude a manager for asking for clarification on what the balk was.

[MrUmpire]

Given how close the foot is to the line and the camera angle, I can see how a balk can be called.

All the umpire is required to do is state the reason for the balk, which Angel did. The balk cannot be argued, which Francona tried to do.

West's job was to rodeo clown Francona away from Angel, which he did.

They've all moved on.

[Adam]

Originally Posted by rpumpire

The comments over at the umpire ejections blog insist Wakefield stepped towards the plate. I put together a photo with two screen grabs that show his step was much more towards third than home, and they still insist on balk.

The camera angle makes these pictures inconclusive, and your vertex is in the wrong place. It should be farther from home plate, so your screen grabs don't show what you say they do.