Who knows about Marvin Hudson?

[Patrick Szalapski]

I'm in Florida now, and on Thursday I saw a Tigers-Twins game here in Fort Myers.

Can anyone tell me about umpire Marvin Hudson? It's a name I don't remember hearing.

Marvin Hudson was U2 on Meriwether's crew in the game. In the first inning, Jacque Jones hit a leadoff double. Hudson begins what looks like the start of his pitch and then feints to second. Jones didn't bite and was near the base; Van Hakken didn't throw.

Every fan started yelling "BALK!" like they always do, and I figured it may have been technically a balk, but that usually isn't called in the games I've seen.

Then Hudson calls the balk. I didn't get a great look at the action from the 27th row up, but I was pleasantly surprised that it was actually called.

Guzman then proceeded to hit a sac fly to center to score Jones. Van Hakken pitched well for awhile after that, but then gave up three unearned runs in the fifth and got the loss.

Incidentally, Meriwether called a balk on Mike Fetters in the fifth inning for coming to a set then separating his hands for an instant without pitching. Fetters has the reputation of being one of the most pumped-up players on the team, and he's fun to watch. Sometimes, though, I guess he can get carried away.

P-Sz