The new face of 'voluntary release'?

[Publius]

Since a wet field left me at home for the ninth time in ten scheduled dates, I decided to see how the replays are working out. This one surprised me (along with everybody else who isn't a MLB umpire):

Ausmus loses challenge



Followed up by:

Ausmus consults with Torre

This turns on its head a longstanding interpretation of what constitutes an out when transferring the ball to the throwing hand during a pivot. If that's the new direction, they'd be better off just eliminating the concept of voluntary release as part of the proof of control during the catch of a batted ball or gloving of a thrown ball.

[LRZ]

Wow. As Richie Ashburn used to say, "Hard to believe, Harry." Unless the call was predicated on (1) F6 not having control (although I think he did) and (2) no clear, convincing evidence to overturn. Maybe I missed it, but was the call upheld or (merely) "stands"?

[johnnyg08]

What makes me nervous is that these overturns are going to lead to arguments in our amateur games. This call always was an out on the transfer. This ruling seems to completely disregard the player reaching into the glove, and the ball coming up and changing direction. Ball falls straight down we don't have an out. That's not the case here.

[Publius]

Originally Posted by LRZ

Maybe I missed it, but was the call upheld or (merely) "stands"?

The post-game story said the ruling on the field was confirmed. Whether that is an accurate portrayal of what really transpired in New York, I don't know.

[JJ]

Oh, my.

JJ

[jicecone]

Well, I guess the time has come that MLB can now have the ultimate fan involved game. For just an extra $20 per game you get a remote button to vote for the correct call. At the end of each call the scoreboard will register the tally in 30 sec. The league will supply (1) umpire behind the plate for balls and strikes until they can come up with a electronic strike zone.

Sounds far fetched right?

Well it can't be any worse then the mess they have created this year. How about the Yankee game today with the play at the plate. The interpretation of the rule was only half the story.

So Ozzy, tell us again how you feel about this new game they now call Baseball....

[johnnyg08]

They know now that this is a free challenge. Girardi is 0-2 on the "blocking the plate w/o the ball" challenge and it won't stop there.

[Manny A]

Originally Posted by LRZ

Maybe I missed it, but was the call upheld or (merely) "stands"?

Does that even come into play under the MLB system?

Regardless, it had to have been a situation where the evidence wasn't compelling enough to oveturn. Heck, if the umpire had ruled an out here, a challenge might have resulted in an out.

[bob jenkins]

Originally Posted by Manny A

Does that even come into play under the MLB system?

Yes. The words vary some from the NFL / NCAA words, but the concepts of "confirmed" "stands" "overturned" are the same

[APG]

Originally Posted by Manny A

Does that even come into play under the MLB system?

Regardless, it had to have been a situation where the evidence wasn't compelling enough to oveturn. Heck, if the umpire had ruled an out here, a challenge might have resulted in an out.

Confirmed: Replay confirms call on field
Stands: Not enough evidence to overturn call on the field
Overruled: Enough video evidence to overturn call.

[soundedlikeastrike]

If that wasn't a transfer and an out?
What's next, an errant off line throw won't count either?
How about one of those, slips out the back drops, not counting that either?
Holy smokes, IMHO that is horrible, not the initial call so much, but they couldn't overturn that on the replay, what am I missing?

[dash_riprock]

The replay ump is horrible. Didn't they make a similar ruling on a routine fly ball to F8 (I don't remember the teams)? The replay showed F8 reaching into the glove when the ball dropped out. He was standing still for the can of corn. I thought that one was obvious but it's a lot closer to borderline than this one.

[LRZ]

Originally Posted by dash_riprock

The replay ump is horrible.

If I recall correctly what I read, aren't there eight officials in the NY review studio?

[Publius]

After seeing Ron Washington lose his challenge tonight in the first inning, it appears (just speculating) to me that MLB has issued an instruction to its umpires revising how "complete control" is to be judged.

Andrus gloved the ball and had it in his throwing hand when he dropped it, and the ruling went against him.

I can understand how the calling umpires made the calls they did--I thought Andrus dropped it in real time--but after seeing the replays not upholding the challenges, I believe something has changed in the MLB interpretation of this play.

[dash_riprock]

I'm not going to let this cost me outs.