Perception

ChuckElias · #1 (**permalink**) Sun May 02, 2004, 09:07pm

Saw this story on SportsCenter over the weekend. Jim Wolf is a MLB umpire. I think he's a rookie as a full-time ref. Problem is, his brother is Randy Wolf, who pitches for the Philadelphia Phillies. Jim actually works Philly's games, and the only restriction is that he can't work the plate when Randy pitches.

Anybody think this is a problem? I thought it was extemely interesting. Here's a link to the ESPN story:

http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1596708

JRutledge · #2 (**permalink**) Sun May 02, 2004, 09:37pm

No.

He is not going to work the plate. This is not going to happen very often, but when it does he will only work the bases. Which means you really have very little control over the actual game. You might be lucky depending on the where you work, hardly make any calls.

Peace

Mark Dexter · #3 (**permalink**) Sun May 02, 2004, 09:37pm

I wouldn't work a game at all if my brother was on the team - whether he's starting pitcher or eternal benchwarmer.

(Okay, okay - so I've done Little League games involving my brothers' teams - but it's Little League.)

While he may not be calling the balls and strikes, I'd be kinda worried on any sort of balk call - or if all of the umps have to confer on a play . . . doesn't look too good.

TravelinMan · #4 (**permalink**) Sun May 02, 2004, 09:48pm

He should not be allowed to do Philly games at any position.

LDUB · #5 (**permalink**) Sun May 02, 2004, 11:28pm

What a stupid article. A waste of my time. First off the date on it is Aug. 15, 2003. Just a wee bit old. I can sum it up for everyone else. Wolf called a guy on the Phillies safe at first, but tv replays showed he was out. So right away people assume that he is trying to help out the Phillies because his brother is on the team. Come on. Plays are missed every day in the National League and you don't hear about upmires throwing the game. They are just making something out of nothing.

Ohh and by the way I don't think he should do Phillies games.

Nevadaref · #6 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 01:28am

I saw a story on this last year on ESPN. I thought it was intriguing. If the league doesn't have a problem with him doing games involving his brother then no one else should either. The league reviews films and grades all of their umpires anyway, if there is a problem they will take care of it.
Do you really think this guy is going to risk losing his job over a call in some meaningless regular season game that won't change how much his brother makes by one cent?

ChuckElias · #7 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 08:34am

First of all, I apologize that the article is so old. I honestly didn't see the posting date. I found it very recently the ESPN site after hearing about the story only this past weekend. I'm sorry if the article was a waste of time.

Having said that, I think it's interesting that he's not allowed to work the plate, but only when his brother is pitching. As Rut said, he won't have much influence on the game when his brother is pitching, but if it's the last day of the season, and first place in the division is on the line, he can still work the plate for his brother's team as long as the brother isn't pitching. This could put him in a position to have a huge influence on this pennant-deciding game.

Quote:

Originally posted by Nevadaref
Do you really think this guy is going to risk losing his job over a call in some meaningless regular season game that won't change how much his brother makes by one cent?

No, obviously not. I don't think he'd do it even in a meaningful game. But the reason that I even posted this is b/c this question sometimes comes up on this board. "Should I work a game at the school where my son plays?" That kind of thing. I just thought that it was interesting that the issue arises all the way through the pros.

davidw · #8 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 12:20pm

I predict the league will revisit this situation and reverse themselves. Any takers?

Adam · #9 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 12:26pm

What happens if they bring his brother in for relief when he's working the plate?
Frankly, this is all about perception and not about reality. Reality is that there's practically zero chance that he'd change a call to help his brother. The perception, however, is what would actually harm MLB. Sometimes, the mere appearance of a conflict of interest is enough to throw a wrench into public relations.

ChuckElias · #10 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 01:53pm

Quote:

Originally posted by davidw
I predict the league will revisit this situation and reverse themselves. Any takers?

I don't know if they will, but they should.

ChuckElias · #11 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 01:56pm

Quote:

Originally posted by Snaqwells
What happens if they bring his brother in for relief when he's working the plate?

Great point. Hadn't thought of that. I think the player is a starting pitcher, although, obviously he could be brought in for relief.

Quote:

Frankly, this is all about perception

That's amazingly insightful! I should've thought to use that as the title of the thread. Oh, wait. . .

Quote:

Reality is that there's practically zero chance that he'd change a call to help his brother. The perception, however, is what would actually harm MLB. Sometimes, the mere appearance of a conflict of interest is enough to throw a wrench into public relations.

I agree 100%. And I think an answer very similar to that is what we tell people when they ask "Should I work a game where my son goes to school?"

LDUB · #12 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 02:51pm

So if MLB decides he can't do his brother's games where do they draw the line? What umpire X has been in the league for 10 years. And then a nephew of his makes it to the National League. Can you umpire you nephew's game? What if it was your cousin's? Or you childhood friend? Someday this will come up, so we might as well think about it now.

Adam · #13 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 05:17pm

LDUB,
They've already drawn an arbitrary line in deciding he can't work the plate if his brother is pitching. I would say they need to take it a step further and say he can't work games for his brother.
As for how far they take this? Case by case. In general, I'd say that immediate family should be far enough. Father/son, brothers, etc. Uncle/Nephew? Hard to say without knowing the two involved, but I'd be inclined to let it pass.

LDUB · #14 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 07:58pm

Quote:

Originally posted by Snaqwells

As for how far they take this? Case by case. In general, I'd say that immediate family should be far enough. Father/son, brothers, etc. Uncle/Nephew? Hard to say without knowing the two involved, but I'd be inclined to let it pass.

But if they are worried enough about him favoiring sides with his brother, why would they not be worried about an umpire's nephew. I know if I was an umpire who was going to favor my brother's team, I would also favor my nephew's team. Now I'm not saying umpires are favoring teams, but what is the difference?

Adam · #15 (**permalink**) Mon May 03, 2004, 10:00pm

The difference is you've got to stop somewhere. If an ump would change a call for his brother, he'd change a call for a graduate of his college, or high school, or whatever. Like I said, it would have to be case by case, and I'd understand if they said an uncle/nephew relationship was too close. Uncle/nephew is marginal, I think brothers are too close.
As I said, I don't think the ump would actually change a call, there's too much scrutiny to do it. However, the average fan doesn't know that, and would see the conflict and overly scrutinize the calls.