Umpire intentionally thrown at?
 

It's baseball. Good thing we are required to wear masks. After seeing the video I think it was intentional. The school was fined $1,000.00.

News story - Video

The college that had invited the catcher to try out for their team has also withdrawn the invitation.

Read the AJC article.

A whole lot of things were not addressed by this crew including players arguing balls/strikes, throwing helmets, etc. that led to this.

I agree. The crew apparently let the game get out of hand. I don't agree that it in any way excuses what F1/F2 did. Even as obvious as it was, these two were NOT ejected, consistent with the way the umpires handled the entire game.

Absolutely, The catcher totally bailed. Ridiculous.

Wow, tough guy post after tough guy post by BB umpires.. and they let this entire incident take place, from arguing, to throwing helmets, to obvious intentional beaning of an umpire.. even a coach who was likely spelling it out for them (just in case they missed it)... thats the worst acting job by a catcher I have ever seen...

and they did absolutely nothing.

Probably that umpire can still proudly say "25 years and I've never ejected anyone.. blah blah blah".

The parents clapping was particularly vile as well. Everyone knew it but this PU I suppose.

In case you don't want to be seen on the BB board. :)
http://www.ajc.com/highschool/conten...ge_tab_newstab

Over there, I did find a couple of other links, one to a GA High School AAA discussion board. Several articles of note:
- catch lost offer to play for small college, but retained an academic scholarship to the school
- some parents/adults of the town posted regrets, some noting that some of the 'cheerring' was before they realized what happened.
- some implied a history of "hateful" tactics in the area's HS sporting events.
- some implied coach had history prior to coming to school.
- many seem to do well at pointing fingers to others.


From the sound of the posts, I agree with others who note the umps might have acted earlier in the game (or at least tossed them when this happened.) However, I can understand their attempt to not eject, especially in a state championship series. In that case, I have perhaps at times taken too much lip, also.

The batter that struck out and argued with the umpire the inning before was just drafted 15th overall by the Dodgers, and his brother was the one who threw the pitch.
http://losangeles.dodgers.mlb.com/ne...2008&fext=.jsp

Why do any of you think MLB gives a rats behind about such behavior? Google Ben Christensen or Delmon Young sometime.

High schools, OTOH, should care A LOT about such things. Yet, if you google this incident and read some of the various discussion boards, you will find many more people who view this as "part of the game" than those who condemn it.

This might have happened to me once. Focusing on the pitcher and ball leaves very little chance for observing the catcher. In my case, not ducking like in the OP video. I saw a glimpse of the glove, figured the pitch was catchable. Nothing conclusive enough to eject or even warn; and no video. Partner did not remember noticing anything unusual.

:D

I've been hit by untouched pitches before. But how do you know 100% for sure if something like this is "accidental" or "on purpose"?

Had one last weekend in a 16U tournament game.

Ball comes in high and inside. I hold my ground in the slot- no flinch at all- as the catcher's were skilled and adept at catching about any pitch.

I'm focused on the pitch and couldn't tell you for sure what the catcher- or her mitt- did as the ball got to the plate. All I know is that about the instant that a catcher's mitt should have been popping up and into my view...there was nothing.

Straight through pitch, about 57 mph, untouched by F2, catches me right square in the left pec.

Luckily, I had worn by Platinum West Vest that day. I felt impact, but the pitch bounced off with a loud "thunk!" and there was no damage or even a bruise. It was one of those that illicited "oohs and aahhs" from the spectators, but the "bark" was worse that the "bite".

Now, the inning before, that team's coach had started in on me a little about balls and strikes. I had quickly told him where the pitch was, then shut him down with, "We will not be discussing balls and strikes".

Was this toss an inning later a "retaliation"? Was it by design? Did the catcher get crossed-up or did one just get away?

The thought that it was on purpose didn't really hit me at first. All I said to the catcher was, "Catch, you have a mitt and I don't. I'd appreciate it if you'd use it". After pausing about 15 seconds to make sure all my pieces were still in place- the game continued without incident.

Until my (not so) helpful partner stepped in.

Between innings, as the "problem" coach took his spot in the first base box, my partner decides to get on him about the cacther "not moving her mitt" on the pitch that got me. The coach takes that as an accusation that it was on purpose. The coach and my partner start getting into it hot and heavy down by first base!

I have to go down and break it up. They're really going at it, so I have to quiet them both down. Once I got their attention, I told them. "Look, this isn't the first time I've been hit by a pitch and it won't be the last. It happens. Let's forget about it and move on!".

And we did. There weren't any problems for the rest of the game.

Like all the rest of us, I've been hit by an untouched pitch before.
The first time was in the first inning of my intorduction to men's majors. The catcher was from one coast, the pitcher from the other - this was the first game of the tournament and they had met the night before. F2 called for an outside drop, F1 threw a low inside riser. I caught the ball between my side and my bicep. I don't think I flinched and the ball had clearly passed through the strike zone. When I balled it, no complaints, F2 loudly said to F1, "that's my fault." They got together, worked out their signals and I had no problems after that.
The most recent time was in a showcase two years ago. F2 was definitely showing she was not capable. After the fourth untouched pitch got me, I called time and spoke at the defense's coach, saying "If I get hit with another untouched pitch, your catcher will be ejected for intentionally allowing me to be hit." F2 didn't get any better, but I didn't get hit again. Immediately after getting home, I got a pair of the hexpad shorts and have used them ever since.

I don't think either was intentional.

I have seen a partner intentionally hit and watched him deal with it appropriately - F1, F2, & head coach were tossed. Followed by another player sonn afterward and that ended the game as the team was suddenly too short to field a team.

In the GA instance, you may have noticed it seemed the 3B umpire is the one who raised the flag concerning the intention of the pitcher. Since the plate umpire is going to be concentrating on the pitch, s/he is probably the last person to realize what had happened.