Did Paul Emmel Have Somewhere to Go?
by Jesse on Apr 28, 2010 6:12 AM EDT
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PrintThere were a lot of strikeouts in last night's game (22 if you were counting), and a number of them were on called third strikes.
Through the seventh inning none of the called third strikes appeared to be the wrong call. Francisco Liriano had five strikeouts that came without a swing through seven innings, and none of them were anything worse than on the edge. Come the eighth inning, however, the four plate appearances that ended in called third strikes looked like terrible calls.
The Twins weren't being singled out here, as Ramon Santiago was called out on a Liriano fastball that was pretty far inside. But Brendan Harris, Denard Span and Joe Mauer were all rung up on three bad calls--particularly Span and Mauer, whose called third strikes were further away from the strike zone than previous pitches from the same plate appearance that were called balls.
I don't blame Emmel for ejecting Span, because you shouldn't ever argue balls and strikes. Emmel's going to remember that the next time he's calling the game and Denard steps into the box. But it's impossible to defend these calls as anything other than what they were: terrible. And four times in two innings tells me just one thing: Paul Emmel must have had a hot date.
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Hilarious
Oh, man. I was going insane watching that game last night… it was good to laugh about it this morning. I couldn’t help by chuckle at your heading about Paul Emmel.
Didn't see the game
Perhaps Emmel expanded the zone, but the Twins did draw seven walks, so it wasn’t outrageous. The game took almost three hours to complete, but part of that is Leyland’s penchant for jerking pitchers in the middle of innings.
by Alexi Casilla All-Star on Apr 28, 2010 9:04 AM EDT reply actions
It wasn't the zone, it was the zone in the last two innings.
Calling a pitch that’s three inches outside a ball, and then later calling a pitch that’s five inches outside a strike in the same plate appearance…just baffling.
I think
Harris said something when he was called out so I think the ump just said “I’ve pulled the trigger all night for Liriano and the #9 hitter is giving me lip? Watch this.” In any event, after Harris, I knew he was going to call a wider zone on Span and then it just stayed there (although the ninth was called pretty well, Mauer’s call was so-so but Rauch was givena real zone).
This is a fair point.
When I looked through the gameday data, I only looked at the final pitch of plate appearances that ended in a called third strike. So basically, this isn’t to say that he’d been giving generous calls to the pitcher for strikes 1 & 2 in other plate appearances.
What did Span do, exactly?
I didn’t watch the game — I only saw a 30 second clip of the incident on my iPhone. Seriously, it didn’t look like Span did anything except bark a little bit. How’d he get tossed so quickly? Did he say something about Emmel’s mother?
http://www.realityfish.com
Probably the wave
He gave what the game recap described as “a dismissive wave” as he was walking toward the dugout (although I thought it was a little more forceful than what I usually think of a “dismissive wave” as being), which probably was enough along with whatever he said to get him tossed. Umps have an MLB-sanctioned quick hook for folks arguing balls and strikes.
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
I think
He said a really bad word (or two) and threw his bat, both are no-nos. He might also have commented that the pitch wasn’t a strike, which is an automatic ejection, I believe.
Not the bat throw
He threw his bat after he got tossed. If he gets a suspension, though, the bat toss will be the reason.
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
Video link
Assuming the announcing is in sync with the video, it looks like he got tossed right after the hand wave, then threw his bat (which you really can’t see very well in the video).
"There are only two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity, and I'm not sure about the former." - Albert Einstein
He waved the umpire off, I think that's what did it.
And it’s not like he was four or five feet away by the time he did it. After dropping the barrel of the bat into the dirt and staring at the ump for a second, he turned around and immediately made the gesture. Probably a trigger decision by Emmel, but still, you just don’t do it.
Okay, this all makes sense.
I was just reading the quotes from him about how he embarrassed himself and the team and so forth and so on… it read like a “I’m sorry I clocked the ump and stomped on his ’nads” apology, rather than a “Shouldn’t have argued balls and strikes” apology. So it sort of seemed like something more dramatic had gone down.
http://www.realityfish.com
Visibly demonstrative
that’s my vote, at least.
He turned, looked at the umpire with a disgusted look on his face & then there was the little wave.
Everything I’ve ever read suggests you can jawbone about calls (a little) as long as you keep your voice down, avoid the “magic words” and your actions don’t betray your words.
For players, that means no head shaking, no showing disgust, no turning to the umpire in disbelief (and certainly no hand gestures).
Bull Durham
We did the “must have called him a ****sucker” routine at our house after Span got tossed.
Why not?
I have a problem with players, in any sport, arguing with umpires. However, when I think of arguing, I think of standing there disputing the call. Walking away, making a hand jesture, saying aloud that it wasn’t a strike is not problematic behavior in my book.
I have seen a lot worse from the Yankees and Red Sox with never an ejection
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Wow
I didn’t get to watch the game and heard about the ejection, but that is even a worse call than I expected. I mean that pitch wasn’t even remotely close. Normally I blame anything close on the hitter for not defending the plate with two strikes, but Span couldn’t have reached that pitch if he tried.
Overall though, I’m just glad Francisco is back. I have officially shifted from cautiously optimistic to full on giddy about his start. I hope I don’t get burned for it, but I just don’t care right now. I’ve had a Liriano replica jersey since 2006, and it’s about time I can wear it proudly again!!!!
Side note for Jesse. Is there going to be a movie matchup today? Just curious. I really like the idea and I’m anxious for more…haha
It was in the other batters' box
One of the worst third strike calls I’ve ever seen.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
From @thisisdspan
Lastnight was not good! I lost my cool for a split second but I’m back. Sorry to all my fans
From JoeC last night
* Denard Span went with Manager Ron Gardenhire to apologize to home plate umpire Paul Emmel after the game.
“I embarrassed myself more than anything,” Span said. “I didn’t embarrass [Emmel], I embarrassed myself. People at home looking, kids and all that. I was raised better than that. To let go of my bat, I shouldn’t have done that.”
"Don't take life for granted, because tomorrow isn't promised to any one of us." -Kirby Puckett
"Positive happines come whit sucess if you no have that is all bs" -Ozzie Guillen
by less cowbell, more 'neau on Apr 28, 2010 3:00 PM EDT reply actions
Pitch Trackers
I don’t think I’d trust a pitch tracker app to tell me where a pitch actually was.
Go ahead and compare the MLB pitch tracker, for instance, to the ESPN pitch tracker or the CBS Sportsline pitch tracker — they’re not consistent between each other, so how can I be certain that any of them is actually getting the real pitch location?
Not to say there wasn’t something odd last night — I heard more than one source talk about it — but I’d really hesitate before using a pitch tracker to try to demonstrate it.
The thing about those images is there are balls closer to the strikezone than thte third strikes
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
Which was exactly my point, to illustrate how inconsistent and terrible the calls were.
I also tried to look at Brooks’ pitchfx while putting this together, but his site was down.
In the end I suppose it doesn’t matter anyway.
I wish umpires were held accountable for blatant bad calls like this
Or last nights drop call. The thing they didn’t say was that Emmel was 100 yards from the play when he made that call. There is no way he saw it.
To me umpire accountability is the number 1 flaw with the MLB. If they had a transparent system of ratings or something so fans knew they were serious about holding umps accountable, we would all have more faith in the system. The way it is, they do whatever the heck they want (right or wrong) and nobody can even argue with them, let alone get justice.
"You're thinking too much. Just have fun." -- Bennie "The Jet" Rodriguez in Sandlot
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