Most ridiculous baseball ejection last night
Moments after the go ahead HR by in the top of the 9th, Home plate chUmp, Ramon Armendariz, promptly ejects freshman Jimmy Obertop. For what we can only assume was protesting a strike call on the inner half of the plate?
It does not appear that Jimmy ever turned and said anything following the call. He dragged his bat behind his back foot prior to stepping out of the box. I’d guess he was marking his stance since the chalk of the batters box was long gone. If he was pissed about the call he would’ve drawn the path of the ball inside the plate as we’ve all seen guys tossed for. Not perpendicular to the dish behind his foot, that makes no sense.
If you didn’t see it you missed a great game. But this moment was really confusing to the broadcasters too.
February 15th, 2020 at 10:28 AM ^
Just watched the game. Ump was out of line, but, to be fair, looked like he only only one bad call on balls/strikes for him. He mis-interpreted the bat in the sand.
Umps have their own rules on what they put up with; I'm sure UM has not seen this guy before so did not know his boundaries.
Great umpire Doug Kosie in the 70s & 80s (did the 84 AL playoffs when the umpires were on strike) would let the catcher verbally question something, but toss him if he turned around after a call.
all depends on what they think is showing then up.
February 15th, 2020 at 10:44 AM ^
The first pitch to the last Vandy batter that he called low for a ball had been called strikes earlier in the game. Replay from the side showed it at the knees. Prior replays of strikes were about a baseball diameter lower. That was bases loaded 2 outs in the 9th of a 1 run game. Luckily it didn’t come down to a 3 ball count there.
The Diamond Bar kid was having command issues giving up a single and hitting 2 batters after 2 stellar defensive plays. but he kept it together and induced the ending pop up.
February 15th, 2020 at 10:30 AM ^
Yeah, that was garbage.
I'm a bit surprized Bakich didn't get tossed after that b/c he was out there for 2-3 mins discussing the situations with the HP ump, but it is college ball so getting run at that point isn't going to help much in that game situation.
February 15th, 2020 at 7:44 PM ^
Maybe Bakich not getting tossed was a "make-up" call.
February 15th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
it can only be what he did with the bat as you can clearly see the ump gesturing like that as soon as the kid turns around asking 'what?!'. it also looks pretty clear that the kid didn't mouth off at all, either. so yeah, that would be about the worst tossing of a player that ever happened. thankfully it didn't cost us the game.
incidentally, we need to fire bakich. a real coach would've gotten that overturned on the spot...
February 15th, 2020 at 10:59 AM ^
A few years back guys used to draw a line in the dirt to show the umpire if they thought a pitch was outside or inside. Umpires started tossing guys for doing this. It looks like the umpire last night thought the barrel of the bat was placed where the kid thought the ball was and even though the line was drawn towards the dugout instead of the pitchers mound, he interpreted it as the same thing.
The more I watch it, the more I think the kid was showing the umpire where he thought the ball was and at least more respectfully drew the line towards the dugout.
College and major league umps are way too quick with the hook though. At least in other sports you get a penalty, or a technical foul. To go from nothing to an ejection that quickly seems a bit harsh.
February 15th, 2020 at 12:50 PM ^
Right - the "draw a line in the dirt" thing will get a home plate umpire's attention more often that not.
Perhaps a quick trigger (I have no idea what happened on the other at-bats during the game), but just keep your bat up. It avoids any of that.
February 15th, 2020 at 10:41 AM ^
I'm not a huge follower of baseball so I'm not 100% clear on the rules but seeing the clip on Twitter, it appeared to be a bizarre call by the umpire. Seems like most ppl thought the umpire was making it about himself.
February 15th, 2020 at 10:55 AM ^
Seems to be a trend lately, especially in MLB. Not sure when the umpires ever got the notion that people bought tickets to see them fuck up games.
This should be the last game he ever works. I see he's a PAC12 ump, which means he has no fucking idea what he is doing. He'll have a job until he pulls a John McSherry.
February 15th, 2020 at 11:14 AM ^
Can you please explain this sentence?
"I see he's a PAC12 ump, which means he has no fucking idea what he is doing."
Do you know something we don't about PAC12 baseball umpires?
February 15th, 2020 at 11:44 AM ^
They're the worst.
February 15th, 2020 at 12:40 PM ^
All PAC12 officials suck ass. They make ACC officials look like they have a clue as to what they are doing.
February 15th, 2020 at 8:05 PM ^
huh, didn't know this was a thing on the internets. so like just baseball and football? just baseball and lacrosse? all sports?
February 15th, 2020 at 10:45 AM ^
According to Bakich it was ridiculous. He said after he calmed down he agreed with the call, just not the punishment. It was something that has been addressed in the off season.
That he drew a line,” Bakich said of Armendariz’s explanation. “Which is a sportsmanship violation.
I’m not disagreeing with the rule. I’m disagreeing with how it was made.
“I know that kid (Obertop) would never show up an umpire. It certainly didn’t look to me like the punishment fit the crime.”
February 15th, 2020 at 11:04 AM ^
Baseball is weird man. I enjoy it just fine as a sport, but man if it isn't weird about certain things.
February 15th, 2020 at 11:27 AM ^
Yeah seems like there's a lot of weird calls and seldom used rules. I've never played organized ball and don't follow it super closely, so the first time I saw a Balk called I could not for the life of me figure out what the hell was going on.
February 15th, 2020 at 11:47 AM ^
At least weird rules like Balks have a good reason to be in the game. The only thing that happens when umps abuse their power to eject someone is hurt the game.
February 15th, 2020 at 2:16 PM ^
Baseball, more than any other major sport, seems to be about player etiquette. There seem to be many unwritten rules that can get you tossed.
February 15th, 2020 at 10:55 AM ^
I'm not fond of baseball officiating in general. The umpires are too "glass house" about themselves. They can eject a player too easily.
I don't remember the names of those involved, but I remember seeing an MLB match in which a player struck out and the umpire seemed to stare the guy down, as if he wanted the guy to argue so he could kick him out. If I recall correctly, the umpire had a reputation for ejecting people for something as simple as a word muttered under the breath.
Ejecting a player for egregious and over-the-top unsportsmanlike behavior is one thing; that's quite understandable. Ejecting a player because he's not happy about a call is just an abuse of power.
February 15th, 2020 at 10:59 AM ^
Since ejection is such a severe penalty in any sport, its application should be regulated/reviewed much more than it currently is.
February 15th, 2020 at 11:25 AM ^
Baseball officiating is a joke in general. Ejections should be reserved for dangerous play or over the top displays of bad behavior. At least every other major sport has a punishment system for your run of the mill emotional responses. 15 yard penalty, technical foul, yellow cards etc...
Baseball umpires ejecting people at the slightest perceived disrespect hurts the game. Hopefully there isn't an automatic suspension on top of the ejection for Jimmy. I remember the Louisville closer was suspended 4 games automatically for being ejected for saying "that's horrible" during regionals last year.
February 15th, 2020 at 11:58 AM ^
Also it's too bad Bakich didn't go Wally Backman on that umpire. Warning: lots of NSFW language but a hilarious ejection.
February 15th, 2020 at 1:01 PM ^
That was the first time I’ve seen that. That was crazy.
February 15th, 2020 at 3:37 PM ^
augie Garrido also has had some famous ones. One of my personal favorite rabbit holes to end up down on YouTube.
February 15th, 2020 at 1:24 PM ^
Thanks, hadn't seen that one in a long time.
Best bad language baseball audio ever, BTW, is an interview of Lee Elia of the Cubs from wayyy back in 1983. Pure entertainment but NSF kids.
February 15th, 2020 at 11:41 AM ^
When will the University sue the NCAA and Big Ten for blatant bias refereeing against Michigan?
Enough is enough.
If we are going to lose to rivals, get cheated out of a basketball national championship <block was clean> (think of the money associated with ball-caps and t-shirts alone) and have players thrown out of games potentially impacting the outcome of games and records, then we might as well get some money out of those bastards.
Seriously?
There are whole YouTube videos devoted to Michigan getting jobbed.
Damn it! GO BLUE!
February 15th, 2020 at 12:15 PM ^
Refs hate us in all sports. There are a lot people who are quite jealous of Michigan’s success, academically and athletically.
February 15th, 2020 at 12:56 PM ^
While not all umps act this way I'd say their reputation as thinskinned babies is pretty well deserved. I wouldn't be surprised to see them get even worse as robo umps become more widespread. Gotta get those power trips in while you can.
February 15th, 2020 at 1:09 PM ^
Ump actually called a very good game too,seemed like a ton of borderline pitches all night (both staffs pitchers were pitching well) the pitches he was calling a ball ,looked like a few inches outside or "just missed" and those are balls
The ejection seemed odd,what if the batter says" i was moving a rock" then what happens.. you have to give a warning
February 15th, 2020 at 1:25 PM ^
That ballpark was pristine. Grass was immaculate. Probably not a pebble in that infield dirt.
February 15th, 2020 at 1:37 PM ^
Warde Manuel should publically denounce this umpire's egregious call. It's just going to keep happening. If he doesn't, then Warde should be fired. Michigan shouldn't stand for it.
/s
February 15th, 2020 at 1:40 PM ^
This is just symptomatic of the modern sports official who honestly believes that:
- They, and not the players, should be the center of attention
- They have a right to influence the outcome of a sporting contest
It's really out of control and it needs to stop.