LSAClassOf2000

March 18th, 2014 at 11:01 AM ^

Damn....it hurts just to watch that video, and I cannot even imagine how much pain he must have been in at that moment. I will say, however, that I did find Francona's remark a little chuckleworthy, but I sort of see where he is coming from after seeing that. Hopefully, everything turns out to be OK and there isn't any permanent damage.

Joined: 01/07/2011

MGoPoints: 130561

umjgheitma

March 18th, 2014 at 11:05 AM ^

like he was standing in front of the shortstop, no? That has to be a prime spot for the ball to be hit. I thought they usually stood behind the mound shaded to the 2nd base side...

Joined: 12/02/2008

MGoPoints: 2388

Canadian

March 18th, 2014 at 2:09 PM ^

As former umpire myself I love reading these questions because the moment he makes a call deemed incorrect by instant replay people jump on the umpire. It's all about putting yourself in the correct position to make a call. Sometimes the correct position for 99% of calls is blocked out and causes an incorrect call but there's nothing he could do.
In this case the umpire was positioned correctly to make a call. You're also taught to NOT make huge movements to get out of the way of the ball, which could possibly lead to interfering with a base runner or fielder, instead a simple pivot if possible.

Joined: 06/02/2012

MGoPoints: 13364

michclub19

March 18th, 2014 at 11:51 AM ^

With a runner on 2nd, the second base umpire's most likely call at that moment would be a pickoff at 2nd base.  This shaded to the 3rd base side of the mound gives him the best vantage point to make this call.  If he was on the other side of the bag he wouldn't be able to tell if the tag was applied or if the runner slid safely to the back of the base.

Joined: 01/12/2013

MGoPoints: 793

jericho

March 18th, 2014 at 4:11 PM ^

Heh. Well, if the writer of the article was the one that took the ball off his twig and berries, I might agree. However, it was the poor ump that is now sympathetic to Lord Varys. Of course that is assuming that someone didn't give the writer a swift kick to the jimmy as he was typing his story.

Joined: 07/04/2009

MGoPoints: 2632

Benoit Balls

March 18th, 2014 at 12:00 PM ^

of the time when I was 10 and got in a fight with my (5 years) older sister, who happened to have just gotten home from field hockey practice and still had her cleats on...didn't get up off the porch for about an hour.

Joined: 11/27/2010

MGoPoints: 5168

Yo_Blue

March 18th, 2014 at 12:08 PM ^

The shortstop was already three steps to his left, the second baseman was 2-3 steps to his right, and the ump barely moved.  It shows the world class reaction time of the MLB players.  The best move would have been to try and spin (looks like he tried to jump over the ball) and take it on a butt cheek.

The Dakich videos have been making me watch more than the play.

Now, as soon as I can unfurl from the fetal position, I can get back to work.

Joined: 08/24/2010

MGoPoints: 102592

markusr2007

March 18th, 2014 at 12:34 PM ^

Goddamn.

Welp, we can all rely on the fact that this footage will be on a constant 20 year loop with America's Funniest Home Videos re-runs. Afterall, what's funnier than some unfortunate man getting destroyed in the groin unexpectedly?  It's always good for a laugh.

 

Joined: 10/21/2008

MGoPoints: 19372