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Umpires in the News

Zvon Sep 24 2007 10:32 PM

Where, IMO, they have no business being. Bradley vs. Winters (one perspective, not mine): ]On the Mark: Give Bradley benefit of doubt Mark Kriegel FOXSports.com Contrary to popular opinion, sportswriting is a hazardous vocation. Everyday my colleagues risk wrath and embarrassment. With that in mind, I now take the most precarious position in all of sports: giving the Padres' Milton Bradley the benefit of the doubt. Bradley, famous for his own anger management issues, says he was baited into a confrontation Sunday by first base umpire Mike Winters, who allegedly called him "a ------- piece of ----." Whatever Winters actually said, Bradley's resulting tantrum did not end until he limped off the field with what was later diagnosed — according to FOXSports.com's Ken Rosenthal — as a torn ACL. He's out for the season, and if the Padres somehow manage to hold off the Phillies and the Rockies, the postseason, too. Milton Bradley deserves no credit for acting, once again, like Milton Bradley. He's had a bad rep with the umps, and just about everyone else, since he was in the minors. He is what he is. But if Winters is found to have egged him on, he is something worse. The last thing baseball needs is an umpire violating the integrity of the game, and that's what we're talking about here. "In 26 years of baseball, I can honestly say that's the most disconcerting conversation I have ever heard from an umpire to a player," said Padres first base coach Bobby Meacham, who has a reputation for even temperedness. "It was almost like he wanted to agitate the whole thing." Rockies first baseman Todd Helton, another eyewitness, would only tell the San Diego Union Tribune that the Bradley-Winters conversation "was very interesting." Helton is not in an enviable spot, but that shouldn't save him from talking to an investigator from the commissioner's office. Bradley was quick to compare Major League Baseball with the NBA, whose commissioner indefinitely suspended referee Joey Crawford two days after a now-famous altercation with Tim Duncan. He has a point. Umpires shouldn't be affecting games, much less pennant races. What's more, baseball has a history of letting investigations drag on. This time, Bud Selig needs to deal with and dispose of this matter as soon and as transparently as possible. Announcing his findings on Tuesday would send the right signal for a change. Bradley says Winters accused him of throwing a bat earlier in the game. But that seems to have been just a flashpoint. There's talk that the umpires have it in for San Diego — who saw David Wells suspended for seven games earlier in the season — because Padres CEO Sandy Alderson, who served as their supervisor when he worked for the commissioner, was a tough boss. There is also talk that the umpires have gotten a little out of control. Just hours before the Bradley-Winters mess, after the Brewers lost to Atlanta, Milwaukee manager Ned Yost blasted the umpires: "There's got to be some accountability," he told the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel. "You've got kids out there busting their butt and playing their hearts out and you get that kind of effort? It's a joke. "We expect them to do their job just like we're doing our job. You're paid to get the calls right it wasn't even just today. It was the whole series." If you can't believe the officials calling the game, you can't believe the game. You don't have to be David Stern to know that. So here's hoping that Selig makes a quick ruling and I can go back to my regular job, goofing on people like Milton Bradley.

Zvon Sep 24 2007 10:34 PM

Phil Cuzzi tossed 3 Brewers tonight. From CBS Sportsline: ] With Milwaukee leading 11-2 in the sixth, Yost joined Fielder in arguing a called third strike with plate umpire Phil Cuzzi. Both went back to the dugout without getting ejected despite their recent high-profile umpire confrontations; Fielder served a two-game suspension last month for inappropriate contact with an umpire, and Yost criticized umpires after he was thrown out of Sunday's loss at Atlanta. Geoff Jenkins' RBI single put the Brewers up 12-2, but the real fireworks had only begun. After Cuzzi called Damian Miller out on strikes to end the inning, Miller turned back to bark at Cuzzi as he walked back to the dugout. Cuzzi then ejected Brewers hitting coach Jim Skaalen between innings -- and Miller was tossed after he began to argue with Cuzzi as the catcher walked out to take his place behind home plate. Yost also came out to argue the call but remained in the game. Cuzzi finally tossed Yost in the top of the seventh, after Yost once again left the dugout to argue after Cuzzi called Rick Ankiel safe at home on a two-run single by Ryan Ludwick that made the score 12-5. Before Monday's game, Yost -- a protege of Atlanta's Bobby Cox, the most-ejected manager in major league history -- said he stood by his comments after Sunday's game. Even if it made him look like a sore loser as his team's playoff hopes faded. "If the truth gets you in trouble, then the heck with it," Yost said.

Nymr83 Sep 24 2007 11:57 PM

i feel like the umping has been worse this year than in the past, but i can't put my finger on how or why, so maybe i've just felt that way every year and don't remember as well. certainly the mets don't have that one "the umps screwed us big time" moment like the game where asshole hernandez supposedly told franco he had a plane to catch in atlanta

Valadius Sep 25 2007 12:52 AM

Maybe it's because Sandy Alderson left for San Diego? I dunno. Regardless, the umps have been injecting their personal beefs into the games more and more this season. And I gotta throw the name of Tim Donaghy into this, again.

duan Sep 25 2007 06:11 AM

lets not forget our old buddy Angel Hernandez. However, I'll say this, for a professional athlete to basically try and assault someone for verbal insults is ridiculous. You're a big guy, getting paid a lot of money, your responsibility is not to react in those situations, but to report it to the crew chief and whoever is up the disciplinary chain and get the guy disciplined. I got sent off the other week for reacting to a terrible tackle, I didn't hurt the guy or anything like it, but I did react and I deserved to get sent off as a result. I let myself down & my team down (we lost in extra time - it was a cup game) and cost us a victory. Members of a team have a responsibility to the team, not to do something stupid that impacts the teams capacity to win, even if that means biting your lip.

metirish Sep 25 2007 06:57 AM

Duan,soccer I assume,at what level do you play,junior soccer like a Cherry Orchard level? And you dead right in regards to athletes ,interesting how Mendoza line said yesterday that he hoped someone sat Milledge down to watch tape of the Bradley incident and Keith repeated the same thing when Gary mentioned Bradley during the game last night.

attgig Sep 25 2007 09:42 AM

we expect umps to have no emotion. They are the impartial judge. an impartial judge should have no emotion. so, when the ump starts feeling offended and starts cussing out a guy...then what do u do with that? they are human. that said, there is a certain level of professionalism that must be expected of the umps. if it's their job to be impartial, they need to remain so. I really wish there was some video evidence of bradley throwing the bat. because when he got called 3rd strike, the replays only show him tucking the bat in his armpit. so, if he threw it later, i DOUBT it was intentionally directed at the ump.

Edgy DC Sep 25 2007 09:50 AM

I'm sure there are many witnesses who would've noticed if Bradley threw the bat. Now, if the ump really did believe that the bat was thrown, an attack on one of them can feel like a threat to any of them, especially when a player has a history, so maybe in that the context he unwisely lashed out. In retrospect, maybe Black should have let the guy go. I was between two women yesterday --- neither Morgan Fairchild --- wagging their fingers and saying unpleasant things to each other, not an easy place.

soupcan Sep 25 2007 09:53 AM

Edgy DC wrote: I was between two women yesterday --- neither Morgan Fairchild --- wagging their fingers and saying unpleasant things to each other, not an easy place. Been there.

metirish Sep 25 2007 09:59 AM

Morgan Fairchild brings back a memory,and I'm also thinking that your Dad was involved...am I crazy?

Edgy DC Sep 25 2007 10:10 AM

Not crazy. That was Dad. Last night was definitely not a Fifth Avenue Brand Catfight.

attgig Sep 25 2007 11:32 AM

Edgy DC wrote: In retrospect, maybe Black should have let the guy go. in retrospect, there's no question black should've let him go. gladly take 2-3 days suspension over an injury that carries into next year.

Edgy DC Sep 25 2007 11:49 AM

The only problem is that, in retrospect, I can't come up with a possible scenario in which Black can muster the forespect to say to himself, "I better let him go. He'll get tossed and maybe suspended, but on the other hand, I might really fuck Bradley up here. I'm a bad mofo."

duan Sep 26 2007 04:24 AM

metirish wrote: Duan,soccer I assume,at what level do you play,junior soccer like a Cherry Orchard level? And you dead right in regards to athletes ,interesting how Mendoza line said yesterday that he hoped someone sat Milledge down to watch tape of the Bradley incident and Keith repeated the same thing when Gary mentioned Bradley during the game last night. a couple of divisions below the orchard although I have been given the run around by them in a cup game (one of the lads playing that day went on to play at Blackburn & is currently at Rotherham via Sheffield Wednesday). Decent standard of ball but with the odd crap player thrown in, we're in a rebuilding phase at present but hopefully we'll be back one division up before i retire!

Frayed Knot Sep 26 2007 11:52 AM

Ump in Bradley case [url=http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3037237]suspended for remainder of season[/url]

Zvon Sep 26 2007 01:52 PM

I'd be interested in hearing what Colorado's Todd Helton said to MLB when interviewed. I imagine that he confirmed the profanity issue.

Zvon Oct 09 2007 08:22 PM

Umpires angry at MLB questioning neighbors, friends Oct. 9, 2007 CBSSports.com wire reports NEW YORK -- Umpires called out Major League Baseball for talking with their neighbors. In the wake of the NBA's gambling scandal involving referee Tim Donaghy, the commissioner's office has stepped up monitoring of its umps. "While we cannot stop Major League Baseball from questioning the umpires' neighbors and friends, we can tell them that they are under no legal or other obligation to speak with the investigators," World Umpires Association spokesman Lamell McMorris said Tuesday. "In our view, it is a total invasion of privacy, and we strongly recommend that the neighbors and friends not answer any of these questions," he said. MLB spokesman Rich Levin defended baseball's actions. "We are conducting background checks that are consistent with the law, and these types of inquiries are part of the normal regimen," he said. Baseball asked for umps to agree to credit checks, but the umps balked, wanting MLB to expand the size of postseason umpiring crews. McMorris said baseball's security personnel have been out of line. "We've received reports that some of these individuals have not properly identified themselves, have not thoroughly explained what they are doing, and have asked some very intrusive questions," he said. AP NEWS The Associated Press News Service Copyright 2006-2007, The Associated Press, All Rights Reserved

Zvon Oct 09 2007 08:29 PM

I don't know what to make of that^. Just thought I'd share it.

Valadius Oct 09 2007 09:59 PM

Knew it.