Reggie Yinger
MLB Umpires and Controversy
Sunday May 12th, 2013
Angel Hernandez has had his fair share of controversial calls. (US Presswire)
As much as technology has evolved over the past century, Major League Baseball still relies heavily on humans to determine plays across the baseball field. While this is unlikely to change in the near future, MLB has taken several steps in the right direction (instant replay on some plays).
Google Visualization API Sample
However, even with instant replay, teams and fans are still relying on an umpire to make a judgement call. More recently, umpire Angel Hernandez was involved with this call and Oakland Athletics infielder Adam Rosales on May 8 2013.
After this incident happen, a friend on Twitter (@darenw) suggested we pull all plays which required replay. I decided to take a look at all the review calls that have happen since MLB initiated the system in 2008. After pulling the MLB game-ids, I decided to do some programming magic and find out all the umpires that were involved in controversial calls. In total, I pulled 255 games where a replay had occurred (postseason included).
Here are the top ten umpires involved with controversial plays. You can find all of the data here.
Prior to reviewing data, I thought Angel Hernandez might be among the "league leaders" for replay calls, but he's actually just inside the top ten. Small sample size? Perhaps. However, in a 2011 Sports Illustrated player's poll, Hernandez was ranked the third worst umpire in baseball (he also held the same spot in a player's poll from 2010).
On an ironic note, I noticed that Angel Hernandez was involved in a replay call two years ago to the exact date (May 8 2011) of his Athletics-Indians game during a Boston Red Sox and Minnesota Twins game in Boston. This play revolved around a ball Danny Valencia
hit off the foul pole down the left field line. He and his crew got the call right.
The top spot belongs to umpire Mike Everitt. Before even going into Everitt's replay calls, you should remember that he was the left field umpire during Game 6 of the 2003 National League Championship Series between the Florida Marlins and Chicago Cubs. If you're not familiar with this game (sorry Cubs fans) - it's infamously known as the "Bartman Game". Everitt ruled that the ball would have landed in the stands without interference, and the rest is history.
Mike Everitt has been involved in 23 total plays that have required replay. His most recent replay game was between the Detroit Tigers and Houston Astros on May 3 2013. The play in question was a ball that Victor Martinez
hit that appeared to hit a yellow line on the right field wall. The ball never left the field, and after review by Everitt and the rest of the umpiring team, Martinez was credited with a single (instead of a home run).
In closing, replay is needed in all sports. In today's world, technology is all around us, so why not bring Major League Baseball up to speed on 21st century technology. Sure, baseball is America's pastime and always will be, but when games are left to be decided by judgement calls, and those judgement calls are sometimes clearly wrong, it's becomes time for change in the process. In the grand scheme of things, small plays involving replay may not seem like a big deal at the time, but in the long run, it could be the difference between a team winning their division or settling for the dreaded one-game wild-card playoff.
by Anonymous on Wednesday May 15th @ 4:35PM
The bottom line is they have to get it right, somehow. They have to get the obvious calls correct or everyone is offended and the game is not on as high a level as it should and could have been. Replay? Fine. Lasers? OK. Whatever it takes to get it right. If the umps are offended they are not interested enough in getting it right.