Best and Worst Umpires

by Jim McLennan on Jul 15, 2008 11:22 AM EDT

There was some discussion on this topic following Angel Hernandez's...interesting performance behind the plate recently - not the first time that he has come in for criticism as a result of his appearance in Diamondbacks games. [Such as the time he rang up Chris Young on strike two!] But he is perhaps most famous for tossing former Chicago Bear Steve McMichael out of a game at Wrigley Field. McMichael was there to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame... Though I suspect Brandon Webb probably likes him - Hernandez was also behind the plate the last time Webb faced Washington, and our ace tossed a complete-game shutout that day.

But I figure we could throw it open for a more general debate on the best and worst issue. Another possible candidate would be Bryan Runge, who denied Orlando Hudson a walk on ball four a couple of weeks back. He is, however, neutral - at least in that fans of both teams dislike him equally. Marlins fan Jorge Costales, of the 2 Think Good blog, wrote as follows:

Mr Runge, in his 2nd game coming off a one game suspension for bumping a manager, lost count of a ball 4 to Orlando Hudson and then made 2 of the worst called strikes...imaginable in the same inning, one against each team. As fans, we are aware that home plate umpires do make-up calls, but to watch him do it on pitches which were not close, essentially back to back [Mark Reynolds in the top of the 8th and Mike Jacobs in the bottom of the 8th], showed me how immune umpires feel to criticism. The NBA is not the only league with an officiating problem.

A little additional info to kick things off. A 2006 SI poll of players came up with the following results:

Who is the best umpire in the major leagues?
Tim McClelland.....29%
Jim Joyce.....10%
John Hirschbeck.....6%
Ed Rapuano.....6%
Ted Barrett.....6%
Laz Diaz.....3%
Randy Marsh.....3%
Ed Montague.....3%
Joe West,.....2%
Jerry Crawford.....2%

The worst?
CB Bucknor.....21%
Bruce Froemming.....15%
Angel Hernandez.....12%
Joe West.....6%
Doug Eddings.....5%
Joe Brinkman.....4%
Chuck Meriwether.....3%
Larry Young.....3%
Greg Gibson,.....2%
Gary Darling.....2%

FAST FACTS: McClelland worked home plate for David Wells's 1998 perfect game. He's known for his small but consistent strike zone....Bucknor (seven years) is the least experienced ump on either list; Froemming (35 years) is MLB's most experienced active ump....Among hitters Hernandez drew 16.4% of the the worst vote. This season Mets LF Cliff Floyd said, "a lot of us have had confrontations with Hernandez."

Other questions, perhaps as interesting:
How do you rate the overall standard of umpiring in MLB? How does it compare to other pro sports?
Do you think MLB has too much or too little influence on umpires?
What do you look for in a "good" umpire. Is a consistent strike-zone more important than one called "by the book"?
Should electronic pitch-monitoring be used to judge balls and strikes, not umpires?
Instant-replay: the best thing since sliced bread, or an abomination against nature?

All-Star [and random] GameDay Thread to follow shortly.

Poll

Compared to other pro sports, baseball umpires overall are

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Comments

Bruce Froemming

I’m kind of surprised to see Froemming near the top of the worst… my recollection is him being much like McClelland in terms of consistency. Seeing as how this is a players poll, my assumption is that he doesn’t put up with bullshit and therefore has issues with young players from time to time. I think this may seal it:

“Froemming, a 33-year veteran, led the worst-umpire voting among players with fewer than two years’ service (27.5%).”

Fire Bob Melvin. Fire A.J. Hinch. Eric Byrnes Sucks.

by nihil67 on Jul 15, 2008 1:40 PM EDT 0 recs

Whoa....

now you’re calling for Hinch’s head too?

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 15, 2008 2:06 PM EDT up 0 recs

Why not?

We have a minor league system that fails to teach players the fundamentals of the game. Where better to clean that out than the top? He is in charge of player development, after all.

Fire Bob Melvin. Fire A.J. Hinch. Eric Byrnes Sucks.

by nihil67 on Jul 15, 2008 2:31 PM EDT up 0 recs

Perhaps

because the only current Dback who’s been drafted while Hinch was with the team was Justin Upton?

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 15, 2008 2:53 PM EDT up 0 recs

Not true

Hinch was hired as the manager of minor league operations in 2005. He’s been directly involved with the minor league system since 2005.

Fire Bob Melvin. Fire A.J. Hinch. Eric Byrnes Sucks.

by nihil67 on Jul 15, 2008 3:42 PM EDT up 0 recs

So

who else on the current Dbacks 25-man roster has been drafted since 2005?

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 15, 2008 3:57 PM EDT up 0 recs

We're talking about two different things

I’m not talking about the selection of players, I’m talking about the development. I don’t care who drafted them, someone still needs to be teaching players fundamentals at every level of the system, including the majors. Mark Reynolds, for one, has had the majority of his professional career (all but his first year) in the Hinch era.

Fire Bob Melvin. Fire A.J. Hinch. Eric Byrnes Sucks.

by nihil67 on Jul 15, 2008 4:03 PM EDT up 0 recs

Yes, I do realize that.

But I don’t think it’s quite fair to be judging Hinch based on players who might have already been in A+, AA, or AAA when he joined the franchise. That’s why I’d want to use players that have been drafted since he got here as a better example of player development—he got a fresh start on them; wasn’t working with somebody else’s unfinished product.

I’m not saying that my standard shows him to be a shining light of player development, I’m just saying that I think he should be granted a few more years before rightfully being judged for his work.

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 15, 2008 4:14 PM EDT up 0 recs

Eh.....

No comment needed, because I think everyone already knows how I feel about most umpires….

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 15, 2008 2:04 PM EDT 0 recs

replay

if they are going to start using instant replay to determine close calls, why not throw it up on the jumbotron for everyone in the ball park to see what the right call should be? there shouldn’t be anything for any tape-viewing umpire to hide, and showing a replay on the board for uncontroversial plays never seems to take too long…

i am actually surprised that this angle never seems to be part of the discussion.

by leemellon on Jul 15, 2008 2:38 PM EDT 0 recs

I think

that showing close umpiring calls on the jumbotron might be against league rules—collective bargaining agreement w/ the umpire’s union, and all that.

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 15, 2008 2:52 PM EDT up 0 recs

Does that also cover

Fudging the Gameday data when an umpire doesn’t let a player walk after Ball Four, to remove one of the pitches and make it seem the mistake never occurred?

by Jim McLennan on Jul 15, 2008 3:15 PM EDT up 0 recs

I've long suspected that.

Same thing when the ump makes a particularly egregious call - strike 3 looking on a ball 2 feet outside, etc. - they always disappear from the GameDay log. I’m not the only one to notice this, either.

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 15, 2008 3:59 PM EDT up 0 recs

I'm happy to see CB at the top

Whenever someone asks who’s the worst umpire, I always think of good ol’ CB. Horrible consistancy, really bonehead calls, and I also think that HE has a counting problem as well.
Slightly surprised to see Las Diaz get some positive votes. I’ve always known him to make some really bad bonehead calls, especially at the plate. But perhaps he has a consistant strike zone?
Of course these results are over a year old.

by frienetic on Jul 15, 2008 3:58 PM EDT 0 recs

oops

That SI poll that was linked to is actually from 2003, not 2006. It’s a very interesting read, especially how some players have fallen since then. Also Bank One Ballpark seemed to rank highly among fields to play.

by frienetic on Jul 15, 2008 4:13 PM EDT up 0 recs

My bad

I found the 2003 poll, then the 2006 one, and forgot to update the link. I’ve done so now, but for completeness, here is the 2003 poll.

by Jim McLennan on Jul 15, 2008 5:20 PM EDT up 0 recs

angel hernandez did help us out a bit in that game against the nats, though. called two balks in one inning, one of our guys scored because of it, and he ejected their starter, it kinda swings both ways

You fell victim to one of the classic blunders! The first is never get involved in a land war in Asia. The second, only slightly less well known, is this: never go up against a Sicilian when death is on the line! Ha ha ha ha ha ha --

by utahdbacksfan on Jul 15, 2008 5:04 PM EDT 0 recs

Bruce Froemming?

Wow, I didn’t realize he was still around.

I don’t remember much about Bruce, except that he and Jay Bell seemed to really have it in for one another. When it came to Bell, Bruce had that “wanna fight?” attitude that I usually associate with Angel Hernandez. He’d boldly make questionable judgment calls and then would take steps to escalate confrontations instead of calmly resolving them. I particularly remember Froemming calling after players who had questioned his calls and then walked away. I never knew what he said, but the players frequently came back and resumed the “discussion” (which usually grew into screaming arguments and ejections).

Angel Hernandez is now my lead standard for this kind of poor game management. Regardless of which team he hurts, I hate to see it happen.

"We...probed them all the way through. They're completely meat." — Terry Bisson

by Scrbl on Jul 15, 2008 8:09 PM EDT 0 recs

He's NOT still around.

Froemming retired at the end of last season.

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 16, 2008 2:33 AM EDT up 0 recs

Oh good.

I didn’t think I’d seen him this year. Didn’t see the “A 2006 poll of players” bit.

"We...probed them all the way through. They're completely meat." — Terry Bisson

by Scrbl on Jul 16, 2008 9:12 AM EDT up 0 recs

Yeah, big Bruce is kinda hard to miss,

seeing as how he’s large enough that he could simultaneously umpire first AND third base.

Mark Reynolds: back to turning me gay.

by DbacksSkins on Jul 16, 2008 11:09 AM EDT up 0 recs

AS A angel Fan

My Vote is 100% Agianst Doug Eddings, remember 2005 alcs we could have won the ws if not for eddings he changed his call and everythingy

Maybe we should start one of those wave things?

by WillGoAngels27 on Jul 16, 2008 5:19 PM EDT 0 recs

He didn't change his call

he called a strikeout but not a put out because in his opinion the ball hit the ground before being gloved. Besides, that play didn’t end the game or the series. The White Sox were a ridiculous hot team that year so I don’t think you can much blame Eddings on that one.

By all means hit at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me.

by soco on Jul 16, 2008 6:57 PM EDT up 0 recs

I tolerate baseball umps

probably more than the average official, though a close second would be NFL refs, followed by most soccer refs, then NCAA football (Pac-10 is terrible, though), then NBA. I don’t have enough knowledge of the NHL in recent years to properly think about it.

I only really look for two things out of a baseball umpire, to call a strikezone consistantly and think about a call a second if you’re unsure. Sometimes it seems they are quick to just make a call even if asking their crew might get them a better answer.

By all means hit at a glacial pace. You know how that thrills me.

by soco on Jul 16, 2008 6:56 PM EDT 0 recs