An Absolute Joke

Matthew Carruth · May 24, 2013 at 11:24 pm · Filed Under Mariners 

haha

People have been fired for far less and deserved it. This isn’t even funny anymore.

You’re dying, baseball. Clean yourself up or at least pretend like you’re interested in trying.

Comments

45 Responses to “An Absolute Joke”

  1. IMFletch on May 24th, 2013 11:40 pm

    I didn’t watch the game. Was the runner called out?

  2. brohamski on May 25th, 2013 12:08 am

    Yes, it was Sucre and he was called out.

  3. PackBob on May 25th, 2013 12:11 am

    Wow. Looking at other replay angles, even if Moreland had caught the ball, his foot was definitely off the bag. The umps blew this call in two different ways.

    Seems that as a matter of course, the umps should know where the ball is when in play at all times. The umps didn’t even bother to see who had the ball after the play was completed.

  4. The_Waco_Kid on May 25th, 2013 12:21 am

    Bitching about calls is always viewed poorly. That being said, good to have you at USSM, Matthew! You’re totally right

  5. brohamski on May 25th, 2013 1:07 am

    Nothing is going to change until the umpires are held accountable for their mistakes. Same goes for a few days ago when the umpire called the M’s hitter out and didn’t refer down to the base ref who would have had the better view. Until they are held accountable for the views that they hold, they’re going to oppose any MLB regulation against their judgement, including replay, and it’s only going to get worse. These players work too hard for these protected men to damage their careers.

  6. Rboyle0628 on May 25th, 2013 5:15 am

    Wow. Glad I passed out llast night. Just goes to show, when things are going bad… they’re going real bad. Besides that, umpire should be suspended.

  7. bookbook on May 25th, 2013 5:57 am

    Did the M’s flip out? Protest the game? Sometimes, you gotta make a stink.

  8. globalalpha on May 25th, 2013 6:39 am

    I don’t believe it, what absolute horse shit. Matthew is right, the Ms should have lost by only 3 runs, not by 4.

  9. Liam on May 25th, 2013 6:48 am

    Eric Wedge came out of the dugout to talk with the umpire and left shortly thereafter. It was not apparent to anyone without a TV that this happened.

  10. Typical Idiot Fan on May 25th, 2013 7:45 am

    When I was taught how to umpire at first, I was told to watch the bag (to see when / if the runner’s foot reaches it) and LISTEN for the sound of the ball hitting the glove. Now, even if Moreland was off the bag, which is another issue entirely, the umpire wouldn’t have been looking at who caught the ball. He would have heard ball hit mitt and with Sucre nowhere near the bag, called him out.

    This doesn’t excuse things, but how often are you going to have a play like this happen, where the pitcher ranges over and intercepts a throw intended for the first baseman. It’s just not a regular enough occurrence that the blue would have expected shenanigans.

    So while he got this one way wrong, he got it “right” insofar as how he’s been trained. Foot + sound = decision. Frankly, this method has always been a sparkling example of WHY umpires are limited, but until yesterday I’d never actually seen it completely screw up like this.

  11. jak924 on May 25th, 2013 8:02 am

    Yea, like it would have made a difference.

  12. rick m on May 25th, 2013 8:05 am

    Why can’t the ump patrolling second base step in and help get the call right? Or the home plate ump? So much technology and feet on the ground, so little usefulness.

  13. BillyJive on May 25th, 2013 8:27 am

    Maybe it would’ve made a difference..who knows…there is a thing called ‘momentum’…but this is supposed to be the major leagues. A beer league ump coulda got that call right.

  14. Scott5000 on May 25th, 2013 8:40 am

    Typical Idiot: but the last thing an umpire does after watching the foot, and listening to the pound of the mitt, is to look up and see if the fielder retained control of the ball. At this point the umpire should have seen the first baseman didn’t have it.

  15. gopilots70 on May 25th, 2013 9:01 am

    Yes, you are dying baseball. And this on a site where I am regularly accused of hyperbole. I am sure that baseball survived for the last 140 years because the umpires were much better without stop action camera.

    And now I am to believe that because Brendan Ryan hit 3 something while the team went zero for eight, that he is worth keeping. He is the true definition of a bottom division player…when the pressure is on, when the games matter, he sucks. When we are getting whacked he suddenly comes alive.

    This team will not do anything until BR is gone.

    And the ludicrous statements that 100, or 150 or 200 more at bats against starting rotations, with the likes Bonderman, Carraway, Gilheeny, Paxton, Beavan will make Franklin ready for the bigs?

    What are you Cameron lemmings thinking?

  16. gopilots70 on May 25th, 2013 9:07 am

    The joke is that Dave Cameron suggested six changes for the Mariners to make and not one of them included Brendan Ryan.

  17. lemonverbena on May 25th, 2013 9:09 am

    Thank you, gobrewers70, for reminding me not to read the comments.

  18. henryv on May 25th, 2013 9:13 am

    When did Geoff Baker get a USSM login?

  19. Woodcutta on May 25th, 2013 9:48 am

    I still don’t understand why Nathan got the save last night. The final score was 9-5 (four run difference) and he pitched to the final batter (Morse) with runners on first and second. So even if he gave up a HR to Morse it would have been 9-8. Hence, he wouldn’t have blown a save on one swing of the bat. How is that a save?

  20. Skim on May 25th, 2013 9:55 am

    Woodcutta: If you enter the game with the tying run on deck, that’s a save situation.

  21. Typical Idiot Fan on May 25th, 2013 10:23 am

    Why can’t the ump patrolling second base step in and help get the call right? Or the home plate ump? So much technology and feet on the ground, so little usefulness.

    On the double play, he was probably watching for other things.

    Typical Idiot: but the last thing an umpire does after watching the foot, and listening to the pound of the mitt, is to look up and see if the fielder retained control of the ball. At this point the umpire should have seen the first baseman didn’t have it.

    Moreland’s mitt was closed, as was Grimm’s. How was he supposed to tell who had the ball? Like I said, Grimm and Moreland pulled off a rather sly bit of acting once the umpire made his call.

  22. SeattleNative57 on May 25th, 2013 10:29 am

    An absolute joke only begins to describe this pathetic example of umpiring and managing. Clearly the umpire at first base needs to be drug/alcohol tested (preferably on the spot). And Wedge requires some scrutiny as well. He claims not to have known the immediate error of this call. I’m calling bullshit. First, Morse is seen discussing the bungle with said offending ump on his jog to the outfield (mere minutes after the abuse). Second, Blowers and Sims were all over it on ROOT. Is nobody in Ms officialdom paying attention. We live in an age of “instant communication”. Something stinks with this picture. Pathetic all the way around.

  23. Westside guy on May 25th, 2013 10:29 am

    Simple. Just like with questionable outfield catches – the ump makes the player show him the ball.

  24. Woodcutta on May 25th, 2013 10:33 am

    I just looked it up and you are right but I have never seen that situation credited as a save before.

  25. Woodcutta on May 25th, 2013 10:35 am

    How dare you use logic Westside!

  26. SeattleNative57 on May 25th, 2013 10:42 am

    A failure all the way around. Agree, Westside, ump could have, and should have, asked to see the ball. Imagine the NFL, where team officials in the booth upstairs communicate constantly with the sideline regarding calls, plays, etc. Is no one “upstairs” at Safeco? Why the failure to communicate?

  27. drlo on May 25th, 2013 10:47 am

    While foot + sound might = decision for the first part of the call, this is really no excuse.

    Just as an umpire might properly see the foot and hear the sound but then change his decision when he sees the ball dropped or juggled, similarly, the umpire should have changed the decision when he saw the pitcher, and not the first baseman, turn immediately to check the runner on third. It was obvious within a second at most after the catch, despite the momentary confusion, that the pitcher had the ball. The umpire obviously didn’t follow the play to the end, or simply refused to acknowledge that he got it wrong while it was still possible to fix. Either way, some sort of disciplinary action is warranted.

  28. smb on May 25th, 2013 11:29 am

    I’m stunned that the title of this thread has nothing to do with the Mariners’ front office.

  29. BillyJive on May 25th, 2013 11:34 am

    I don’t always agree with everything Dave says, but why should his plans have included Brendan Ryan? Brendan Ryan is a below-average hitting shortstop. Probably always will be. But he is one of the best shortstops defensively. Period. If a lot of our other position players were hitting on a regular basis, there probably wouldn’t be a discussion about Brendan Ryan.

  30. WestyHerr on May 25th, 2013 11:44 am

    Baseball is only a joke in Seattle. I live in the Bay Area.. It’s an incredible time to love baseball. If our team wasn’t a bottom feeder .. None of this would matter. We should be angry and pissed.. and then come out today and win 11-2. But we can’t do that. Never will.

  31. rick m on May 25th, 2013 12:37 pm

    The reason why baseball is dying is because the paying fans had the world’s largest TV available and were not allowed to see the travesty because some ump would get boo’ed and have his feelings hurt. The TV does a great job of showing 10 year old bloopers, however.

  32. kennyb on May 25th, 2013 1:03 pm

    Seattlenative- Remember that this is the same team that lost track of the strike count twice in the same season. I’m not sure most of them are even paying attention to the games.

  33. Lantern on May 25th, 2013 1:30 pm

    From the angle in the picture above there is no separation between the players heel and the bag. That doesn’t prove that it is literally touching in a 3D world, but it also doesn’t prove that it is NOT touching. Try a different angle to prove your point.

  34. BillyJive on May 25th, 2013 1:31 pm

    Pretty sure everyone who has seen the replay agrees his foot came off the bag.

  35. Lantern on May 25th, 2013 1:56 pm

    Pretty sure everyone thinks dairy increases mucus production as well. I thought this sight was all about proofs and data. Show me an image that proves the point.

  36. BillyJive on May 25th, 2013 2:03 pm

    It’s all over the internet even mlb.com has it…watch the replay and decide for yourself then…even Stevie Wonder can see his foot is off the bag..not that it really matters becuase he also doesn’t have the ball in his glove…

  37. SeattleNative57 on May 25th, 2013 2:10 pm

    Proving Moreland’s foot came off the bag is irrelevant. The pitcher caught the ball.

  38. SeattleNative57 on May 25th, 2013 2:25 pm

    Kennyb: Thanks for the good memory. I recall those botched pitch counts and being pissed at the time no one in the organization, including Wedge, disputed the mistakes. I also think I remember Wedge claiming he didn’t know the mistake was made at the time or he would’ve argued more strongly. Strangely similar to this episode. How many other organizations would be victims of this type of umpiring error? Not many, in my opinion. Failing to notice your team is being cheated is certain to lead to failure. And the Mariners are the least likely team to survive this type of failure. Where is the passion, the will to succeed? Sadly, it is not on the bench. I used to think Wedge had way more fire and passion than he has shown.

  39. stevemotivateir on May 25th, 2013 2:34 pm

    The joke is that Dave Cameron suggested six changes for the Mariners to make and not one of them included Brendan Ryan.

    Your brilliance shines once again.

  40. stevemotivateir on May 25th, 2013 2:49 pm

    Brendan Ryan’s batting line for May: .277/.320/.426.

    Not his fault few others were hitting or that the pitching fell apart.

    But yeah, people should believe he’s the problem and that once he’s gone, we’ll win games and contend.

  41. Scott5000 on May 25th, 2013 4:08 pm

    Idiot: at some point the ball has to come out of the closed mitts. Its called proper timing.

  42. Bender on May 25th, 2013 4:14 pm

    Sometimes I wish USSM’s comments were organized more like LL’s

  43. HighlightsAt11 on May 25th, 2013 5:41 pm

    If the ump had not called Sucre out does he receive credit for a hit? Or would it have been considered a fielders choice award ? Welcome to the big leagues Sugar Man.

  44. Lantern on May 25th, 2013 10:13 pm

    OK I’ve watched the play and it is clear that his foot came off the bag, BUT only a 1/2 second after the ball hit a glove. The ump really had the call right, if the ball had been hitting the first baseman’s glove. Of course it wasn’t his glove, but that’s a different story. In the seconds after the play, the ump should be confirming that the ball is where he thinks it is instead of looking into the stands like an arrogant jerk. 🙂

  45. BillyJive on May 27th, 2013 10:19 am

    I don’t think the issue here really is whether his foot was on the bag or not…we see umps get that wrong all the time…the fact that the ball isn’t in his glove is the real issue anyways…

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