• You do not need to register if you are not going to pay the yearly fee to post. If you register please click here or log in go to "settings" then "my account" then "User Upgrades" and you can renew.

HuskerMax readers can save 50% on  Omaha Steaks .

Brett Lawries meltdown is a shame, the umps actions are shameful.

redarmy

redarmy

Starter
5 Year Member
http://espn.go.com/mlb/story/_/id/7...tt-lawrie-hits-ump-thrown-helmet-gets-ejected

I have no problem with Lawrie getting a couple of games vacation for losing his temper with this meltdown but this is a perfect example of umps in baseball being too powerful.

It is not the umpires job to discipline a player period. The 3-1 pitch was a joke. Because Lawrie showed the ump up on that pitch, the ump calls the 3-2 pitch a strike as well.

I would like to see major league umps suspended and fined for this behavior. Any thoughts?
 

ejection is fine but the suspension is a joke. it was a bad bounce that accidentally brushed the umpire. at least the umpire got soaked with beer after the game. that was payback.
 
and i'd like to see the media be able to interview umpires after games to get their versions too instead of being stonewalled.
 



ejection is fine but the suspension is a joke
Click to expand...

We are all accountible for our actions. Accident our not, he threw the helmet, it hit the ump, and now its time to pay the price. Does the driver who ran the stop sign and killed a family of four not get charged because it was an "accident"? Lawrie lost his temper, viciously threw the helmet, now its time to be accountible.

The 3-1 pitch was a joke. Because Lawrie showed the ump up on that pitch, the ump calls the 3-2 pitch a strike as well.
Click to expand...

Was the ump calling that same pitch a strike the whole game? Also, any player on any level knows better than to show up the ump. Much like showing up a pitcher after hitting a home run, there is usually retaliation afterward.

On the 3-2 pitch Lawrie doesn't wait for the ump to send him to first, he makes the call for the ump. The ump hestitates and thinks "screw this guy" and rings him up. Personally, I love it. Note: Don't be surprised when you try to make a call for an umpire, that he rules the other way.

and i'd like to see the media be able to interview umpires after games to get their versions too instead of being stonewalled
Click to expand...

Good luck finding umpires if thats the case. Quality umpires are hard to find at any level, youth to MLB. Todays world demands perfection, even though the players and coaches themselves are far from perfect.

Go check out a local youth game sometime and see what those umpires put up with for $35 per game. There is a reason many games go unumpired in Omaha every night, because its not worth the money. If Dad thinks you missed a call, he's letting the umpire know about it (never to the umps face always to his back). But I don't see dad yelling at the coach for sending a runner around third who is then easily tagged out at home. When that happens, I'd love for the ump to yell at the coach, "what were you thinking coach? horrible, just horrible!!!"

And as for the comment about the pitch "not being a strike", here is the strike zone directly from the MLB rule book:
strike zone.jpg


According to the rule book, clearly that pitch was a strike.
 
Last edited:
Fromunda Cheese said:
And as for the comment about the pitch "not being a strike", here is the strike zone directly from the MLB rule book:

View attachment 3078
Click to expand...

here's where you're wrong.

both pitches were over the white plane of the batter's box on the opposite side. OUTSIDE the strike zone as shown in your example. ESPN even showed a bird's eye view from above, looking directly down onto the plate-never even touched any part of the plate's planes, be it vertical, horizon, or diagonally.
 
Last edited:
The umpires haven't been following the rule book in terms of strike zone for years. Not only is there a different strike zone in the American League fron the National League, each umpire has variations in his strike zone. What the players are looking for is consistency from an umpire and when that doesn't happen, someone is going to lose it. It will probably be an 8-10 game suspension as MLB protects its umpires, but I don't think more than a game or two is deserved.
 




Fromunda Cheese said:
We are all accountible for our actions. Accident our not, he threw the helmet, it hit the ump, and now its time to pay the price. Does the driver who ran the stop sign and killed a family of four not get charged because it was an "accident"? Lawrie lost his temper, viciously threw the helmet, now its time to be accountible.


Was the ump calling that same pitch a strike the whole game? Also, any player on any level knows better than to show up the ump. Much like showing up a pitcher after hitting a home run, there is usually retaliation afterward.

On the 3-2 pitch Lawrie doesn't wait for the ump to send him to first, he makes the call for the ump. The ump hestitates and thinks "screw this guy" and rings him up. Personally, I love it. Note: Don't be surprised when you try to make a call for an umpire, that he rules the other way.



Good luck finding umpires if thats the case. Quality umpires are hard to find at any level, youth to MLB. Todays world demands perfection, even though the players and coaches themselves are far from perfect.

Go check out a local youth game sometime and see what those umpires put up with for $35 per game. There is a reason many games go unumpired in Omaha every night, because its not worth the money. If Dad thinks you missed a call, he's letting the umpire know about it (never to the umps face always to his back). But I don't see dad yelling at the coach for sending a runner around third who is then easily tagged out at home. When that happens, I'd love for the ump to yell at the coach, "what were you thinking coach? horrible, just horrible!!!"

And as for the comment about the pitch "not being a strike", here is the strike zone directly from the MLB rule book:
View attachment 3078


According to the rule book, clearly that pitch was a strike.
Click to expand...


I agree on all accounts. If that doesn't warrant a suspension, I'm not sure what does.

IMHO, MLB umpires are definitely the best of all professional officials. That said, they are not going to get every call right, and when they miss a call, most will give players/coaches a fair amount of leeway, as long as they are not making a huge scene and showing the umpire up. The umpire is in control of the game, and that's the way it needs to be.....as long as he doesn't abuse his position, which I do not think happened in this case.

I also have a fair amount of experience umpiring high school/legion baseball and I would challenge anyone to get behind the plate and watch about 250 pitches without missing a single ball/strike. It's not an easy job, as Fromunda mentions, especially at the MLB level where the ball is coming in with such velocity and late movement.

In the case of that 3-2 pitch, I'm not sure it wasn't a strike (it was certainly borderline) and when you show up the ump, your not going to get the borderline call, nor do you deserve to get it. The ball definitely started off of the plate, but had quite a bit of late movement back in. I don't know if it actually caught any of the plate, or broke around it, but where the catcher catches the ball, it is well over the plate. Again, if you show up an umpire, every MLB player knows he better be prepared to swing at anything close.
 
Last edited:
here's where you're wrong.

both pitches were over the white plane of the batter's box on the opposite side
Click to expand...

That may be so, although I was talking about the height of the pitch.

The pitcher is on the right side of the plate, did the pitch ride the black?
 
Fromunda Cheese said:
Was the ump calling that same pitch a strike the whole game? Also, any player on any level knows better than to show up the ump. Much like showing up a pitcher after hitting a home run, there is usually retaliation afterward.

On the 3-2 pitch Lawrie doesn't wait for the ump to send him to first, he makes the call for the ump. The ump hestitates and thinks "screw this guy" and rings him up. Personally, I love it. Note: Don't be surprised when you try to make a call for an umpire, that he rules the other way.


Good luck finding umpires if thats the case. Quality umpires are hard to find at any level, youth to MLB. Todays world demands perfection, even though the players and coaches themselves are far from perfect.
Click to expand...

unfortunately, you couldnt be more wrong if you slapped mother teresa. Both Pitches were out of the anyones strike zone. It's not an umpires job to punish or retaliate by making bogus calls. That is un enthical. Like I said, I have no problem with Lawrie getting ejected and I am ok with him getting suspended. He has to control himself better than that. The fat pig of an ump needs discipline as well. Umps can't call a ball a strike unless that is how they see it and it was obvious to anybody watching the game that after the ump blew the 3-1 pitch which was pathetic, he obviously took matters into his own hands and punished Brett with another bogus call. This is my entire point of the thread. Umps can't have that kind of power IMO. Its like Joey Crawford gone bad in the NBA.
 
Last edited:



Lawrie deserved to be suspended. As for the bad bounce of the helmet that's malarky. He threw it towards the ump and it bounced off the ground at the same angle as it hit. If that is a bad bounce then I'm not sure how he's as good a fielder as he is.

The question I have is what was a fair number of games. Would a starting pitcher have been suspended for 20 games? Rondo got an ejection and 1 game for bumping an official.

Officials have to be protected from physical abuse. I think Lawrie has learned his lesson. I think MLB may have gotten it right it was severe enough to deter him from doing it again.
 
Both Pitches were out of the anyones strike zone
Click to expand...

Wrong.

It's not an umpires job to punish or retaliate by making bogus calls. That is un enthical.
Click to expand...

Unethical? ROTFLMAO. You say "unethical" in the game where the motto is, "they cheat if you let them" LMAO. You don't show up an umpire, you know that.

Umps can't call a ball a strike unless that is how they see it and it was obvious to anybody watching the game that after the ump blew the 3-1 pitch which was pathetic, he obviously took matters into his own hands and punished Brett with another bogus call. This is my entire point of the thread. Umps can't have that kind of power IMO
Click to expand...

Why don't you umpire then? Surely someone like yourself who is spouting off about a fat pig of an ump from behind a screen name has the nads to go out on the diamond in front of 50 people, or 200 people, or 40,000 people and call a game to perfection, right?

I am looking forward to your war stories from calling the game behind the dish!
 

Fromunda Cheese said:
Wrong.



Unethical? ROTFLMAO. You say "unethical" in the game where the motto is, "they cheat if you let them" LMAO. You don't show up an umpire, you know that.



Why don't you umpire then? Surely someone like yourself who is spouting off about a fat pig of an ump from behind a screen name has the nads to go out on the diamond in front of 50 people, or 200 people, or 40,000 people and call a game to perfection, right?

I am looking forward to your war stories from calling the game behind the dish!
Click to expand...

at least I'm not fat!

seriously, I think you missed the point. most people agree Lawrie was out of line. Most people agree Lawrie shouldnt have shown up the up, I agree. Most people also understand that a ump's job is to call a baseball game. I am of the opinion that ump have too much power and abuse it at times. This was a perfect example of that. This ump punched lawrie out on strikes because he didnt like the way Lawrie acted when he blew a call. The 3-1 pitch straddled the white line. It was way out of the strike zone. It was a bad, bad call, the other was high and outside but was at least closer to the plate. The pig used his god card to punish lawrie.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

GET TICKETS


Get 50% off on Omaha Steaks

Back
Top