An Exercise In Frustration: Rangers Fall Amid Umpiring Controversy
Chris Davis stares in disbelief after a dubious called third strike by home plate umpire Mike Estabrook on Friday, August 28th.It was an indescribably frustrating Friday evening of baseball in Minnesota, one that began with a three-run, first-inning lapse on the part of rookie right-hander Tommy Hunter (whose post-first inning performance was otherwise impeccable, comprising six shutout frames of three-hit, zero-walk baseball), maintained a downward trajectory as strikeout-averse southpaw Brian Duensing not-so-shockingly dominated the Texas Rangers for seven innings, and culminated with ... heck, I'm not even sure what you would call it, but I do know that it wasn't fun to watch.
[Aside from "it" (that being an abortive ninth-inning rally that nearly drew the Rangers and Twins even when David Murphy came within perhaps 18 inches of belting the game-tying two-run blast), both the division-leading Angels and Wild Card-leading Red Sox rallied from behind to pull out lead-widening victories on Friday evening, and Anaheim consummated a headline-grabber waiver-period deal, snagging left-hander Scott Kazmir from the Rays in exchange for a pair of decent, but hardly front-line prospects.
The thing about Kazmir is that he's almost certainly pitching on borrowed time, and he's thusly not what one would consider a great bet to provide $22.5 million-caliber performance over the next two seasons (he'll bank $8 million in 2010, $12 million in 2011 and an additional $2.5 million in the form of a buyout on his 2012 club option), but he's pitching effectively right now, and that could conceivably prove to be just the late-season boost the Angels need to secure a post-season berth. Good for Texas in the future, but perhaps not so good for Texas right now. It's open for debate.]
Wanna know something else that's not fun to watch? How about a poorly called game by a minor league "fill-in" umpire whose inability to secure a full-time major league job to this point in his career may not actually be all that mystifying, after all:
[Plotted in the above scatterplot are the 129 pitches which were deemed either balls or called strikes by Mike Estabrook, the home-plate umpire of Friday evening's series-opening tilt in Minnesota. The black rectangle is exactly 17 inches wide -- the regulation width of home plate -- and 22.4 inches high, with the height adjusted for the varying Pitch f/x-measured heights of all hitters' strike zones. The red rectangle signifies the "soft" strike zone, granting an additional 2.8 inches of leeway -- the approximate diameter of a regulation-sized baseball.]
When people vehemently argue for the establishment of a completely objective computerized strike zone (with the human element either completely eliminated or greatly scaled back), this is the sort of ammunition that they readily utilize.
The leftmost called strike below the two-foot marker is the location of the final pitch of Twins closer Joe Nathan -- a full-count slider fed to first baseman Chris Davis with two outs, runners on first and second base and the Rangers trailing by a 3-2 margin in the top of the ninth inning. If that's not an egregiously poor ball-strike call, I'm not sure what is; heck, the entire strike zone plot is rife with inconsistencies, some of which I'm certain benefited the Rangers, but why should those inconsistencies be permitted to "even out" over time when they're technologically preventable in the first place?
[Had Davis been granted the free pass he had rightfully earned, the sharp batting eye of shortstop Elvis Andrus would have had a bases-loaded opportunity against a noticeably rattled Joe Nathan. There's absolutely no assurance that he cashes in on that opportunity, of course, and none of this is intended to mitigate the responsibility that the lineup bears for failing to hit all night long, but Estabrook's blatantly poor call might have ultimately changed the outcome of the game, and there's absolutely no excuse for that sort of thing happening in the year 2009.]
At the outset of the 2009 regular season, it was implied that the implementation of QuesTec's successor, "Zone Evaluation" (which relies upon Pitch f/x data to rate the performance of umpires), might strain what had been improving relations between Major League Baseball and the World Umpires Association, but that's ultimately a small price to pay for the assurance that Estabrook's terrible performance will be flagged and thoroughly examined. Wouldn't you expect any other influential employee of a multi-billion-dollar organization to be held to a high level of accountability?
I don't hold a personal grudge against the man, and I don't want to see his dream of someday becoming a major league umpire shattered by this single incident. I simply want him to get it right.
17 Comments | in Analysis, The Season
Reader Comments (17)
Because the rest of us "get it right" in everything we do, right? If you're suggesting using the system to evaluate the umps, I'd support that. If you're suggesting taking the calls out of their hands altogether, I'm less supportive. I honestly don't want to see the greatest game turned into a video game.
Besides, the point, and the beauty, to me is that the Rangers and all teams for that matter, have their outcomes within their own control 99% of the time. As a hitter, and thus as a team, you never want to put yourself in a position where you've put the game situation in the umpires hands.
I watch my kids swing at strike one over their head, get two strikes, then get called out on a borderline 3rd strike. They complain about the ump, but I teach them that they didn't strike out on his call, the pitch that did them in was the head high fastball they eagerly flailed at early in the at bat.
Same with game situations. If you continually leave runners on, or fail to make adjustments at bat to at bat, you will ultimately put yourself in a position where your destiny is not in your own hands. One can extrapolate that to entire seasons as well.
And that's the beauty in my eyes. It's all human generated success and failure. One savors success more keenly having experienced failure. Personally, I don't want widgets, gizmos, and logarithms to replace the very essence that makes the greatest of games exactly that, "the thrill of victory -the agony of defeat".
Thanks for the venue to comment.
You are right when you say thay you expect the umpire to make the right call, but, the Rangers put themselves in that position.
I dont think that umpire should EVER be behind the plate again. PERIOD.
He dosent have to go sell vacuums at Sears, but he ought to have to pay his way into baseball games in the future.
Joey - can you post a similar graph for a veteran ump who has a good reputation? It might be a good way to demonstrate just how inconsistent the guy from last night was compared to the 'standard'
"Wouldn't you expect any other influential employee of a multi-billion-dollar organization to be held to a high level of accountability?"
Actually, no, but let's not drag baseball down to that level...
AS: Very poetic. I do seem to vacillate between advocating more stringent computer-aided oversight and an outright computer-based strike zone, primarily because there are pros and cons on both sides -- I suspect baseball would never entirely do away with umpires for traditionalist reasons, so perhaps that part is moot. The thing is, yeah, baseball is all about human-generated success and failure, but should that apply solely to the players on the field and not extend to the officiating?
Ry: I've looked at quite a few strike zone graphs and Estabrook's is right up there among the worst I've ever seen. Generally there are a few misses by even the most accurate ones, but his performance last night was an outlier even by the baseline standard.
The Rangers lineup was generally very bad last night, but Chris Davis' last at-bat was a very good one, and isn't that all that should matter? Yeah he had two strikes on him, but had also worked three balls before being called out on another.
I don't want to see the umpires replaced by robots. I just want the umpires to do a better job. And in important games like last night's, there's no way a guy like Estabrook should be behind home plate.
i feel like the ump was calling ceratin things in the twins favor and clearly that last strike was a ball everyone knew that. that game was a very important game to win because the angels and red sox both won. we do not need inexpirienced umps sorry if im coming off a little harsh but it was an unfair call and i know that happens in baseball but he should have considered the pitch a little more.
It was a terrible call but the key to the ab was Davis swinging at a terrible pitch in the dirt to get strike 2 on him.
When you put yourself in that position (and Davis did it to himself), you are susceptible to a bad call and that’s what happened.
And this is the real Josey Wales.
We have the technology to replace them with machines. Why not do it?
"Hey ya wanna go to the game tonight?" I dunno. Who's umpiring?" is a conversation that will never happen. Nobody goes to the game to watch the umpires . . . you'll never miss them.
I think of the strike zone like instant replays...if it helps get the call right...that should be what is important. Your not replacing the umpires with characters off the Jetsons...your using technology in a small way to enhance the accuracy of calls made. Look at it as an umpire "tool", something that is of assistance to the umpire. He will continue to "oversee" the game, work the field and make the large majority of calls...but if it is close, you use a replay video for calls in the field and the zone indicator to judge pitches.
At the least why cant we do like the NFL? Give the coach a couple challenges per game to use to contest a call.
Its just not logical to me, whether or not somebody makes a flailing swing at a head high fastball first pitch, that someone should be penalized in the end for the mistake of someone else when it can be so easily prevented by a little bit of technology. You get 3 strikes, and if you do bad on the first one, you get two more, not just one because the ump isnt doing his job well. I mean to me if it improves the integrity of the game without altering the way its played...an easy choice for me.
Great topic of discussion by the way...
I also meant to say that the boys at BBTIA do a great job.
I don't post very often in here but I do read what they have to say quite a bit.
Consider yourselves the Neftali Feliz of the Ranger Blogosphere.
A much needed breath of fresh air with an outstanding future!!
I'm through with having umps decide games with their wildly erratic zones and their propensity to give vets calls and screw rookies.
It's time to either make them MUCH more accountable or just make it automated. Who goes to baseball games to watch the umps? The human element of the game is on display enough with the players. The umps add nothing. They do nothing but detract from the game. What is the saying? "The ump's been good tonight because we've never really noticed him". Meaning he's good at his job and calling the balls and strikes correctly. Unfortunately these are very few and far between and even these guys screw up.
Time to get out of the stone age a bit and break outside of this particular tradition.
In tennis the line judges have a computerized system and while it cuts down on the McEnroe-esque tirades, it makes the game much more crisp and fair. I remember a lot of hand-wringing that this advancement was such an affront to the tradition of tennis, yet it's working out just fine.
Pathetic umpiring behind the plate. If that last pitch is a strike then please MLB re-write the rules for strike zone. Make sure the strike zone is sooooo far away from the plate that no hitter has a chance in *@LL of hitting the ball. Pathetic.
Here's an idea, MLB, start using the REAL strike zone instead of this "I call it like I see it" strike zone nonsense that has just made the strike zone some random area near the home plate. That ump last night wanted sooooo bad to call strike 3 and he got his wish to be "Mr. Drama" for all of 3 seconds.
Pathetic. Just pitiful. That umpire needs to stay away from behind the plate.
Grow up. This is baseball as it's always been, and it's survived for more than a century.
Funny how we only hear these childish complaints when your team gets beaten.
Personally, I only find things interesting when I have no recent reason to care about them. For example, I don't care about nuclear proliferation anymore since it's been SO LONG since the end of World War 2.
Mr. Estabrook's incompetence has been noted elsewhere:
http://www.syracuse.com/axeman/index.ssf/2008/07/tales_from_the_pa_booth_specia.html