Okajima Didn't Walk in the Run, Angel Hernandez Did
by Ben Buchanan on Apr 7, 2010 7:00 AM EDT
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What does a badly called game look like? Let Nick Johnson tell you:
That is Johnson's at bat against Daniel Bard, where he drew a walk despite having Bard throw only one pitch outside of the strike zone.
And how about that crucial plate appearance against Hideki Okajima, where he drew another 5-pitch walk, this time pushing the winning run across? Let's take a look at that one after the jump.
Look familiar? 4 more pitches in the strike zone, 3 more strikes called balls. While Scott Atchison eventually gave up another run to Robinson Cano on a solo shot, that plate appearance is the one that really changed the game.
Undeniably the Yankees got screwed on quite a few calls too. A.J. Burnett had nearly as many bad calls go against him as Jon Lester did, and he tried to even things out with some make up calls in the 9th inning, but by then it was all-but-decided.
It's a cheap thing to do to blame a loss on umpiring—the Red Sox had plenty of chances to score throughout the game and couldn't—so I won't. After all, Victor Martinez drew a walk on what was clearly a strike, allowing Jacoby Ellsbury to score the first run of the game on a Kevin Youkilis sacrifice fly. Questionable decisions like leaving Ortiz in against Yankee lefty Damaso Marte certainly didn't help matters either.
But when the go-ahead run of a game is scored on a bases loaded walk stemming from a plate appearance as egregiously poorly as Johnson's was, it needs to be brought up. Especially since it came from Angel Hernandez, one of those guys who everyone is shocked still has a job.
Hernandez has spent the last 20 years trying to make baseball games about himself. His quick and over-the-top ejections of players, coaches, and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" singers are the things of legend. Just last night, he routinely refused to call time outs for batters even when requested in a reasonable amount of times. God forbid any of the batters had mentioned it to him—they would've been on their way to the showers in the blink of an eye. It comes as no surprise that the players have no great love for him either.
So why is he still a Major League Baseball umpire?
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He definitely must have pics of Selig blowing a goat or something. That’s really the only explanation as to why he still has a job. If any of us were as bad at our job we would have been fired years ago.
Strikeouts are boring- Besides that, they're fascist. Throw some ground balls - it's more democratic.
+1
That whole thing about not calling timeout was a @#$%ing joke. I had to laugh when the players from both teams just seemed to sort of decide @#$% this guy, we’ll just call time on our own. Batter steps out of the box, catcher “calls time”, Angel Hernandez stands there with his finger up his hole like the dumbass he is.
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
I have a five-tool player in my pants.
ACTUALLY, advanced metrics show that that wasn't "premature".
@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
Doesn't that depend on our employer?
If we worked for one of the major political parties in the US, for instance, and were as bad at our jobs as Hernandez is at his, wouldn’t we be promoted?
At least...
Sandy could get reimbursed for his time in stripclubs
Rock me, sexy Jesus...
by nuthinboutnuthin on Apr 7, 2010 12:06 PM EDT up reply actions
Ahh
I don’t really care about the umps-they are randomly blind so I expect that sort of thing. I must say that Nick Johnson has a voodoo-like ability to simply stand there and take walks. It is not like he has a lot of power. I never really understood this-just throw 2 pitches right down Broadway to start him off. Maybe it is he strange stance at the plate. Regardless, if Scutaro/Youkilis didn’t combine to mess up the Jeter ground ball-the game is still tied going to the bottom of the 8th.
Because...
pitches down the middle of the plate usually end up in the seats. Pitching is about working the corners where guys have a harder time getting a good hit.
And some of those balls were not near the corner, even close to questionable. Pitchers can’t pitch effectively, nor hitters hit unless there is consistently. When everything is consistently a ball, just stand there and wait. Johnson figured that out quickly. No motive to swing unless the ump actually calls some strikes.
"simul justus et peccator"
It is not Johnson's game
to swing at the first pitch. It is just like Scutaro or Abreu-it pays to be more aggressive early in the count on those guys. Maybe not right down the middle, but aggressive. One thing I recall from that classic Beckett-Burnett duel in Yankee stadium last year was that AJ was particularly tough because he started nearly every Sox player off with the get me over strike, and uncharacteristically he was nearly always ahead because the Sox are not a swing first team. Johnson is a statue up there with limited power-go after him.
I'm sorry but Johnson 'earned' 2 walks based on 2 balls and 8 strikes.
That’s just wrong. There is no way you should be blaming the pitchers for not throwing it ‘right down Broadway’. Both pitchers did their job – but the umpire did not.
I am not really talking about last night
I am mostly talking about his career. It is funny how he does this….
The only thing I'd like be bring up is the early indications that Leadoff and the 5 hole need to be adjusted
Ellsbury and Papi both are not looking confident at the plate right now – those are two big parts of the line up the Sox need production out of.
I think everything else will work itself out over time….but these two guys I worry about
Sox Brass: Wake Up About Oritz!
TO THEO, TITO, LARRY L. & JOHN H.
This is the third spring I’ve said the Sox need to dump three players because they aren’t productive anymore. They are Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell and David Ortiz. I got all kinds of abuse most of the time here ….but I still stand by those statements. The Sox braintrust finally agreed regarding the first two, placing them on the bench. Only Ortiz is left as a regular player and he flat-out stinks. Yet the head-in-the-sand Sox Nation continues to live in the past, thinking "Big Papi" will somehow return to his Glory Days. The facts say otherwise. The man continues to be a detriment to the team, especially the first two months of season. Tito Francona, continues to have zero balls in key situations where someone at least pinch-hitting for Oritz in a lefty-lefty would be the smarter movie. Last night was a perfect example, but the affable "players coach" was afraid to hurt "the big guy’s feelings" and thinking "of the big picture," meaning he’ll do what he did last year, weather the storm with Oritz costing the Sox about 6-7 in the first two months by leaving a gazillion runners on base, as he did last season.
Like in Lugo’s case, Boston needs to admit it’s mistake, take the financial loss, cut ties and use a real DH – AT LEAST AGAINST LEFT-HANDED PITCHERS. Like Manny, the Big Papi days are over. Deal with it, or continue to lose games you shouldn’t.
Disagree.
Papi’s struggles had mostly to do with the injury to his wrist. Like Papi said, it’s TWO GAMES IN. How can you make a judgment on that? If you based all arguments on the first two games, the Pujols is due for 300 HR’s and an .800 average. You wouldn’t find a hotter hitter after June last year. He did nothing for the first 2 months and STILL hit 29 HR’s and 99 RBI’s by year’s end. AND they still won 95 games.
David Ortiz 2010: 120 RBIs, 35+ HRs. Jason who?
Who?
Who replaces Ortiz at this moment?
Also, he DID return after the ASB last year. And I think it’s worth giving him, I don’t know, at least three games before killing him off.
Building Fenway from the ground up - Virtual Fenway
7 at-bats is a reasonable amount of time to judge someone's season.
We can all agree that if Youk doesn’t hit .500 this season then he pretty much bombed the final 160 games.
It's also clear that Lester is doomed to go 0-33
If he finishes 18-7, it will have been an amazing, unexpected surge in the last 32 starts…
that's not true
clearly Okajima is going to go 81-81 and all the other pitchers will be really pissed at him.
Ah - true
However, both Lester and Beckett are indeed going to finish with stratospheric ERAs.
The evidence so far is pretty clear and compelling. There is no other possible outcome.
Well...maybe...maybe we should wait.
Because Sunday I thought Pedroia was going to have 162 home runs, but now it turns out he’ll only have 81.
Which is too bad, but still a nice season for him.
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
I have a five-tool player in my pants.
ACTUALLY, advanced metrics show that that wasn't "premature".
@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
On a good note - Ellsbury's SB pace has improved!
He now looks like a lock to steal 81 on the season!!!
As will Beltre
It will be exciting to watch them battle it out for the team lead in SB all year.
What? You want to throw the whole season?
You can’t possibly wait a whole week!!!
I want’ people fired!!!!!! I want heads to roll!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
On the plus side...
We’re going to be locked in a .500 death struggle with the Yankees, while the Rays win the division and the Tigers get the wild card. Doesn’t that mean we can start drinking to excess now?
Rock me, sexy Jesus...
by nuthinboutnuthin on Apr 7, 2010 12:05 PM EDT up reply actions
I just want Ortiz & Drew flipped in the line-up.
Then let’s see if Ortiz can pull things together. It’s not like there won’t be anyone on base for him in our line-up of OBP machines. Beltre’s the only true free swinger higher in the line-up (though Ells swings at some stinky cheese sometimes).
"You know you're having a bad day when the fifth inning rolls around and they drag the warning track." - Mike Flanagan, Baltimore Orioles pitcher, 1992.
On topic - is Angel Hernandez really an NBA official in disguise?
They are the only ones that are routinely as bad as Angel is.
I just don’t get how league officials can’t see how bad guys like this are and why they keep their jobs. There is a mountain of recorded, irrefutable evidence. Its not all the officials in either league. But you can just google any of the ‘usual suspects’ and find a ton of very compelling data (records against the spread, video footage, etc) that at a minimum questions their competence and at worse their basic moral integrity.
English Premier League just did a solid
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=767352&sec=england&cc=5901
Refs screwed the pooch badly in a game between the two top teams in the league, and they were demoted to the 2nd division. If only MLB and the Umps union would care about the game instead of the egos.
Building Fenway from the ground up - Virtual Fenway
I've posted this idea before
Every now and then folks make proposals to improve the accuracy of the ball/strike calls, perhaps with automated detectors and such and this runs straight afoul of advocates for the ‘human element’.
My though is that you could greatly improve the ball/strike call by doing the following:
Place an observer on either side of the plate, off to the side, facing the batter. His/her job is to signal if the ball is within the vertical strike zone as it crosses the plate. Nothing else. Press a button or wave an arm/flag.
Place a camera pointing down at the plate from above (this actually already exists in every MLB stadium). Have an observer who’s job is to watch that and signal simply whether the ball crossed over the plate. I.E. not inside or outside.
If both observers signal within 2 seconds of the pitch, its a strike. Otherwise, ball.
Human element. But I guarantee they would get that very close to 100% accurate.
It would even give another umpire a job.
USG
by Ben Buchanan on Apr 7, 2010 11:54 AM EDT up reply actions
To me, that's a reason NOT to do it
The umps are bad enough as it is without diluting the “talent” pool by promoting minor league umps.
Perhaps we could draw upon a more competent, credible source than 'umpires'
since this particular task (calling the ball in/out of zone) does not really require full knowledge / skill of a an actual umpire.
I suggest hiring some college interns who want to make money and travel around the US in the summer.
There's an integrity issue there
At least with umpires, there’s a presumption of objectivity. Even with guys like Angel Hernandez, you know it’s generally not about screwing over a particular team — he sucks no matter who is playing. With college students, no one is going to make any such presumption for the following reasons:
1) You’re not talking about a professionalized position.
2) They’re likely to have allegiances that can affect their judgment.
3) They’re college students. That often means they have little money, which makes them easy targets for unsavory characters. And I’m not just talking about some of the jerks who actually play the game.
4) Many baseball players go nuts when they disagree with an umpire’s call. The umps aren’t intimidated; most college students would be. The last thing you want if you’re a 19-year-old kid with a summer job is a roided-up Alex Rodriguez idiot getting in your face because he thinks you’re threatening his next zillion dollar contract.
5) Have you seen the way the fans in a lot of MLB cities abuse opposing players and umpires? They’ll go nuts at these kids, and that can affect calls.
In theory, you could address some of these by having each team provide its own intern to handle the duty in each game, but these are just the five reasons off the top of my head; I’m sure I could think of others if I took a little time. It’s just too easy to claim that a college student is destroying the integrity of the game, which would make for a PR nightmare. Even if it makes the game better, and I think it’s as good an idea as any, MLB would never go for it.
LOL - the intern suggestion was partially tongue in cheek. Relax.
I agree with you – you would have to professionalize the role.
One thing about this role though is that because each is only responsible for half the decision making process, and because they would have no other officiating duties at all, the weight of responsibility is significantly mitigated.
Also, because the proposed process is inherently more accurate than the current method, I would guess that controversies would be fewer and farther between.
We are in a damn tight race this year
we should maximize our chance to win most games!
Lowell 2009 OPS vs. L: .867
Ortiz 2009 OPS vs L: .716
Lowell should pinchhit for Ortiz against lefties and Ortiz should sit against lefty starters. I dont care if its only 2 games.
by German Red Sox Fan on Apr 7, 2010 11:50 AM EDT reply actions
Even I agree with that
And I can’t stand Lowell. He’s simply better against lefties, and will give Ortiz more time to focus on just smashing righties.
Good luck to Bayern today, btw.
Building Fenway from the ground up - Virtual Fenway
I agree too
he is a pro-take it and sit down. I thought that on Sunday too, but I knew Tito would not do it, and it somehow worked out anyway because Posada cannot catch.
I dont like Bayern
I live in Bremen and therefor cheer for Werder Bremen. I’m not really sure for which team im cheering tonight. I prefer ManUtd over Bayern, but on the otherside Bayern winning is could for the UEFA 5 Year Index.
by German Red Sox Fan on Apr 7, 2010 2:03 PM EDT up reply actions
before you get too excited about those numbers
you should note a couple of things:
1) The .716 OPS number for Ortiz v LH is for the whole season, and arguably should be higher post-June 1st. I don’t have exact numbers, but I suspect, based on his first-half v second-half overall OPS ratios, that it is really around .850 or so.
2) In addition, that .716 OPS was accumulated while enduring a ridiculously low .248 BABIP (versus .305 for Lowell’s number). Again, with any luck whatsoever, that would have raised his OPS significantly.
Both those factors suggest that Papi was actually much stronger for the year against LH batters than the raw .716 number suggests, especially once past his bizarre slump at the start of the year. Probably much, much closer to that .860ish range.
Career wise – Papi’s OPS v LH is .817 (.889 vs LH Starters!) while Lowell’s OPS v LH is .850 (and only .799 v LH Starters).
Lowell himself is coming off FREAKING HAND SURGERY!!!!!!!!!!! There’s no guarantee that EITHER of these guys will hit all that well against L or R.
So I think folks should maybe give Tito a chance to get a real measurement of where Ortiz really is this year.
It's possible Ortiz will be looking at low BABIPs in general now thanks to the shift.
It used to be that he had the ability to hit it to the wall and beat it with regularity, but if that’s largely gone, than he’ll get killed even worse by the 2nd baseman in right field.
USG
moving my response
to this thread as more appropriate.
+1
I think folks should maybe give Tito a chance to get a real measurement of where Ortiz really is this year.
THANK YOU
Galactus does as he pleases. Because Galactus is drunk.
I have a five-tool player in my pants.
ACTUALLY, advanced metrics show that that wasn't "premature".
@#$%ing Twit: @blogtard
Had enough of hand surgery excuse.
I’ve seen people come off surgeries and do well.
A-Rod in 09 came off the same Mike Lowell hip surgery and he did great.
Plus, the hand surgery was in summer 08!! its Spring 2010!!!
by Dustin's #1 Fan on Apr 7, 2010 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions
A-Rod did have one of his worst defensive years ever, though.
Ditto Lowell, which is where his value really went. Last year was pretty typical offensively for Lowell.
USG
Angel Hernandez is a bum.
He had players on both teams playing in disbelief has he umped with his eyes closed. Angel was also the first base ump on Sunday who called Mike Cameron out on the pick off move when the replay showed that he was clearly safe. The guys a bum and he’s in my notes of umps to watch out for this season. It pains me to look at Pitch F/X after Angel works home plate. You nailed at Ben.
On a positive note, let’s send Lackey to the mound tonight and take this series.
" Play Ball "
Copyediting: before and after...
“That’s what we anticipated him to do,” Yankees manager Joe Girardi said ofJohnson, known for his keen batting eye.Hernandez, seen after the game with a fat wad of Yankee cash in his back pocket, and a dribble of Steinbrenner genetic batter at the corner of his lips.
I don’t blame the Yanks or Nick Johnson, of course. Nor do I excuse the failings of the Sox. Had I gone to the game, however, I would probably feel that the ticket was somewhat misleading for not announcing the Yanks-Sox as just the opening act for the Angel Hernandez show
Rock me, sexy Jesus...
by nuthinboutnuthin on Apr 7, 2010 12:56 PM EDT reply actions
Then again, maybe it's just Nick
2 more PAs from Sunday:
The second one is Beckett vs. Johnson for the first 2 ABs, in which 2 of his 6 balls taken in the strike zone were called balls.
USG
Joe West
is not an appropriate control for any experiment designed to measure competent ball-strike calling.
Rock me, sexy Jesus...
by nuthinboutnuthin on Apr 7, 2010 1:39 PM EDT up reply actions
So true. Joe's a nice guy but can he even legally drive anymore?
Tonight it’s either Paul Schrieber (who I’ve liked) with 11 years in the bigs or Rob Drake who I know nothing about.
Angel will be at 2nd or third base.
" Play Ball "
Hopefully 3rd
that seems to be the spot with the fewest controversial plays he could screw up.
Of course, that also will magnify the impact when he DOES do so.
There is no way to hide Angel on a baseball field but 3rd would be best.
He’d find a way to screw up an infield fly rule if he umps second base.
" Play Ball "
He'll miss it more often than not.
Lackey’s on the mound tonight with his high ground ball rate, so you know there’ll be lots of double play action on the base paths. All eyes on Angel.
" Play Ball "
He could always...
intentionally trip players as they round third. He’s that bad.
Rock me, sexy Jesus...
by nuthinboutnuthin on Apr 7, 2010 4:24 PM EDT up reply actions
This sort of relates to what I said above
(although I agree these are 2 bad cases to compare to). Johnosn has always seemed to have the “ability” to do this. 2 posibilities-he crazy stance (or bad stench) makes it harder for the ump to judge the zone or his rep gets him a smaller zone…
wow good stuff
where do you get the strike zone chart..that is cool. there are a lot of AB each year I would like to look that up.
seems like Nick only has to cover half the plate, inside half.
BTW
Is there a way to have Pitch fx attempt to draw the “actual” strikezone – meaning one which accounts for all the various calls? I bet it would be trippy for Hernandez…
Rock me, sexy Jesus...
by nuthinboutnuthin on Apr 7, 2010 6:04 PM EDT up reply actions
Do you think Oki will be shown this data by the Sox coaching staff
so he doesn’t think he needs to tinker with his delivery? Fixing something that’s not broke is a sure recipe for a wild Oki on the mound.
somehow...
I think the pitching coaches will already be hip to it.
THAT'S the money you could be saving with Geico
Angel was terrible all night long last night.
He should get his eyes checked. He even called a strike on a checked swing from 3rd tonight.
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