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Saturday, October 23, 2004 |
Yeeeeeer Out! Umpiring And The World Series
It's not as fun as being in the stands, but Major League Baseball has announced the umpiring crew for the World Series (press release here):
Game One Umpire Previous WS Worked HP Ed Montague* 4 (1986, '91, '97, 2000) 1B Dale Scott 2 (1998, 2001) 2B Brian Gorman None 3B Chuck Meriwether None LF Gerry Davis 2 (1996, '99) RF Charlie Reliford 1 (2000)Reliford, notorious for an inconsistent strike zone, is by far Helen's bête noir of umpires. She's much calmer than I am about these things, but I can only imagine the blueness of the air around this all-red World Series.
I stumbled across this information, of course, while trying to find out something about the double-secret Rule 6.1, which doesn't appear in section 6 of the Official Rules. Apparently, it's in the MLB Umpire Manual, which contains supplemental explanatory material for the umpires. The devil, as they say, is in the details, and only the umpires know those.
For controversial plays, here are the ground rules for both stadiums:
Boston Red Sox - Fenway Park
- Foul poles, screen poles and screen on top of left field fence are outside playing field.
- A ball going through scoreboard, either on the bound or fly, is two bases.
- A fly ball striking left-center field wall to right of line behind flag pole is a home run.
- A fly ball striking wall or flag pole and bounding into bleachers is a home run.
- A fly ball striking line or right of same on wall in center is a home run.
- A fly ball striking wall left of line and bounding into bullpen is a home run.
- A ball sticking in the bullpen screen or bouncing into the bullpen is two bases.
- A batted or thrown ball remaining behind or under canvas or in tarp cylinder is two bases.
- A ball striking the top of the scoreboard in left field in the ladder below top of wall and bounding out of the park is two bases.
St. Louis Cardinals - Busch Stadium
OUTFIELD AREA
- Fair ball hitting above yellow line in left and right fields - HOME RUN.
- Ball hitting on or below yellow line is IN PLAY.
- Fair ball bounding into field boxes, bleachers, bullpens or going through or under fences - TWO BASES.
- Ball rolling onto top step of dugouts (which are at ground level) is IN PLAY.
- Photographers' areas on outfield sides of each dugout shall be considered part of the dugout.
- Ball thrown by pitcher from the rubber to catch base runner off first or third base that goes into stands or dugouts - ONE BASE.
- A pitch, thrown or batted ball that hits anyone on the playing field, except as otherwise provided for in the Official Rules, is IN PLAY.
- Ball going through wire screen behind plate or lodging in it - ONE BASE; on throw by pitcher - TWO BASES
Dimensions
From Home Plate:
- Left-field line - 330 feet
- Left-center field - 372 feet
- Center field - 402 feet
- Right-center field - 372 feet
- Right-field line - 330 feet
- Outfield walls are 8 feet high
Well then: play ball!
Comments:
Ah, a slight correction. CB Bucknor is by far my least favorite umpire, followed closely by Bill Hohn, who I believed intentionally provoked the Cubs in a game in 2003. (At the very least he exhibited horrible judgement, electing to elevate a bad situation rather than cool it off.)
Not wild about Reliford, iirc his strike zone ain't all that consistant. Of course, neither was Montague's last night, much to the delight of the Boston fans.
I like Brian Gorman, or I like him if I'm recalling a couple of instances this past season corretly. Chuck Meriwether also has integrity, imo. Don't recall much about Davis and Scott, which is probaly a good thing - they've never annoyed me to the point of rememberance, at the very least.
Not wild about Reliford, iirc his strike zone ain't all that consistant. Of course, neither was Montague's last night, much to the delight of the Boston fans.
I like Brian Gorman, or I like him if I'm recalling a couple of instances this past season corretly. Chuck Meriwether also has integrity, imo. Don't recall much about Davis and Scott, which is probaly a good thing - they've never annoyed me to the point of rememberance, at the very least.
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