Post by Skaggs on Jul 10, 2009 10:16:43 GMT -5
Has High-Def Changed Umpiring?
By Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times
July 9, 2009, 12:18 pm
Bill Shannon, a veteran official scorer and baseball historian, believes that the incident on Monday in which Derek Jeter was called out trying to steal third — even though he was not tagged — illustrates a shift in umpiring over the past 15 years.
Shannon said that when he began working in baseball, in the 1950s, umpires routinely operated on the theory that if a player appeared to be out to the fans, then he was out, regardless of whether he was actually tagged before touching the base.
“Their specific theory was that on tag plays on the bases — not necessarily at home — if the ball beat the player and it appeared like he was out to the fans sitting all the way in the bleachers, then that was good enough for the umpire, and he was out,” Shannon said.
With the improvements in televisions, cameras and instant replay in the 1990s, Shannon said, it became much clearer to fans that umpires were getting some of those calls wrong. Over the past 15 years umpires gradually began to look more closely for tags at the bases, Shannon said.
“It was ‘SportsCenter,’ ” said Shannon, who also works for The Associated Press as a reporter and is often the pool reporter who interviews umpires after games. “No longer was the umpire worried about the fans booing in the stadium; they were now worried about the millions of fans sitting across the country who could see whether the call was right.”
Few paid attention to the change because umpires were becoming more accurate. Shannon believes that the fact that the incident involved Jeter, who has a reputation for being one of the classier players in the game and has never been ejected, is why the issue came to the forefront.
After Monday’s game, Jeter said that the third-base umpire, Marty Foster, had told him that he was out because the ball beat him to the bag so he didn’t have to be tagged. Foster did not speak with reporters after the game but the crew chief, John Hirschbeck, addressed the reporters for about a half-hour. Umpires rarely talk to reporters for more than a few minutes, even after the most controversial calls. But Hirschbeck held “a round-table discussion of sorts” with about 10 reporters who had gone to the umpires’ locker room demanding an explanation, Shannon said.
“What impressed me was Hirschbeck’s desire to come to terms with the reality of umpires having to deal with the television replays,” Shannon said. “It was clear to Hirschbeck that at least one of his crew had not picked up on the change, and that’s bothersome.
“He doesn’t want his crew sitting in the umpires’ room after the game looking at plays and realizing they were wrong. He wants it to be clear that they have to adjust to the reality that high-definition television gives them a look that never existed before.”
By Michael S. Schmidt, The New York Times
July 9, 2009, 12:18 pm
Bill Shannon, a veteran official scorer and baseball historian, believes that the incident on Monday in which Derek Jeter was called out trying to steal third — even though he was not tagged — illustrates a shift in umpiring over the past 15 years.
Shannon said that when he began working in baseball, in the 1950s, umpires routinely operated on the theory that if a player appeared to be out to the fans, then he was out, regardless of whether he was actually tagged before touching the base.
“Their specific theory was that on tag plays on the bases — not necessarily at home — if the ball beat the player and it appeared like he was out to the fans sitting all the way in the bleachers, then that was good enough for the umpire, and he was out,” Shannon said.
With the improvements in televisions, cameras and instant replay in the 1990s, Shannon said, it became much clearer to fans that umpires were getting some of those calls wrong. Over the past 15 years umpires gradually began to look more closely for tags at the bases, Shannon said.
“It was ‘SportsCenter,’ ” said Shannon, who also works for The Associated Press as a reporter and is often the pool reporter who interviews umpires after games. “No longer was the umpire worried about the fans booing in the stadium; they were now worried about the millions of fans sitting across the country who could see whether the call was right.”
Few paid attention to the change because umpires were becoming more accurate. Shannon believes that the fact that the incident involved Jeter, who has a reputation for being one of the classier players in the game and has never been ejected, is why the issue came to the forefront.
After Monday’s game, Jeter said that the third-base umpire, Marty Foster, had told him that he was out because the ball beat him to the bag so he didn’t have to be tagged. Foster did not speak with reporters after the game but the crew chief, John Hirschbeck, addressed the reporters for about a half-hour. Umpires rarely talk to reporters for more than a few minutes, even after the most controversial calls. But Hirschbeck held “a round-table discussion of sorts” with about 10 reporters who had gone to the umpires’ locker room demanding an explanation, Shannon said.
“What impressed me was Hirschbeck’s desire to come to terms with the reality of umpires having to deal with the television replays,” Shannon said. “It was clear to Hirschbeck that at least one of his crew had not picked up on the change, and that’s bothersome.
“He doesn’t want his crew sitting in the umpires’ room after the game looking at plays and realizing they were wrong. He wants it to be clear that they have to adjust to the reality that high-definition television gives them a look that never existed before.”