Quote:
Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr
|
I'm going to play devil's advocate here. None of those pitches leading to the walk were strikes. The catcher was not subtle with his "framing" attempts. So when they pull the "let's make the ump come to the mound and break us up, whereupon we will bust his chops" routine, they are out of line and somebody should be ejected. For the chop-busting over balls and strikes, not the trip to the mound.
Now, on the swing and miss / foul ball play, the runner on 2B sticks his head exactly between the camera and where the pitch was thrown, so you cannot tell which one it was. It could have been a foul ball or it could have glanced off the catcher's mitt. The umpire had a clear view of it, though, and he ruled swing and miss, wild pitch or passed ball. Runner advances.
Next, the umpire calls for additional baseballs (and does not get them). The play is on, though, and both pitcher and catcher should know that. They have the ball, and they took too long. Pitch clock violation. The umpire did not hold them up in any way.
So, if you view the replay of the ballboy coming out with the requested balls (around 3:30), watch as he slams them into the umpire's outstretched mask. Also notice that, from this angle, he appears to say something short and pithy, such as "a**hole", I imagine.
Sorry, but I side with the umpire in this case. I don't know what Jomboy was doing with the slo-mo replay at the end, but I don't think it was complimentary. The tone of the video seems to be mocking, but I think the guy was just trying to do his job and the Bandits and their ballboy were bozos.