Will the umpire be fired?

Question

I was watching the Rays-Angels game when the umpire made the worst, call I have ever seen.

B.J. Upton hit a ground ball and ran through first and while outside of the foul line he turned right and began to walk back to first, never even looking at second. He was then tagged by the 1st baseman and the retarded umpire called him out.Going completely against the MLB rules. Please tell me this evil, horrible, moronic, disgusting excuse for an umpire will be fired and never do so much as umpire a little league game ever again.

Answer 1

wont be fired but his reputation will be screwed

Answer 2

WOW... He is human. People make mistakes. Its just a game get over it.  The excuse is that he made a mistake.  

Answer 3

sounds like he made a motion towards second. Good call

Answer 4

no, its a blown call and i didnt even see it

did you ever watch a rays game before mid may?

Answer 5

He must have been in shock that B.J. Upton actually ran through the bag and showed some hustle.

Answer 6

First of all, I live in Tampa and am a Rays fan.  I also umpire in the area, pretty extensively.  Upton did make a motion toward second AFTER he ran through the bag and it was AFTER he avoided the defensive player.  It was slight, but it was a motion toward second.  The call was not made because he turned right to come back to the bag ... it was made as he ran through the bag and made a slight motion toward second AFTER he got through the bag.  Watch the play again and you'll see it.

I thought it was a good call.  

Just because the anouncers and ESPN say it was a bad call doesn't mean they are right.

I remember a play last year when a batter bunted a ball down the 3rd base line the pitcher made an attempt to field the bunt, but the ball went by him, untouched, and he then ran through the basepath, altering the runner at third trying to score.  No contact was made, but the runner altered his running lane to avoid contact.  The plate umpire awarded the runner home, which is the correct call.  Anyway, the play was on sportscenter and the joker doing the highlight said something along the line of "interference is called on the pitcher."

I was like ... you dumb ignorant self-proclaimed know-it-all its called OBSTRUCTION NOT INTEREFERENCE!

Bottom line is the umpires know the rules better than some dumba$$ fan, coach, or talking head.

Personally, I think Meals should get a raise and not get fired.  It takes real stones to make a call like that and I see too many umps, even at the pro level, give "area code" outs at second etc, and not make interference or obstruction calls to avoid a confrontation even if it is the right call.

That being said, I think consistency should be the bigger debate.  If they aren't going to call runners safe on those "area code" plays at 2nd and when a 1st baseman pulls his foot off early before catching the ball, then Meals has to call Upton safe ... no question.  I really don't have a problem with the call ... just a problem with the lack of consistency.

Remember, bad umpiring makes good umpiring look BAD!

AGAIN ... GOOD CALL!  BUT BE CONSISTENT!

Go Rays!

and BTW why hasn't anyone commented on how Upton was lazy out of the box AGAIN on that play and loafed half way down the line until he noticed he might have a chance to be safe?

Answer 7

haha, i saw this, i wonder if sportscenter will make fun of this call haha.  Good job by the Rays of not losing their cool.

Answer 8

The ump will not be fired because the umps are very well protected and no matter how bad the call, it is usually a judgment call.

To the ump who responded earlier:

The move was incredibly slight and Upton dodged the 1st baseman as he crossed the base, so there was no way to judge what that particular move was for. If the umps are going to start calling slight hip moves as intention to go to 2nd, then pretty much every play where the ball is bobbled by the 1B will result in an out call.

Also, how could Upton have been dogging it when he beat out an infield single? If you watch Upton in the OF, he definately looks to be "gliding" (for lack of a better word) but he is incredibly fast. Don't get me wrong though, he has clearly been dogging it in the past, but not last night.

Answer 9

How far past first base did he go?  There is a point where an umpire can adjudge that a runner is abandoning effort to return to the base, and he can be called out when tagged.  I didn't see the play though.  To answer your question, no the umpire will not get fired.  You can't fire an umpire for making a bad call (if it was a bad call)  These guys get 98% of the calls they make correct.  If you break it down, a home plate umpire makes HUNDREDS of calls a game.  He might miss 1 or 2 at the most.  One of my biggest pet peeves is watching a game on tv and seeing them slow a play down and run it frame by frame to try to show an umpire missed a call.  The umpire didn't get to see it like that, and if you have to watch it frame by frame then it was close enough to go either way!  

Answer 10

It just proves that nothing can phase them. They are my 3rd fav. team behind the Braves and Twins and this year they have proved themselves. Nobody can change their winning ways cause they still won.