Sunday, August 19, 2012

Ejection 131: Jordan Baker (2)

HP Umpire Jordan Baker ejected Mets PH Daniel Murphy for arguing a strike call in the top of the 8th inning of the Mets-Nationals game. With two out and one on, Murphy took a 0-1 fastball from Nationals pitcher Michael Gonzalez for a called second strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located off the outer edge of home plate (px of -1.095), the call was incorrect. At the time of the ejection, the Nationals were leading, 5-2. The Nationals ultimately won the contest, 5-2.

This is Jordan Baker (71)'s second ejection of 2012.
Jordan Baker now has 1 points in the UEFL (3 Previous + 3 AAA + -1 Penalty + -4 Incorrect Call = 1).
Crew Chief Ted Barrett now has 0 points in the Crew Division (0 Previous + 0 Incorrect Call = 0).

UEFL Standings Update

This is the 131st ejection of 2012.
This is the 56th player ejection of 2012. Prior to his ejection, Murphy was 0-1 in the contest.
This is the Mets' 7th ejection of 2012, 1st in the NL East (NYM 7; ATL 4; PHI 3; MIA 2; WSH 0).
This is Daniel Murphy's first career ejection.
This is Jordan Baker's first ejection since July 23 (Brandon Crawford; QOC = Irrecusable).
This is the 14th ejection since Monday, August 13.

Wrap: Mets at Nationals, 8/19/12
Video: After striking out to end the New York 8th, Murphy argues the K Zone and gets tossed (Soon)


Pitch f/x courtesy Brooks Baseball

47 comments :

Anonymous said...

Mets announcers raised an interesting question (and no, it's not bad): Who is taller, Jordan Baker or Tim McClelland?

Baker is quite an imposing dude, especially with his gear on.

Lindsay said...

Jordan Baker's height is listed as 6'7" (MLB Debut thread, 6/22/12).
Tim McClelland's height is listed as 6'6" (BR Bullpen).

Anonymous said...

Baker is 6'7" which is 1" taller than the 6'6" Tim McClelland

Anonymous said...

He is tall but not cut for the job of an MLB umpire. Another case of umpiring politics.

Anonymous said...

Haha and who are you to make that judgement?!

Mike B. said...

I love these anonymous douchebags that talk crap about guys like they know them. Jordan's a great umpire and even better person who's worked his butt off to get where he is! Either stop being a puss with your jealous douchery, or announce yourself when you feel like ripping someone you don't know!

Anonymous said...

who is ripping jordan baker? they are talking about how tall he is?

Mike B. said...

Two comments before mine sir...

Anonymous said...

I have seen and heard several comments on this board and other places referring to so called politics and the fact Jordan "knows people" in high places. Just curious if anyone knows anything regarding this--I will say it is quite rare --almost unheard of- that a guy works in AA the prior season and then the following season with a few months of AAA ball under his belt he is called up to the bigs---very very rare.

Anonymous said...

Eddie Rap worked basically no AAA before being called up to the bigs --same as Baker.

Anonymous said...

Kids...if you want to work in the big leagues go to Harry's! Jordan isn't brutal, but he's nothing to write home about. I know guys that could work circles around this guy that never even got a sniff. It sure does help to know people...

Mike B. said...

I went to Harry's with Jordan and didn't make it to the big leagues.The only politics here is that, surprise, they love guys that are huge! Please people stop talking about that which you know notta...or at least name yourself and add SOMETHING that proves you have a clue of what goes on in the professional umpiring world!

Anonymous said...

Tell me how a guy with a few months AAA work is ready for the bigs? This is ludicrous. It is partly a sign of the times with a lot more guys going up therefore less experience. Back in the day you had AAA call ups like poncino, barnes, cederstrom, that had spent 10-12 yes in AAA....12-18 hrs in the minors as a whole going up and down. Now you have guys like baker who have not even umpired a season yet in AAA working up. Amazing

Bryan Zegers said...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=3219781&query=%26game_pk%3D235350

Why does he get thrown out for hitting the homerun?


Are we not allowed to retaliate?

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=3224393&query=%26game_pk%3D235365

Mike B. said...

AAA is for the birds anyways. If you want to get the best idea of how an umpire handles situations and works under pressure, it's in AA. AAA Games work themselves and most of the guys there player-wise, are either on the fast track to the bigs, or have all but been told theyre gonna die there. How about the fact these guys work Arizona Fall/winter leagues/Big league spring? You go work a series in Venezuela in front of 30k ppl dho may ir may not shoot you when a call goes against their team! We got in the game in 2005 and I'd say after 7 or 8 seasons, they have a pretty good idea of how Jordan works.

Bryan Zegers said...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=5177579


I miss Bill Hohn, crazy guy, know for the great mustache

Bryan Zegers said...

Hated the braves with a passion, don't believe me, i would have to say 30 percent of his career ejections were from the braves, 20 percent bobby cox

Bryan Zegers said...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=5816599

Bill Hohn

The fat lady supporting the braves wasn't singing.

Anonymous said...

http://vimeo.com/5868826

Bryan said...

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12164019

Anonymous said...

I cringed every time Bill Hohn was assigned a Braves game. Man oh man did he miss some calls badly.

egoshay said...

JB as well as all AAA call ups (Alan Porter, Cory Blaser, Clint Fagan, John Tumpane, Rackley and the list goes on) know their stuff. It's not like these guys are on a crew full time. BUT when they are promoted to a crew, i bet they get more right then they get wrong. They have to start somewhere. Some of the guys i mentioned work over 100 games as call ups each year. The only way to gain the experience of working in the big leagues is to ???? work in the big leagues. These guys are GREAT at what they do... Furthermore, the supervisors know what they are doing. if you want to talk about umpire politics, lets talk about the LLWS lol....

Double Down for Donuts said...

I watched this game and then the Dodgers game. BOTH games featured HP umpires with very large K zones. I don't understand why SPs get an inch or more off the plate. I thought the hardest thing to do in sports is hit a baseball, not pitch it.

Double Down for Donuts said...

"These guys are GREAT at what they do"

I agree, they are better on their worst day than most of us are on our best. However, I still question the ever-expanding strike zone.

Of course, there are probably instances of the opposite of this situation, so who knows. I was just surprised watching yesterday...

Double Down for Donuts said...

"Hated the braves with a passion, don't believe me, i would have to say 30 percent of his career ejections were from the braves, 20 percent bobby cox "

I liked Hohn as well but was not a fan of this, the McCann ejection (Cox again too), or his fist bump with the Marlins (while they played the Braves). Words like "rotten" and "Denmark" come to mind!

Anonymous said...

Bill Hohn: CROOKED

http://www.forums.mlb.com/n/pfx/forum.aspx?nav=messages&webtag=ml-braves&tid=160965

Anonymous said...

I was at the game. Not one to knock a colleague, but he did look a bit nervous and green out there - and saw a couple rotations on fly balls to RF where he and U2 ended up at 1B both...

Didn't notice Murphy getting tossed.

UmpsRule said...

The jury (the forum above), which consists of a bunch of Braves fans, has reached it's conclusion: Yes, Bill Hohn is crooked.

Zac said...

Bill Hohn is retired. Let him ride off in the sunset...geez.

MattAB said...

@DDfD, I have to say, when I compare the current size of the strike zone to videos from baseball's recent past, I feel like the strike zone has gotten much smaller. Prior to Questec/K zone/Foxtrax/whatever else is used, it seemed like it was not terribly uncommon to see the outside part of the zone be around the near part of the opposite batters box, rather than the outside of the plate. I, of course, have no scientific data to back this up, so this is merely observation and rampant specualtion on my part. However, I also remember hearing stories from 10-12 years ago, as all of this technology was being introduced, that pitchers felt like it was squeezing the strike zone. Curt Schilling is a notable person who was outspoken that he thought these pitch tracking devices were shrinking the strike zone. Just my thoughts on what I've seen between watching baseball now and comparing it to video clips from the 1970s-1990s. Does anyone know of any actual data that would refute or back up my assertion? Has anyone else noticed this, or am I crazy?

Anonymous said...

My observation regarding the strike zone is that it has changed but I'm not sure it's really bigger or smaller, just different. If you watch ESPN Classic games, you'll notice umpires who would routinely call strikes further outside than they do now, yet their strike zone was from the top of the knees to the belt. MLB umpires now have a strike zone that it is closer to the rule book strike zone. Pitchers now get strikes at the knees and above the belt although not as far outside. Another change I've noticed is that umpires try to call strikes that will get them a high rating. So if the catcher sets up inside and has to reach to catch a pitch on the outside corner, umpires now will call it a strike. In the old days, they would never reward a pitcher who missed his target by that much. The old philosophy still works for amateur umpires who do not have a computer print out at the end of the game but who rather have to manage the game and give the impression to both teams that the game is being called accurately but also fairly.

I also have no scientific evidence, only years of observations.

Anonymous said...

Why is there no video on this one?

Zac said...

The strike zone did used to be different in the two leagues. NL umpires went to the inside protector long before the AL did, which put the NL guys in the slot. They would call lower strikes and expand outside. The AL guys used the balloon protector and set up directly over the catcher, which led to the lower end of the strike zone being higher (At the knees or so).

If you remember in the 90s, the strike zone in the NL would go really far outside, MUCH further than it does now. (Think Atlanta Braves in the 90s)

Anonymous said...

Again, being at the game - no one seemed to notice he was run - perhaps cameras didn't catch it either... I had a bet someone would get run on get-away day with him on the plate. I thought I had lost.

Dan said...

Nice restraint shown by Adrian Johnson on an extremely close play at first base in the Mets/Rockies game. He could have easily tossed Jordanny Valdepsin and Terry Collins here. It's good to see an umpire that isn't as quick on the trigger as some others might have been.

http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=24069317&c_id=mlb

Turducken said...

Just about to point this out, Dan. And best of all, he got the call right. Really like AJ. Two years ago, we wouldn't have seen this from him [see Parra ejection]. He's becoming big league fast.

Zac said...

Great call by Adrian Johnson. I'm surprised that Valdespin didn't get ejected, but Collins knew it was extremely close and probably knew what not to say so he could stay in the game.

tmac said...

There was basicly no coverage of the Murphy EJ.. He came in as a pinch hitter was called out and it was like it didn't happen. The washington cast showed Collins talking to Baker which was quite the contrast to his discussion with Johnson.

Jeff Klinghoffer said...

Unlike these anonymous guys on this comment board, I will talk frankly about Bake and give my opinion. If you are currently working for PBUC and can't sign your name,I understand but just shut up, and go out and do your games.
I had spring with him in 2008 and got to know him fairly well. We had a new crew chief that he may or may not have had a ton of respect for (he was the 2 man) but supported him in every way he could. He worked hard, helped less experienced guys and handled his sh-t very well. (yes we had a spring EJ with a big league douche). Does being 6'7' help?...I guess...Does instructing at Harry's help?...maybe...I have no doubt he deserves what he's achieved and why you twits have to crap on that is ridiculous. Yeah, Im bitter I got dumped from PBUC and I think I was at least as good as some of you but I certainly don't begrudge anyone for their success and blame the system and the pathetic criteria the supervisors/system use for my release...That being said Bake is there and you and I are not....wish him well and move on

Jeff Klinghoffer said...

check that year ..it was 2009

Anonymous said...

fyi- baker got called up in 2011 to AAA. It was like a week or 2 into the season. so he pretty much is in his 2 year of AAA

Anonymous said...

Mike B. looks like you were other sniffer and doesn´t question anything, like Volpi, that had to go many times too Harry´s to be selected to PBUC. And by the way I also went like you and Jordan to Harry´s in 2005, remember the fish drawings on the wall of the Dessert Inn.

Anonymous said...

Jeff, you speak for a lot of us. I think the general public would be shocked at how big of a baby, how bitter, and how cut-throat the vast majority of minor league umpires are.
It's a job hazzard really, the game turns you that way.
You never really know if your being told truth? Is my partner really helping me? How can he, he's my competitor?

Anonymous said...

This crap about going to Harry's is going to change too. PBUC school is a better school at a better venue. Why does Harry's teach you one way for 5 weeks but than when you make the cut you have to attend a one day cram session with Brent Rice to learn the PBUC way? Why would you not teach it the way PBUC wants it taught since that's who you are working for?

Anonymous said...

Friggin' awesome. The 'stache makes the man!

Anonymous said...

I'm wondering why Mike B. swallowed his tongue.

Anonymous said...

Baker spents all but about 7 games in AAA last year. To me thats is a full season at AAA. I know whose spot he took in the IL before going to the PCL. He is a good umpire and a great guy.

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