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Monday, October 17, 2011

Nominations: 2011

As the 2011 season draws to a close, the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League prepares to distribute its Postseason Awards to eligible umpires* who, during the past season, have had significant seasons to fit the terms of one of these awards (UEFL Rule 4.e.).

i. Umpire of the Year (min. 1 / max. 1 umpire)
ii. Noteworthy Umpire of the Year (min. 1 / max. 2 umpires)
iii. Honorable Umpire of the Year (min. 0 / max. 2 umpires)
iv. Most Improved Umpire of the Year (min. 0 / max. 1 umpire)
v. Crew Chief of the Year (min. 0 / max. 1 umpire)^
vi. Worst Umpire of the Year (min. 0 / max. 1 umpire)
vii. Fill-In Umpire of the Year (min. 0 / max. 1 umpire)
viii. Best Ejection of the Year (min. 0 / max. 2 ejections)^

Points scale for post season awards: i. (+5); ii. (+3); iii. (+2); iv. (+1); v. (+1); vi. (-3); vii. (+2); viii. (+1).
*An eligible umpire for Awards i-vi started the season at the MLB-level, or was promoted to the MLB-level prior to the All-Star Break. An eligible umpire for Award vii is not on the Full-Time MLB Staff and has worked at least five games at the Major League Level.
^Denotes new award for 2011.

i. Umpire of the Year: This Umpire has been the best MLB Umpire the past year, bar none. This Umpire has been more dedicated, professional, and positive than all others. This award will be given to one umpire.
ii. Noteworthy Umpire of the Year: This Umpire has been dedicated, professional, and has worked hard. Perhaps a rising star, the Noteworthy Umpire of the Year is an umpire to keep an eye on, for an expectation of great things down the line. This award will be given to one or two umpires.
iii. Honorable Umpire of the Year: This Umpire has been the most honorable Umpire during the past year. Perhaps through Community Service, or through struggling with and overcoming his own difficulties, this Umpire has been the most personally admirable of all. This award may or may not be given to either one or two umpires.
iv. Most Improved Umpire of the Year: This Umpire has improved his overall performance from the previous season more noticeably than any other Umpire. Generally, this umpire has developed into a solid arbiter within the past year. This award may or may not be given to a maximum of one umpire.
v. Crew Chief of the Year: This Umpire has been the best MLB Umpire Crew Chief, the past year, bar none. This Umpire has led his crew(s) better than all others. This award will be given to one umpire.
vi. Worst Umpire of the Year: This Umpire has shown a continual regression in ability, and might have had a regrettable incident(s) occur in-season. The Worst Umpire of the Year is unprofessional and does a disservice to Umpires and the game. This award may or may not be given to a maximum of one umpire.
vii. Fill-In Umpire of the Year: This Umpire has been the best AAA Call-Up Umpire the past year, bar none. This Umpire has been the most dedicated, professional, and positive AAA/Non-MLB Full Time Umpire of all non-MLB Full Time Umpires. This award may or may not be given to a maximum of one umpire.
viii. Best Ejection of the Year: In the form of "Umpire (1)," this award recognizes the best ejection(s) of the year. Nominated and selected due to form, mechanics, entertainment value, reason for ejection, or overall quality, the Best Ejection of the Year is awarded to one or two umpires for one or two specific ejections. The award may be given to one umpire for two separate ejections, in which case, he receives one point for each ejection.

Please take some time to consider an umpire for as many or as few awards as you prefer, and reply to this entry with your nomination(s). Nominations will be accepted throughout the post-season, and awards will be distributed after the World Series has concluded.

32 comments:

  1. i. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Kellogg
    ii. Noteworthy Umpire of the Year: Ted Barrett and Fieldin Culbreth
    iii. Honorable Umpire of the Year: Jim Wolf and Jeff Nelson
    iv. Most Improved Umpire of the Year: Angel Hernandez
    v. Crew Chief of the Year: John Hirschbeck
    vi. Worst Umpire of the Year: Bob Davidson
    vii. triple A fill in umpire of year: Alan Porter
    viii. Best Ejection of the Year: Joe West

    ReplyDelete
  2. Most Noticeably Declining: Rob Drake
    After a playoff assignment last year to an NLDS series, Drake has come back with a very high total of 9 ejections, a few stemming from incorrect calls. While many of the situations just happened to find Drake, like (3,4,5,6) when the Nats and D-Backs had a back and forth, his still high ejection rate after a playoff assignment very early in his career is not looked upon favorably.

    Noteworthy Umpire: Dan Iasoggna
    Dan Iasoggna shows the most noticeable hustle and passion for the game on the field of any of the umpires I have seen. Iasoggna consistently gets close calls correct, and is calm, cool, and collected out on the field. He is one of the young umpires that is making a big impact on the profession, and should someday become a crew chief. He was selected to the ASG this year.

    Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    A total class act, and an A+ umpire, Jeff Nelson did the hard work of filling in as crew chief for most of this season on the Tschida crew. He not only had the challenge of running the crew, but also in working a MILB Call-Up into the crew. He did this very successfully, and most of the time, himself, Bill Welke, Marty Foster, and Mike Estabrook traveled from city to city. The crew didn’t have it easy, an incident in Boston between the Orioles and Red Sox caused for 8 ejections in that series. But through hard work and great umpiring, Jeff Nelson got the job done for the MLB. He would be deserving of this award based off his umpiring skills alone, but his incredible work this year should put him over the top.

    Worst Umpire: There are no bad umpires in the MLB. Whether you love or hate Bob Davidson, he clearly shows a passion for his work, and a love for the game. And, he’s not always wrong, as many players and fans would like to make it seem. In fact, most of the time he does a great job both behind the dish and in the field. I would not name a worst umpire, because I don’t believe there has been a bad one on the field this year.

    Honorable Umpire: Gary Cederstrom and Sam Holbrook
    Bet you haven’t heard from his crew very much this year. They do a great job with Adrian Johnson, Lance Barksdale and Feldin Culbreth, and Cederstrom does a great job heading up the ship. Gary, though he often goes unnoticed, deserves to be recognized. He worked a great Game 5 for STL @ PHI.

    Holbrook endured a switch from his Davis crew to the West crew with the most honor and dignity that it could have been handled with, and because of his seamless transition, the switch was not even noticed after a while.

    Blogger is making me post this in 2 parts...see part 2 below

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  3. Fill-In Umpire of the Year: Mike Estabrook
    While Todd Tichenor showed that he will get the next position, due to his great work during the season, Mike Estabrook was jumping around from crew to crew contributing very positively where the MLB needed a good call up most, on the Tschida crew. He was behind the dish for the Red Sox-Orioles bench clearing incident, and did a great job controlling the situation. Estabrook showed that he is the real deal, and is very like Dan Iasoggna in his work ethic and enthusiasm.

    Most Improved Umpire: Tim Timmons
    Coming off 7 ejections, some over incorrect calls, Timmons really cooled off this year on the Kellogg crew, mounting to only 2 ejections, one coming in the Braves-Cubs incident involving Carlos Zambrano. Timmons controlled the situation, and stopped it from turning into a bench-clearing melee, and deserves this honor for his hard work and dedication in getting back to being the great ump that he is, without the ejections, and an NLCS assignment.

    Honorable Crew Chief: Joe West
    Like him or not, Joe West is really a great crew chief. West gets over there to
    break up arguments with his umpires and never stands around when a crew-mate is
    being hollered at. Working under Joe, for most, would be to have the dream crew
    chief. He stands in and takes the heat on overturned calls and replay debates,
    and is usually correct. Whether or not you think he's great or a total embarrassment to
    the MLB (Hawk Harrelson would agree with you) he's still a great crew chief.

    Best Ejection of the Year: Ed Rapuano ejects Leyland
    Ed Rapuano (1)
    Pure entertainment: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=16339299

    Part 2 of my Nominations

    ReplyDelete
  4. i. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    ii. Noteworthy: Jeff Kellogg
    iii. Honorable: Jim Wolf
    iv. Most Improved: Angel Hernandez
    v. Crew Chief: Dale Scott
    vi. Worst: Hunter Wendelstedt
    vii. AAA Fill-In: John Tumpane
    viii. Ejections: Joe West (7) and Alfonso Marquez (3, 4)

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  5. i. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson. Two pitches from perfect!
    ii. Noteworthy: Marquez. He's come back in a big way.
    iii. Honorable: Jim Wolf. This guy continues to amaze.
    iv. Most Improved: Angel Hernandez. Split from Joe, who knows. He's been much better this year
    v. Crew Chief: Joe West. He's simply the best cc out there. Great rules guy.
    vi. Worst: Wendelstedt doesn't have a great attitude. Sorry.
    vii. AAA: Estabrook. Like his work ethic.
    viii. Definately the Alfonso Marquez (3) where he's calm and collected while the Blue Jays pitcher is trying to fight him.

    ReplyDelete
  6. i. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    ii. Noteworthy: Dan Iassogna, Greg Gibson
    iii. Honorable: Jim Wolf, Gary Darling
    iv. Most Improved: Tim Timmons
    v. Crew Chief: Gerry Davis
    vi. Worst: Jerry Meals
    vii. AAA Fill-In: Alan Porter
    viii. Ejections: Jerry Layne (1): http://umpireejections.blogspot.com/2011/06/ejections-jerry-layne-1.html

    ReplyDelete
  7. Eliminate the question of the worst umpire. It's not part of anything considered fun. No answer to that question will do any good. Whether it's me being to harsh about it, or the 34 jerks who will answer Bob Davidson to the question, nothing good can seen with that question.

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  8. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    Another year of quality professionalism from Jeff, capped off by his stunning performance in the LCS. Coupled with his great comeback story from cancer, Jeff is this year's Umpire of the Year.

    Noteworthy: Tim Timmons
    A one man force of nature in stopping the Braves dead in their tracks when Zambrano went head hunting. An all around solid year for TT.

    Noteworthy: Dan Bellino
    Some umpires are born, some are made. Dan is the former, and MLB's confidence in him appears well placed.

    Honorable: Jim Wolf
    I just looked it up in the dictionary. The definition is a picture of Wolfie.

    Most Improved: Alfonso Marquez
    Fonzie's back...'nuff said.

    CC of the Year: Jerry Layne
    Given a crew where the FNG was better than than two veterans...and parlays it into a well deserved WS CC assignment.

    Worst of the Year: Hunter Wendlestedt
    Proving that genetics do not make a MLB umpire.

    AAA: Chris Conroy/Alan Porter
    Unless Tichenor qualifies in this category, it's a toss up between Conroy and Porter.

    EJ of the Year: Alfonso Marquez
    Just the dichotomy of Fonzie tossing a 6'10" angry pitcher makes it the EJ of the year. Honorable mention to Alan Porter's cool, calm, professional EJ of Jim Leyland, done with just the right amount of penache.

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  9. Umpire of the Year: Tim Timmons
    Noteworthy: Jeff Nelson
    Honorable: Alfonso Marquez
    Most Improved: Angel Hernandez
    (Worst isn't a good term, so...)Most Declined: Tim McClelland/Gary Darling
    Crew Chief: Dale Scott/Joe West
    AAA: Alan Porter
    Ejection: Dan Bellino, http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14339805...*Says nothing* Because he was out"..."Mike,..." *Heave*

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  10. If there were a Rookie of the Year, I'd pick Dan Bellino.

    ReplyDelete
  11. @Bill, you're right. Tichenor is not part of the AAA Fill-In category.

    Resolution, March 29, 2011:
    **Accepted rule interpretation, in re: Rules 2, 4.a: An umpire listed on the MLB Crew or MLB Roster list shall be considered a MLB umpire for the purpose of scoring and secondary draft eligibility. These umpires may not receive the "AAA scoring bonus," as specified in Rule 4.a.

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  12. Best Umpire: Gary Cederstrom- I will admit, I was skeptical when he was first made a CC. But he has been fantastic and hasn't missed the playoffs since 2002. He is a very good balls-strikes umpire and always has his crewmmates back. Looking at the crews early in the season, I was very skeptical of his crew with Barksdale and Johnson. But they only had THREE ejections this year. That's the lowest in the league.

    Noteworthy: Jeff Kellogg and Jeff Nelson- what can I say. These are two of the most professional and hard working umps in the MLB. If they could work the world series every year I bet they would.

    Honorable Mention: Tim Timmons and Alfonso Marquez- Both guys had terrible seasons last year under Tim Tschida but came back to their usual forms this year and excelled. Marquez handling of Jon Rauch and Timmons handling of Carlos Zambrano were absolutely outstanding.

    Most Improved: Larry Vanover- He hadn't worked a playoff game since 2007 and was kind of a hothead in the process. He had 0 ejections this year and worked a very solid game 2 in the ALCS. I think he could be a CC in the future, but not before Nelson.

    Best CC: Gerry Davis- This guy is the best CC in the MLB. Last year he had Brian Knight on his crew and you didn't hear his name at all. This year on Layne's crew, he was not as good. Todd Tichenor was looked as a hothead for his incident in the Metrodome two years ago, but you barely heard from him this year while on Davis's crew. Also when Angel Hernandez was switched from West to Davis crew, he had no ejections and you never even heard his name. BTW, Davis hasn't missed the playoffs since 1997!

    Worst of they Year: Hunter Wendlsedt- What is this guy's problem. No ejections until July 31 and he ends up with 8, really Hunter? His ejections in Florida were terrible and his one in Boston wan't much better. Get ahold of yourslef Hunter, no one cares that you are the ump of that particular game.

    AAA Call up: Mike Muchlinski- Surprised he hasn't been mentioned yet. Has been a call-up since 2006 and was almost fired this offseason. He had never worked all that many games and I just never even heard his name. He finally worked a full schedule filling in for Mark Wegner and did an awesome job. He handled the situation in San Fran very well and IMO, he is ready to be put on the MLB staff full time.

    Most Declining: Tim McClelland- Sorry Tim, I love you but your time maybe coming. His strikezone has been all over the place lately and he consistently misses close calls that are right in front of him. He is a class act and will be a hall of famer, but he has missed the playoffs back to back years.

    Funniest EJ- Dana Demuth ejecting Joe Maddon on April 10th and Ed Rapuano ejecting Jim Leyland on June 26th.

    Best Handled EJ: John Tumpane- Yes he got the call wrong, but he handled himself well and let Maddon have his say. He was very enthusiastic in his call and did not give in to Maddon's douchery.

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  13. Umpire of the Year--Hunter Wendlestedt
    Noteworthy--Chris Guccione (best mechanics in the game), CB Bucknor (second best mechanics), Dan Bellino (third best mechanics).
    Honorable--Angel Hernandez (him and Joe were the best tag team duo until idiot Torre split them up).
    Most Improved--Larry Vanover
    Worst Umpire of All Time--Brian Gorman
    AAA fill-in--Manny Gonzalez
    Best Ejection--CORY BLASER play at the plate in Colorado

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  14. i. Umpire of the Year: Laz Diaz
    ii. Noteworthy Umpire of the Year:Chris Guccione and Fieldin Culbreth
    iii. Honorable Umpire of the Year: Jim Wolf and Mike DiMuro
    iv. Most Improved Umpire of the Year:Alfonso Marquez
    v. Crew Chief of the Year: Mike Winters
    vi. Worst Umpire of the Year: Bob Davidson
    vii. triple A fill in umpire of year: D.J Reyburn

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  15. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    Noteworthy Umpire of the Year: Jim Wolf & Tim Timmons
    Honorable Umpire of the Year: Gary Darling
    Most Improved Umpire of the Year: Alfonso Marquez
    Crew Chief of the Year: Gerry Davis
    Worst Umpire of the Year: Tim McClelland
    AAA Fill-In Umpire: Alan Porter
    Best EJ: Marquez dumps Rauch

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  16. Umpire of the year: Jeff Nelson. Nelson was deserving of this honor BEFORE his near-perfect performance in the ALCS. Nelson did an outstanding job of filling in as the crew chief for a good chuck of the season while Tim Tschida was injured. A consummate professional and one of the best in the game.

    Noteworthy umpire:Tim Welke. Tim is one of the best in the game and often goes overlooked. He had another great year and once again made the postseason.

    Noteworthy umpire: Chris Guccione. Guccione is an umpire who has made great strides in recent years. He has some of the best mechanics in the game as well.

    Honorable umpires: Mark Wegner and Tim Tschida. Both suffered serious injuries early on and were able to bounce back later in the season. Both showed true dedication to their profession by working hard and getting back onto the field.

    Crew Chief of the year: Gary Cederstrom. Tim Welke is also very deserving, but Cederstrom did a great job of leading the youngest crew in the majors this season.

    Most improved umpire: CB Bucknor. This honor is long overdue for CB. He was perennially one of the worst umpires in baseball every season, but he has turned it around and isn't all that bad.

    Most noticeably declining umpire: Hunter Wendlestedt. Hunter has regressed quite a bit over the last few years, but his performance in the 2nd half of the season was embarrassing.

    Worst Umpire: See my explanation for "Most noticeably declining umpire."

    AAA fill-in: Alan Porter. Was basically a full-time major league umpire and did an admirable job. If there's an opening for a full-time umpire next season, don't be surprised if he is the one who gets hired.

    Best Ejection: Mike Estabrook tossing Kevin Gregg as soon as he made aggressive gestures towards David Ortiz when the two went at it back in July.

    Funniest ejection: Jerry Layne and Bob Davidson's simultaneous ejection of Clint Hurdle in June.

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  17. Best: Jeff Nelson
    Noteworthy: Chris Guccione and Chad Fairchild
    Honorable: Tim Tschida and Joe West
    Most Improved: Tim Timmons
    Worst: Hunter Wendlestedt
    Crew Chief: Jerry Layne
    AAA: Alan Porter
    Best Ejection: Jerry Layne and Bob Davidson toss of Hurdle. Also, Alan Porter's ejection of Jimmy Leyland

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  18. i. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    ii. Noteworthy: Chris Guccione
    iii. Honorable: Jim Wolf (not sure what he overcame)
    iv. Most Improved: Tim Timmons
    v. Crew Chief: Brian Gorman
    vi. Worst: Hunter Wendelstedt
    vii. AAA Fill-In: Al Porter
    viii. Ejections: Eddie Rap of Leyland!

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  19. i. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    ii. Noteworthy Umpire of the Year: Ted Barrett, Dale Scott
    iii. Honorable Umpire of the Year: Jim Wolf, Tim Timmons
    iv. Most Improved Umpire of the Year: Angel Hernandez
    v. Crew Chief of the Year: Jerry Layne
    vi. Worst Umpire of the Year: Bob Davidson
    vii. Fill-In Umpire of the Year: Mike Muchlinski
    viii. Best Ejection of the Year: Tim Timmons (2): Timmons ejects Zambrano and controls the Braves dugout...the look of disgust on his face as he tossed Zambrano about three times was just priceless
    Ed Rapuano (1): Rapuano ejects Leyland over overturned call at first base

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  20. i. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    ii. Noteworthy Umpire: Jim Wolf
    iii. Honorable: Alfonso Marquez
    iv. Most Improved: Angel Hernandez
    v. Crew Chief: Dale Scott
    vi. Worst: Hunter Wendelstedt
    vii. AAA Fill-In: Vic Carapazza
    viii. Best Ejections: Marquez in Toronto

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  21. i. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    ii. Noteworthy Umpire: Jim Wolf
    iii. Honorable: Alfonso Marquez
    iv. Most Improved: Tim Timmons
    v. Crew Chief: Jerry Layne
    vi. Worst: Hunter Wendelstedt
    vii. AAA Fill-In: Mike Estabrook
    viii. Best Ejections: Timmons in Atlanta

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  22. Umpire of the year- Jeff Nelson, solid season solid playoffs, well deserved.

    Noteworthy- Jim Wolf, all around good umpire, well liked, a rising star.
    Chris Guccione- Had a good season and is quitely becoming one of the best young umps in the game.

    Honorable- Bob Davidson, consistently hounded for his old school style, yet the majority of his ejections are correct. Don't forget he had to go back to A ball and work his way back as a fill in ump before being hired full time a couple of years back.
    Angel Hernandez- Handled the split from West's crew with class, had a good season even before the split despite the perception that he is a bad umpire. A crew chief in the making!

    Most Improved- Tim Timmons, came back from an off year last season, handled the Zambrano situation as well as you could have asked for.

    Crew Chief- Joe West, always has his partners back. Still a top umpire, maybe the best rules guy in the bigs and one of the top ball/strike guys as well.

    Worst/Declining- Jerry Meals, somebody always has to be the worst, and Meals seemed to just not have a very good year, combined with just an average playoff performance (although his plate job was good until the Cards began to harass him). Hopefully a candidate for most improved next year.

    Fill In- Mike Mulchinski, did a great job this year, hope to see him full time soon.

    Best Ejection- Ed Rapuano of Jim Leyland. Rap let Jimmy have his say and didn't run him until he absolutely had to, and if for no other reason than Leyland was absolutely hilarious!

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  23. If you want an Honorable Umpire, read this story, where at a Nationals game this season, Gary Darling gave a game ball to a wounded soldier that lost his leg defending our country. And he did it quietly, privately, not wanting to draw attention to himself. That is the definition of honorable, and why Gary Darling deserves everyone's vote for Honorable Umpire.

    Here is the story: http://umpscareblog.com/05/03/2011/umpire-gary-darling-makes-the-perfect-call/

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  24. Umpire of the Year: Brian O'Nora
    Noteworthy Umpires:
    1. Ron Kulpa - Quietly had a very good year, and has a good strike zone with good mechanics. Has a passion for the game, and it culminates with a WS appearance.
    2. Dan Bellino - He was good all year long. He is a solid young umpire with a bright future ahead of him.
    Honorable Umpires:
    1. Bruce Dreckman
    2. Marty Foster
    Most Improved:
    1. Mark Carlson
    Worst Umpire:
    1. Brian Knight
    (Honorable Mentions: Hunter Wendlestedt, Marvin Hudson, Sam Holbrook with West's Crew, Rob Drake, and Eric Cooper's strikezone)
    Fill In:
    1. Mike Estabrook - He really was fantastic, and really improved after that horrible ejection of Yost last year.
    Best Ejection - Rapuano of Leyland. Pure comedy over really nothing. He kicked it, corrected it, everyone in the stadium knew, and Leyland went crazy!

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  25. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson

    Noteworthy Umpire: Dan Iassogna, Chris Guccione

    Honorable Umpire: Gary Darling

    Most Improved Umpire: Tim Timmons

    Crew Chief of the Year: Gerry Davis

    Worst Umpire of the Year: Bob Davidson

    Fill-In Umpire of the Year: Alan Porter

    Best Ejection: Ed Rapuano on Jim Leyland--6/27

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  26. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson

    Noteworthy: Gary Cederstrom & Laz Diaz

    Honorable: Mark Wegner & Tim Tschida

    Most Improved: Alfonso Marquez

    Crew Chief: Jerry Layne

    Declining: Tim McClelland

    Fill-in: Mike Eastabrook

    Best Ejection: Tim Timmons ejection of Zambrano and the subsequent handling of the situation was outstanding.

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  27. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson

    There's a reason why Jeff is on the Union Board. I really can't put into words how nice a person Jeff is. When Jeff was sick in '07, and was back home, he came to one of my games which was an old league Jeff had worked. He looked good, maybe a little thin, even for Jeff's normal thinness. In between innings, he was talking to players and managers, so I thought I'd better run over and shake his hand because I thought by the next half inning he'd be gone. So, it looked a little funny, for the umpire of the game to run over to the dugout and shake the hand of some guy in streets cloths. But I did it, and I was glad I did, no matter how it looked. The next inning ends and I look over and Jeff has taken a seat in the stands over by 3rd base. Jeff ends up staying the whole game, and talking to us guys for an hour afterwords. We had a funny play happen, Jeff seen it, and wanted to tell us how to handle it. To have Jeff Nelson at your game and actually watching plays happen, and discussing them with you........... Here he was taking treatment for a serious illness, and away from umpiring the game he loves, talking to me about baseball at the amateur level.
    It doesn't surprise me Jeff is getting this many votes for umpire of the year. I think you can use 3 of the rarest words in umpiring when you describe Jeff Nelson. These 3 words are reserved for only a handful of umpires in the last 159 years. Hall Of Fame.

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  28. i. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson
    ii. Noteworthy Umpire: Greg Gibson - fits this to a T
    iii. Honorable: ?
    iv. Most Improved: Hernandez, absolutely
    v. Crew Chief: Joe West
    vi. Worst: Hunter Wendelstedt
    vii. AAA Fill-In: Porter
    viii. Best Ejections: Marquez in Toronto

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  29. Umpire of the Year: Jeff Nelson

    Noteworthy Umpire: Ted Barrett, Chris Guccione

    Honorable Umpire: Gary Darling

    Most Improved Umpire: Tim Timmons

    Crew Chief of the Year: Gerry Davis

    Worst Umpire of the Year: Hunter Wendelstadt

    Declining: Tim McClelland

    Fill-In Umpire of the Year: Mike Eastabrook

    Best Ejection: Marquez tossing Rauch in Toronto

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  30. Crew Chief: Gerry Davis, a crew chief that can get Angel from one of the most noticed to one of the least noticed in less than 1/2 season is doing something.
    Declining: Joe West, sorry Joe, it's not about you.
    Triple A fill in: John Tumpane, great work ethic, attitude, presence & professionalism

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  31. Almost forgot to vote! Thanks for the reminder guys

    Ump of the Year: Nelson
    Noteworthy: Gibson
    Honorable: Marquez
    Crew Chief: Gary Darling
    Worst: Wendelstedt
    Fill-in: Porter
    Best Ejections: Marquez in Toronto and Hernandez/Francona.

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  32. Playoffs are done, so now it's time to vote.

    Ump of Year: Nelson, love the writeup on his near perfecto
    Noteworthy: Gibson and Marquez, both really impressed this year
    Honorable: Darling, nice story about him
    Crew Chief: Joe West, sorry but he knows his stuff
    Worst: Davidson. It's such a close race between him and Wendelstedt though
    Fill-In: I like Porter
    Ejections: Marquez ejecting Sasquatch and West/Manuel

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