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Sunday, May 13, 2012

Ejection 028: Todd Tichenor (1)

HP Umpire Todd Tichenor ejected Mets pitcher Frank Francisco for arguing a ball call in the bottom of the 9th inning of the Mets-Marlins game. With none out and two on, Marlins batter Greg Dobbs singled on a 1-0 fastball from Mets pitcher Frank Francisco on a soft line drive to center fielder Andres Torres, Marlins R3 Emilio Bonifacio scored and R1 Brett Hayes to 3rd. Replays indicate the 0-0 pitch from Francisco to Dobbs was knee high, but off the outside corner of the plate (px value of -1.036), the call was correct.*^ At the time of the ejection, the Mets were leading, 4-3. The Marlins ultimately won the contest, 8-4.

This is Todd Tichenor (97)'s first ejection of 2012.
Todd Tichenor now has 4 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 4).
Crew Chief Brian Gorman now has 2 points in the Crew Division (1 Previous + 1 Correct Call = 2).
*This ejection is eligible for a Balls/Strikes exemption under UEFL Rule 6-5-d-2.
^After review, Quality of Correctness has been affirmed in a 4-0 decision by the UEFL Appeals Board.

UEFL Standings Update

This is the 28th ejection of 2012.
This is the 9th player ejection of 2012.
This is Todd Tichenor's first career ejection as a full-time Major League umpire.
This is Frank Francisco's first ejection of 2012 and first ejection since 2004, where Frank Francisco, as a member of the Texas Rangers, was involved in a confrontation with Oakland A's fans. Francisco was ejected after throwing a chair into the stands, which hit a fan. He later was arrested and suspended from MLB for the remainder of the season. He was ordered to complete anger management classes and a work program after pleading no contest to the charges filed against him due to the incident.

Wrap: Mets at Marlins 5/13/12 (Mother's Day)
Video: After being removed from the game, Francisco charges Tichenor and is ejected

Pitch f/x courtesy Brooks Baseball





















*Note: Brooks Baseball is promoting a Sabermetrics seminar hosted by those at the Jimmy Fund with all the money collected going to cancer research, the link to the seminar can be found here.

26 comments:

  1. I think he was angry at ball 1 and ball 2 in John Buck's AB

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  2. i challenge using the balls/strike exemption i want to know how the rest of tichenor's inning was

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  3. @wwjd anon 3:43 did say there were 2 missed calls in John Buck's AB

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    1. @anon 4:03 yes they did but thats only two pitches we don't know about the remaining pitches prior to the ejection

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  4. Gil, 2 of your dodger boys were ejected on a correct call!

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  5. This is the same umpire who fouled up a double switch in a Padres at Mets game in 2008. He is the new Bill Hohn. He argued the two pitches at the knees and both calls were incorrect.

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  6. This ruling has been challenged and is under review by the Appeals Board.

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  7. @ Anon 4:47

    Yeah, that's right. Let's throw in the towel on Tichenor's career over two incidents that occurred four seasons apart. What a great idea!

    A question: Was Francisco heaved before or after he walked towards Tichenor?

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  8. Specifically, Francisco was arguing Pitch #1 and Pitch #2 to John Buck.

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  9. Tichenor did miss Pitch #1 and #2 in the John Buck at bat, but that doesn't excuse Francisco's behavior. You can't confront an umpire like that. If Terry Collins hadn't stepped in between the two men, I think we'd be talking about a suspension situation. Francisco has been having a terrible season, and I think this was a culmination of everything boiling over.

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  10. Isn't this the same Frank Francisco that once threw a chair into the stands?

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  11. UmpsRule, yes...as say the write up ;). He was ejected, arrested, suspended for the season, went to anger management classes, and had to settle civilly with the injured fan he hit.

    If I remember correctly, the fans were found to do no wrongdoing in the incident and it was a misinterpretation by the Rangers pitching coach at the time of what was happening with some of the Rangers players.

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  12. @UmpsRule

    To help with your question, the only people who would know exactly when he got tossed are people who were at the game. I was watching the game live, and they showed Francisco walking off the mound, barking at Tichenor, and then cut to commercial. When they came back, all that could be seen was what is in the video link.

    There is no doubt in my mind that Francisco was arguing Ball 1 and 2 to John Buck. The Brook's graphic has both of those pitches as within the bounds of the strike zone, and Francisco barked a bit on those calls, but really let it loose when he was being taken out by Collins.

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  13. Anon 4:47 -- It is WAY too soon to declare that Todd Tichenor is the new Bill Hohn. Give the kid a chance please.

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  14. Tichenor did not do a horrible job on the day.... But depending on your point of view didn't call the low pitch or missed the low pitch

    http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/cache/zoneplot.php-pitchSel=all&game=gid_2012_05_13_nynmlb_miamlb_1&sp_type=1&s_type=7.gif

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  15. Funny, when Paul O'Neill or Lou Piniella or Roger Clemens screamed at umpires, it was called passion. When Francisco does it, it is called a tantrum.

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  16. I've seen the word tantrum associated with Piniella.

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  17. I wish he would have called these pitches strikes. Even though the graph said they were low, looking at the pitches on the video, they seem to be good looking pitches. Why not be a strike umpire instead of a ball umpire?

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  18. Why not be a call-it-like-the-rule-book-says-to-call-it umpire?

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  19. Aaaaah, the strike zone. Even if baseball decides to use a machine to call balls and strikes, as some fans wish they would, we still won't be in agreement about what's a strike and what's not.

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  20. The point about being a strike umpire is a good one. There will be borderline calls all game, but if the umpire consistently calls these strikes the batters learn to swing, thus taking the onus off the umpire.

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  21. Yes, I would have called those pitches strikes. However, I think there's a lot to be said for consistency. This ejection occured in the ninth inning. If Tichenor has been consistently tight at the bottom for nine innings, then the onus is on the pitchers to adapt. If Francisco has been watching the game, then he should have no expectation of a strike call on those pitches. Regardless of his expectation or performance, it's not his job to cause that kind of scene. Let Terry Collins do it, that's his job.

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  22. Hey to the person who posted at 9:41 PM:

    how many times did Clemens or Lou ever physically try to get at an umpire like Fransisco did?! I'm all about passion and love for the game but that's way over board. Say your peace and get on outta here. Why try to attack an umpire?! You're the one not pitching good! haha

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  23. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  24. After review, the original Quality of Correctness of "Correct" has been affirmed in a 4-0 decision by the UEFL Appeals Board. Four Appeals Board members elected to Uphold and one elected to Confirm the original ruling.

    In affirming its decision, the Board employed a Balls/Strikes exemption and examined three at-bats: (1) Bonifacio, (2) Buck, (3) Dobbs. The Board discovered 11 total callable pitches during those at-bats, and found Tichenor called to an accuracy of 82% (nine-for-11) during those at-bats. Furthermore, the Board found that the two missed pitches occurred during the second at-bat and were missed as balls one and two to lead off the at-bat.

    The Board judged Tichenor's holistic performance over the course of the half-inning and issued the following opinion, per curiam:
    The missed pitches appear not have had a realistic effect on the outcome of the inning. Buck (2) walked on a 3-1 count following a Bonifacio triple and prior to the Dobbs single. There is a realistic or perhaps probable chance Bonifacio's run would have scored had Buck been retired instead of walking with zero outs.

    Confirmed: Gil
    Upheld: tmac, BillMueller, yawetag
    Overturned: None
    Deferred: None
    Abstained: Jeremy (Posted Original QOC), Albertaumpire (Vacation), RichMSN (owns Tichenor)

    Quality of Correctness has been affirmed, 4-0.

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  25. Roger Clemens did the same thing to Greg Kosc on a play at first base in 1986 at old Comisky, but since it was before the You Tube era, everyone forgot about it, except me.

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