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Friday, May 25, 2012

Ejections 047, 048: Alan Porter (1, 2)

1B Umpire Alan Porter ejected Minnesota Twins shortstop Jamey Carroll and Minnesota Twins Manager Ron Gardenhire for arguing an out call in the bottom of the 8th inning of the Tigers-Twins game. With two out and none on, Twins batter Jamey Carroll hit a 2-2 fastball from Tigers pitcher Joaquin Benoit for a ground out to Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder to Benoit. Replays indicate that Carroll's foot touched first base prior to Benoit touching first base, the call was incorrect. At the time of the ejections, the Tigers led, 10-6. The Tigers ultimately won the contest, 10-6.

These are Alan Porter (64)'s first and second ejections of 2012.
Alan Porter now has -4 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2*[3 AAA + -1 Penalty + -4 Incorrect Call] = -4).
Crew Chief Brian Gorman now has 2 points in the UEFL's Crew division (2 Previous + 2*[0 Incorrect Call] = 2).

These are the 47th and 48th ejections of 2012.
This is the 17th player ejection of 2012.
This is the 27th Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Jamey Carroll's first ejection of 2012.
This is Ron Gardenhire's second ejection of 2012.
These are Minnesota's third and fourth ejections of 2012.
This is Alan Porter's first ejection since August 21, 2011.

39 comments:

  1. While Alan did miss this call...

    The way he handled the EJs made me a fan of his. My only question is, "What did Carroll say?" Any good lip readers?

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  2. Does anyone own Gardenhire in the ejection fantasy league? He should get a point there for ejecting Porter!

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  3. Carrol said, "You blew that one rookie". It's really the only thing that would get the auto. Porter acted like it was automatic EJ, he never got mad and they never went back and forth. So we can infer the auto aspect of the EJ. Now what did he say, by Carrols reaction he couldn't believe he got run for what he said. My guess is he used the word Rookie. I think if Carrol had said F-U, he wouldn't have acted like he said nothing.

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  4. Missed call by a good young umpire- those plays are tough to see because you have to watch both feet of the pitcher and runner and recognize which one beat who to the bag.

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  5. Horrible call. He was standing right there and blew it.

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  6. @ Anonymous @ 5:01
    And just how many times did you have to watch the replay before you realized he missed it? Porter had one shot ... in real time ... in full speed ... and it was very, very close. Did he miss it? Sure. Just don't make it sound like it was an easy call.
    This is a difficult call for an umpire because your ears cannot help you out here. The garden variety whacker is much easier because you're listening for a "smack" - "thud" (out), or a "thud" - "smack" (safe). Pitcher covering is a "thud" - "thud", and it's often difficult to tell which "thud" belongs to which player.

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  7. Carroll appear to say something like "You threw me out for using rookie?"...yeah, he did, and you earned it.

    As for the call, I would love to see Porter's view...from this angle, this looks as close to proverbial tie as you will see, and ties are outs.

    Porter is very good umpire, and his field demeanor is excellent...ejects and walks away.

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  8. How about this stat: In the last three Tigers games, there have been five ejections?

    Listening to this live on the radio, the Tigers announcer also thought Jerry White had been heaved. Having heard that, I figured Gardenhire would get tossed too. Anytime a call goes against the Twins, there's a chance Gardy will go.

    As for Carroll, he should realize that he can't call an umpire "rookie".

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  9. Porter to Gardenhire: "Okay, okay. You say you got to go (whack) you got to go."

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  10. According to rules authority Jamey Carroll, ""Tie goes to the runner."

    http://minnesota.twins.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20120526&content_id=32248506&vkey=news_min&c_id=min

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  11. Why do you guys assume Carroll said anything? Porter could have made a mistake in ejecting him, just like he did on the call. He's a good umpire but he missed that (tough) call, and he really butchered the ejection because regardless of what Carroll said he looked very composed and everyone watching would have thought he was in the right.

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  12. Why do we assume that Carroll said something? Because if you watch the video, you can see his mouth moving. I hope we aren't going out on a limb too far.

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  13. *Anything bad, although I would think that would be implied to any unbiased reader. Obviously he said something. Regardless, I usually defend umpires, and I'm not going to give Porter too much crap for missing that call because it was very close, with a number of moving parts, but he has to make his ejections more defensible. Carroll, if he did say something terrible, is an extremely good actor because he looked genuinely surprised to be thrown out, and not as much angry as upset.

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  14. I love the statements made after the game... "I didn't cuss or anything. I didn't think I said enough to get thrown out." Great, so you want us to trust your character instead of telling us exactly what you said and letting us trust your words. It's very telling that he didn't repeat exactly what he said before getting thrown out. I'm sure Carroll is a nice guy, and perhaps what he said to Porter is out of character or understandable in an emotional game. But own up. Don't come playing the innocent card when you won't even repeat exactly what you said.

    This is just another instance of the age old "stick it to the umpire" tradition.

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  15. Did anyone notice White reaching out to stop Porter's ejection mechanic?

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  16. @ Anon 10:08: Thanks for the clarification. My bad.

    @ Nate: Very good point.

    @ Anon 10:09: I didn't initially see that, but now that you mention it he may have done so.

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  17. I was at the game last night. Maybe the replay looks really close or it did on the tv but it was pretty obvious Porter blew the call to me and about everyone else in the stadium. Also I was sitting just beside first base Porter was standing right there so he has no excuse. Besides it was probably the third bad call he had already made that game for both teams. Also he ejected Carroll for almost nothing again I was close enough to hear a lot of the yelling.That should not happen. Those of you defending that Ump are not real baseball fans. Grow up and let them play. Btw to the poster bill above....tie goes to the runner actually. How do you not know that and then try to comment?

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  18. @ bam5120 "tie goes to the runner actually. How do you not know that and then try to comment?"
    I'm sorry - but in my circle of umpires that is the punchline to a joke - not a real statement. Why? There is no such thing as a tie - how do I know? Try using that line in a game as an umpire and see how many people you need to eject as a result. You'll go running to your rulebook and find out there is no rule about ties (except that horrible section about tie games, suspended games - ugh!!!). Go with your gut and make the best call you can, knowing there is no such thing as a "tie".

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  19. @bam5120 Good luck trying to find an umpire that will agree that "tie goes to the runner" because in umpiring circles it is a wives tale. To be declared safe on a force, the runner must beat the ball. If in the extremely rare condition ball and runner arrive at the same time, the runner has not beaten the ball and is out. And if you want to say that I don't know what I'm talking about, I've been umpiring 15+ years and I went to pro school. Also, keep in mind that those of us defending the umpire may be umpires ourselves. It sounds to me that you know exactly what you're talking about though so go ahead and put on a blue shirt and gray slacks and go umpire a baseball game in real time. I'm sure your perspective will change.

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  20. Will and SJR...

    Thanks for having my back while I have out answering 9-1-1 calls. You have made my point better than I could have.

    No real umpire ever uses "tie goes to the runner". It is a myth like "hands are part of the bat" and "runners must turn right after crossing first base".

    For my friend Barn, here's a link to the whole list...learn it, love it, live it.

    http://baseball-rules.com/myths.htm

    See ya behind the dish...I'm the guy in the blue shirt.

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  21. 7.08 (e): Any runner is out when...

    "He or the next base is tagged before he touches the next base, after he has been
    forced to advance by reason of the batter becoming a runner."

    Using this rule, a tie would not be an out.

    Just shows you that you can almost always find a rule to back up any call.

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  22. So when is Carroll going to tell us what he said so we can be the judge on whether or not he should be thrown out.

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  23. Toronto Blue Jays starter (name eludes me) just got tossed by Marty Foster for throwing at Kinsler. Pretty quick hook since there were no warnings, but the Rangers just hit back-to-back-to-back HRs.

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    Replies
    1. Last night the BoSox pitcher was given THREE pitches to nail Luke Scott - one BEHIND him, one VERY inside and one finally that hit the back of his knee. No warnings, ejections - just "boys will be boys" and " don't you dare say nothin bad about my momma or Fenway". Maybe a directive went out that they want the umpires to stay in control of intentional pitches at batters. There is too much discretion in this rule

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  24. Henderson Alvarez from Toronto just got tossed by Marty Foster for pitching a ball inside post giving up back, to back to back homeruns. Looks like a real joke of a call by Foster. It was on a 2-2 count with 2 outs. Ever since Brett Lawrie hit Bill Miller with his helmet, the umps have really had it out for the Blue Jays

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  25. From a matter of physics, if the umpire is LOOKING for the runner's foot to reach the bag and LISTENING for the ball to hit the glove, then the observation will be seen before the sound waves are heard since light travels faster than sound. Hence there would be a sensory tendency to consider the runner safe even though the throw might have beaten him and the sound waves were lagging by a fraction of a nanosecond

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  26. Tie goes to the umpire!

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  27. Although it has been more entertaining, the troll fanboys showing up in these ejection threads has increased tenfold this year. We've been enlightened that a tied does go to the runner. I wonder what wisdom these clowns will bestow upon us next?

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  28. I think bam5120 removed all credibility from his post when he claimed that tie goes to the runner. Or had he already done so when he implied that he could see the plays better than Porter could, and also dismissed the accuracy of the replays?

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  29. Tie goes to the runner. Nice. Who let the Little League coach in?

    I really liked that list. Two of the things on the list were pulled on me today, in fact. Hilarious. However, the person who wrote the list should be more specific. Several items on that list are not myths, they are just high school-only rules.

    Porter did a great job on these ejections, regardless of the call. Just because a guy is a nice guy, or has never been ejected before, doesn't mean that he didn't deserve to go. Calling an umpire a rookie is disrespectful and showing him up. So is walking right up to an umpire and telling him he missed the call.

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  30. Ok with regard to ties on the base paths. If there is such a thing as a tie, by rule it goes to the defense. All baseball codes agree that in order to be safe on a force play the runner must touch the base prior to the defense touching the base while in possession of the ball, therefore if it's a tie, you didn't beat it...your out!!

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  31. If he had said, "sir, you missed that call!" while jogging back to the dugout, he'd still be in the game. There are ways to get your point across or vent your frustration without being an ass.

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  32. Anon 9:26 here. Let me add this to the comment I made above: I like Alan Porter. He is a rising star among young MLB umpires. I've been a Porter fan since August of last year when he ejected an irate and animated Jim Leyland. Perfect situational handling. Also, Porter always seems to be mechanically sound and in as close-to-perfect position as one can be. He is an all around outstanding umpire.

    It would just be a shame for him to develop the "I'm-the-umpire-you-just-play-here" attitude that so many of today's umpires have.

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  33. Looks like something happened to my 9:26 comment. If my comment was intentionally deleted by the administrators, please also delete my comment of 10:11. It doesn't make any sense without the first comment. Furthermore, it is quite silly to delete the (non-profane/offensive) post wherein I criticized Porter for his handling of this incident, and leave up a subsequent post where I said nice things about him.

    Again, in the interest of fairness, I respectfully request that you remove my comment at 10:11.

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  34. I'm just wondering what the reasoning behind NOT making people registar a name. I mean the above B.S. comments about tie goes to the runner is on a site, that to me breaks down MLB ejections better than MLB itself.
    I think the guy was just actually "flame-ing" the post, he couldn't honestly really believe his own B.S.
    I'm never for exclusion, inclusion is the only way we can learn.
    Acutally this is the only site I've ever noticed one could post Anon style. Most Blogspot address's even require a registration.
    I wouldn't be suprised if MLB hired Gil or Jeremy for their expertise. And eye wanted to say that incase it happens, then I now can say told you so........
    PICK A NAME PEOPLE!

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  35. So let me get this straight; the players, who are supposed to be juvenile, are called rookies and the butt of jokes all year.

    The umpires, who are supposed to be men, can't take being called a rookie? What a crock. To get the hook for calling someone a rookie or referring to a rookie mistake is pathetic. If the rookie umpire wants respect, he earns it by living with both his good and bad calls. We don't see managers walking out on the field and pulling rookies mid-inning during their first error.

    Look at the replay. Carrol said something, expressed displeasure to the ump and got the hook without creating a scene at all. He didn't show him up. Prior to learning this ump is a rook, I think this is just someone with a short fuse. Hearing he's a rookie and I think short fuse, some kind of power complex, not ready to handle the pressures of the big leagues, etc.

    I do give porter credit for dealing with Gardy. That was an all class ejection and he handled that well; but what a damn power trip to pull the trigger over using "rookie". Is Joe West teaching all the rookie umps?

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  36. An umpire should not be treated as the butt of a joke. He is an authority figure, he should be respected as such.

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  37. UmpsRule, maybe if more of these authority figures would grow up and act like authority figures, they would be treated like authority figures. Baseball umpiring is at an all-time low, and it's just plain sad. There's such a double standard today. Players are expected to respect umpires, but umpires are never held accountable for poor treatment of players. You have to earn respect. You don't get it by just putting on blue.

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  38. Alan Porter is going to be a great MLB umpire. He is only 34 years old, so he has many years left ahead of him. He was behind the plate today at Boston for the Nationals-Red Sox game, and I couldn't see that he made any bad calls. And, in the 9th inning, when Bobby V came out raging mad, because Dustin Pedroia couldn't get the bat off his shoulder, Alan just stood there smiling, letting Bobby V run out of steam, never once losing his composure, and then, when Bobby V realized that he was just wasting his time and went back to the dugout, the game continued without any more drama. He is a model umpire, in my opinion.

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