Tonight's tiebreaker Game 163 (Rays @ Rangers) will feature:
Tim Welke -cc (0 Previous + 2 Division Series [NLDS Crew B, Dodgers @ Braves] = 2).
Jeff Kellogg -UIC (home plate umpire)
Bruce Dreckman
Chris Guccione (4 Previous + 2 Division Series [ALDS Crew C, WC @ Red Sox] = 6).
Tom Hallion (8 Previous + 2 Division Series [ALDS Crew D, Tigers @ Athletics] = 10).
Ron Kulpa
Wild Card A (NLWC/CIN@PIT)
Joe West -cc (5 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game + 1 Crew Chief Assignment Bonus = 7).
Dale Scott (4 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = 5).
Dan Iassogna (11 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = 12).
Rob Drake (1 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = 2).
Tim Timmons (8 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = 9).
Lance Barksdale (2 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = 3).*
Wild Card B (ALWC/CLE@TB-TEX)
Gerry Davis -cc (0 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game + 1 Crew Chief Assignment Bonus = 2).
Ted Barrett (4 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = 5).
Mike Everitt (2 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = 3).
Greg Gibson (6 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = 7).
Phil Cuzzi (-4 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = -3).
Brian Knight (13 Previous + 1 Wild Card Game = 14).*
Crew A (NLDS/WC@STL)
Jerry Layne -cc (10 Previous + 2 Division Series + 1 Crew Chief Assignment Bonus = 13).
Wally Bell (5 Previous + 2 Division Series = 7).
Sam Holbrook (10 Previous + 2 Division Series = 12).
Jim Joyce (-2 Previous + 2 Division Series = 0).
Paul Nauert (10 Previous + 2 Division Series = 12).
Tony Randazzo (6 Previous + 2 Division Series = 8).
Crew B (NLDS/LAD@ATL)
John Hirschbeck -cc (9 Previous + 2 Division Series + 1 Crew Chief Assignment Bonus = 12).
Laz Diaz (8 Previous + 2 Division Series = 10).
Marvin Hudson (6 Previous + 2 Division Series = 8).
Bill Miller (4 Previous + 2 Division Series = 6).
Tim Welke (0 Previous + 2 Division Series = 2).
Hunter Wendelstedt (14 Previous + 2 Division Series = 16).
Crew C (ALDS/WC@BOS)
Dana DeMuth -cc (5 Previous + 2 Division Series + 1 Crew Chief Assignment Bonus = 8).
Eric Cooper (-4 Previous + 2 Division Series = -2).
Paul Emmel (1 Previous + 2 Division Series = 3).
Chris Guccione (4 Previous + 2 Division Series = 6).
Larry Vanover (3 Previous + 2 Division Series = 5).
Mike Winters (8 Previous + 2 Division Series = 10).
Crew D (ALDS/DET@OAK)
Gary Darling -cc (12 Previous + 2 Division Series + 1 Crew Chief Assignment Bonus = 15).
CB Bucknor (12 Previous + 2 Division Series = 14).
Mike DiMuro (2 Previous + 2 Division Series = 4).
Tom Hallion (8 Previous + 2 Division Series = 10).
Jim Reynolds (9 Previous + 2 Division Series = 11).
Mark Wegner (4 Previous + 2 Division Series = 6).
-cc denotes Crew Chief, * denotes first Post-season assignment. Per UEFL Rule 4-3-c, all umpires selected to appear in the Wild Card games shall receive one bonus point for this appearance. Umpires assigned to the Division Series shall receive two bonus points for this appearance; crew chiefs shall receive one additional bonus point for this role (two or three points total).
If we assume that the Wild Card crews will work the LCSes again, it's absurd to see some very good umpires (Jim Wolf, Jeff Nelson, and Alfonso Marquez are 3) sitting on the sidelines, while some of the league's very worst— CB Bucknor, Rob Drake, and the perpetually overrated Dale Scott have playoff assignments.
ReplyDelete-Why is Kellogg the plate umpire tonight instead of Welke?
ReplyDelete-If West & Davis are crew chiefs for the wild card games, is it safe to say they get the CC spots in the LCSes too?
-How come the Dodgers/Braves crew has only 5 umpires?
-Based on what we know now, who does everyone think will work the WS?
-WHERE IS BRIAN GORMAN?
MLB is asking for trouble with C.B. working the playoffs. They deserve any criticism they get when he blows the easiest of calls.
ReplyDeleteFonsie is a lock for LCS. Gorman is nearly so. Jim Wolf is one of the best umpires in MLB, but he also was injured for an extended time this year, which could affect his chances.
ReplyDeleteHow in the world does CB Bucknor get a postseason assignment?
ReplyDeleteDisregard my last post. The wild Card Game crews did work the LCSes last year. I apologize for posting incorrect information.
ReplyDeleteAlso possible that Kellogg got the plate with Welke as CC since Welke will work a later postseason game and Kellogg won't (if they keep with the WC umpires working the LCS)
ReplyDeleteThis is my major complaint. Between the call last week, and his usual awful plate work, it appears as though performance isn't the key to evaluation. Similarly, I remember Dale Scott blowing no less than 3-4 calls on the bases in Phillies games alone this year. I really wonder how much either favoritism or Questec scores are valued over work on the bases in making these assignments.
ReplyDeleteTwo umpires who are working the wild card game are working their first playoff series (Knight and Barksdale). My guess is that MLB has changed the way they pick umpires for the wild card and will replace them with more experienced umpires (Marquez, Nelson or Kellogg) in the Championship series. Also, pretty sure that neither Gorman or Wolf were eligible for the playoffs since they worked well under 100 games. Cederstrom might have been eliminated also as I believe he worked about 99 games.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should become an evaluator for MLB. How long did you work in the game?
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not mistaken the crew chiefs work the deciding games.
ReplyDeleteI know it's a regular season game, but I'd like to see Kellogg's balls & strikes numbers from tonight, especially team vs. team. Rangers have really been all over him with his zone.
ReplyDeleteSo have the announcers, who just complained about Kellogg expanding the zone too much for the Rays while their pitch tracker showed both pitches they were discussing as strikes. Nice to know national announcers are as bad as team announcers.
ReplyDeleteThen you know nothing about umpiring. Why do you listen to the announcers? They don't know the rules.
ReplyDeleteBucknor is a terribly bad umpire, but his post-ejection face is hilarious.
ReplyDeleteIt could always be worse. They could have gone with Balkin' Bob in there somewhere...
Dang...is your last name West?
ReplyDeleteSo you're basically arguing that announcers, fans, writers, AND players know nothing about umpiring and only the completely non-transparent process by which umpires are evaluated is correct? C'mon that's a total joke. Next thing I know you'll claim that the failed barehanded tag last week when the pitcher had the ball in the other hand was really an out just because CB said so.
ReplyDeleteIt has been demonstrated in the past that announcers and players don't necessarily understand the basic rules in the game, and it is difficult to judge an umpire's ability to make the right call if you aren't aware of what the right call is. If you want to decide how good or bad an umpire is you should do so by observing objective data.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you completely on balls and strikes, but the vast majority of plays where they complain are those where replay shows the umpires to have been in error (like the call just blown in the Rangers-Rays game). All I'm questioning is whether MLB has any sort of objective data on anything other than balls and strikes, and if they don't, whether the playoff assignments are skewed to guys who have good QuesTec scores , but who may make a lot of mistakes on the bases. Remember, if MLB was simply more transparent, they could correct these misconceptions.
ReplyDeleteSay CB is actually an excellent umpire by the metrics measured by MLB, they could save themselves a lot of headaches by releasing that data. Especially when you get wild swings in playoff assignments. All we know is the rules about not working consecutive series or consecutive World Series.
Didn't Joe West miss a substantial portion of the season as well? Yet, he's out there. Also, it seems silly to keep a guy out of the playoffs if he's having a great year because he missed a few months early in the season. Wolf has been back since July, Gorman since June, I believe.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure they have evaluators watching the whole crew, but it would indeed be interesting to see some of the data on them.
ReplyDeleteIf you're talking about the trap no-call the LF Umpire must have blinked and missed it because I saw that as a trap in full speed from the initial TV angle and the umpire certainly had a much better look at it than that.
They definitely have evaluators.
ReplyDeleteI was referring to the trap, and I can't believe that none of the 6 umpires saw it properly.
http://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/fastmap.php?pitchSel=all&game=gid_2013_09_30_tbamlb_texmlb_1/&sp_type=2&s_type=7
ReplyDeletehttp://www.brooksbaseball.net/pfxVB/fastmap.php?pitchSel=all&game=gid_2013_09_30_tbamlb_texmlb_1/&sp_type=3&s_type=7
I also found it idiotic that the announcers are griping about the strike zone when the pitch tracker showed both pitches were in the strike zone. Not just touching the zone completely IN the zone. Baseball announcers are idiots for the most part. There are a few good ones but not many. It seemed obvious to me this announcing crew were pulling for the rays based on their comments. Kellogg did a great job behind the plate. And the numbers put out on here clearly show that.
ReplyDelete