Friday, March 13, 2015

2015 MLB Umpire Crews Listed by Crew Chief Service

The 2015 MLB Umpire Crew list is here, with umpiring crews sorted by the crew chief's service time (as a crew chief). With the 2015 umpire crews now available, the UEFL Draft Deadline for Crew Chiefs is set as April 3. Click here to visit the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League's draft & prospectus guide announcement. Visit the UEFL's Umpire Profiles page for a sortable list of all MLB and MiLB call-up umpires (MLB umpires may be sorted by 2015 Crew). This is an early release of the 2015 MLB Umpire Crews and is subject to change during the season due to vacation, injury or other events.

2015 MLB Umpire Crews (By Umpiring Crew Chief Seniority)

UEFLCrew Chief UEFLUmpire 2Umpire 3Umpire 4
Crew A12 Davis, Gerry10 Cuzzi, Phil11 Randazzo, Tony93 Little, Will
Crew B32 DeMuth, Dana39 Nauert, Paul15 Hickox, Ed83 Estabrook, Mike
Crew C17 Hirschbeck, John52 Welke, Bill34 Holbrook, Sam92 Hoye, James
Crew D3 Welke, Tim57 Everitt, Mike95 Timmons, Tim13 Tichenor, Todd
Crew E5 Scott, Dale58 Iassogna, Dan54 Bucknor, CB94 Barrett, Lance
Crew F22 West, Joe44 Danley, Kerwin30 Drake, Rob70 Reyburn, DJ
Crew G38 Cederstrom, Gary56 Cooper, Eric23 Barksdale, Lance81 Wolcott, Quinn
Crew H24 Layne, Jerry21 Wendelstedt, Hunter61 Davidson, Bob86 Rackley, David
Crew I9 Gorman, Brian6 Carlson, Mark16 DiMuro, Mike73 Gibson, Tripp
Crew J8 Kellogg, Jeff7 O'Nora, Brian64 Porter, Alan90 Ripperger, Mark
Crew K20 Hallion, Tom72 Marquez, Alfonso1 Dreckman, Bruce2 Bellino, Dan
Crew L33 Winters, Mike14 Wegner, Mark60 Foster, Marty76 Muchlinski, Mike
Crew M66 Joyce, Jim53 Gibson, Greg51 Hudson, Marvin4 Fairchild, Chad
Crew N25 Culbreth, Fieldin77 Reynolds, Jim43 Schrieber, Paul79 Gonzalez, Manny
Crew O65 Barrett, Ted55 Hernandez, Angel87 Barry, Scott98 Conroy, Chris
Crew P45 Nelson, Jeff63 Diaz, Laz68 Guccione, Chris89 Blaser, Cory
Crew Q26 Miller, Bill88 Eddings, Doug28 Wolf, Jim80 Johnson, Adrian
Crew R27 Vanover, Larry46 Kulpa, Ron91 Knight, Brian19 Carapazza, Vic
Crew S41 Meals, Jerry50 Emmel, Paul49 Fletcher, Andy71 Baker, Jordan
[DL][None Probable]obtained byClose Call Sports/ UEFL
Some Notes and Observations:
≫ As previously noted, Larry Vanover & Jerry Meals have been promoted to Crew Chief.
≫ New-hire assignments: Will Little -> Davis. Tripp Gibson -> Gorman. Mark Ripperger -> Kellogg.
≫ Promotions to the Umpire 2 (backup crew chief) position: Phil Cuzzi, Paul Nauert, Mark Carlson.
≫ ≫ Note that individual crews are ordinarily sorted by Major League service time (see Jerry Layne's crew for an exception; Bob Davidson has more service time [25 years] than Hunter Wendelstedt [15]); hence an umpire on a crew with the third-most service time in 2014 who now has the second-most service time on this crew in 2015 will be said to have been "promoted" to the second spot.
≫ Pursuant to terms of the WUA-MLB collective bargaining agreement, all 76 umpiring slots across 19 crews have been filled (+2 over 2014). There are no permanent [AAA Rover] positions in 2015.

Thursday, March 12, 2015

MLB Ejection S-1: Dan Iassogna (S1; Fredi Gonzalez)

HP Umpire Dan Iassogna ejected Braves Manager Fredi Gonzalez for arguing a ball one call in the bottom of the 1st inning of the Braves-Yankees game. With none out and none on, Yankees batter Jacoby Ellsbury took a 0-0 fastball from Braves pitcher Shelby Miller for a called first ball. Ellsbury grounded out on the ensuing pitch. Replays indicate the pitch was located outside the lower right quadrant of home plate (pitch f/x unavailable), the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the game was tied, 0-0. The Yankees ultimately won the contest, 3-2.

This is Dan Iassogna (58)'s first ejection of 2015.
Dan Iassogna now has 0 points in the UEFL Standings (0 Prev + 0 [Spring Training Ejection] = 0).
Crew Chief Dan Iassogna now has 0 points in Crew Division (0 Previous + 0 Correct Call [ST] = 0).

This is the 1st ejection of the 2015 MLB Spring Training preseason.
This is the 1st Manager ejection of the Spring Training.
This is the Braves' 1st ejection of the preseason, 1st in the Grapefruit League (ATL 1, Others 0).
This is Fredi Gonzalez's first ejection since September 15, 2014 (Tim Timmons; QOC = N).
This is Dan Iassogna's first ejection since September 14, 2014 (Steve Smith; QOC = Y).

Wrap: Atlanta Braves vs. New York Yankees (Grapefruit League Spring Training), 3/12/15
Video: Gonzalez wastes no time getting tossed, arguing the very first pitch from Miller (NYY)

Tuesday, March 10, 2015

2015 Draft Open, UEFL Releases Draft Prospectus

The Umpire Ejection Fantasy League announces the 2015 draft & prospectus preseason guide.

The 2015 prospectus appears in the 2015 debut edition of The Left Field Corner publication for March.

This special edition of the Corner discusses several changes baseball is making to its replay system in 2015, reviews several other rules changes for the UEFL and introduces two candidates for the vacancy on the 2015 UEFL Appeals Board.

This issue also contains a recap of the 2014 season and a detailed look at several umpire ejection trends dating back to the fabled UEFL migration from Livejournal.

The prospectus looks at the impact of instant replay on UEFL standings and how ejections, replays, and bonus points all combine to elevate certain umpires to the top spot in the league standings, with several umpires appearing in the top 10 year after year.

Click here to read the March 2015 edition of The Left Field Corner on the UEFL Portal. You can also download past issues of the Corner via its page on the Portal.

UEFL Owners: Click here to access and submit your picks for the 2015 UEFL Draft.
Pursuant to schedule, the UEFL Draft Deadlines are as follows:
≫ Primary Umpires - March 27
≫ Secondary Umpires - March 28
≫ Crew Chiefs - April 3 (if the crew list is not available by April 3, this deadline will be extended)