MLB Ejections 025-6 - Clint Vondrak, Dan Bellino (PIT x2)

HP Umpire Clint Vondrak ejected Pirates manager Don Kelly (ball two call to Matt Olson; QOCY) in the 6th and 3B Umpire Dan Bellino ejected Pirates right fielder Bryan Reynolds (strike three call; QOCY) in the 7th inning of the #Braves-#Pirates game. In the top of the 6th, with none out, Braves batter Olson took a 1-0 slider from Pirates pitcher Andrew Heaney for a called second ball. Replays indicate the pitch was located off the outer edge of home plate and thigh-high (px -0.94, pz 1.98 [sz_bot 1.60]), the call was correct.* In the bottom of the 7th, Pirates batter Reynolds took a 3-2 slider from Braves pitcher Dylan Lee for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer edge of home plate and at the hollow of the knee (px 0.73, pz 1.60 [sz_bot 1.54 / RAD 1.66]), the call was correct.^ At the time of both ejections, the Braves were leading, 2-1. The Braves ultimately won the contest, 3-2, in 11 innings.

This is Clint Vondrak ()'s 1st ejection of 2025.

This is Dan Bellino (2)'s 1st ejection of 2025.

*This pitch to Olson was located 2.40 horizontal inches from being deemed incorrect.

^This pitch to Reynolds was located 1.68 vertical inches from being deemed incorrect.

These are the 25th and 26th ejections of the 2025 MLB regular season.

This is the 11th manager & 8th player ejection of 2025. Ejection Tally: 11 Managers, 7 Coaches, 8 Players.

This is Pittsburgh's 1/2nd ejection of 2025, 1st in the NL Central (CIN, MIL, PIT, STL 2; CHC 1).

This is Don Kelly's 1st ejection since August 13, 2023 (Nic Lentz; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

This is Bryan Reynolds' 1st ejection since April 19, 2023 (Adam Beck; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).

This is Clint Vondrak's 1st ejection since April 12, 2024 (Bob Melvin; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

This is Dan Bellino's 1st ejection since May 25, 2024 (Scott Servais; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: Atlanta Braves vs Pittsburgh Pirates, 5/10/25 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 009 - Clint Vondrak (1; Bob Melvin)

HP Umpire Clint Vondrak ejected Giants manager Bob Melvin (strike three call to Jorge Soler; QOCY) in the top of the 7th inning of the #Giants-#Rays game. With two out and two on, Giants batter Soler took a 2-2 slider from Rays pitcher Colin Poche for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the inner half of home plate and at the hollow of the knee (px -0.71, pz 1.60 [sz_bot 1.79 / RAD 1.67 / MOE 1.59]), the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Rays were leading, 2-1. The Rays ultimately won the contest, 2-1.

This is Clint Vondrak (15)'s 1st ejection of 2024.

*This pitch was located 0.12 vertical inches from being deemed incorrect.

This is the 9th ejection report of the 2024 MLB regular season.

This is the 3rd manager ejection of 2024. Ejection Tally: 3 Managers, 2 Coaches, 4 Players.

This is San Francisco's 1st ejection of 2024, 1st in the NL West (SF 1; ARI, COL, LAD, SD 0).

This is Bob Melvin's 1st ejection since July 16, 2023 (Dan Bellino; QOC = Y [Pitch Clock Violation]).

This is Clint Vondrak's 1st ejection since August 20, 2023 (Elvis Andrus; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: San Francisco Giants vs Tampa Bay Rays, 4/12/23 | Video as follows:

Clint Vondrak and Ryan Wills Hired to Umpire Staff, Guccione Promoted to Crew Chief; Pawol on List of 24 Spring Invitees

Now-former Triple-A umpires Clint Vondrak and Ryan Wills are MLB's two newest full-timers MLB also promoted Chris Guccione to full-time Crew Chief and invited Jen Pawol to Spring Training, the first woman set to umpire a major league exhibition game since Ria Cortesio in 2007, following Pam Postema in the 1980s.

Clinton "Clint" Vondrak joins MLBU at the age of 34 after 12 years in Minor League Baseball, joining MiLB in 2012 and officiating the Pioneer, Midwest, California, Southern, and Pacific Coast Leagues on his way to the majors. Vondrak officiated the 2016 Southern League All-Star Game and has had his MLB debut during during the COVID-shortened 2020 season, on August 10, 2020. He has 286 games of MLB experience.

Ryan Wills is 36 years old to begin the 2024 season and has been hired after 13 years in MiLB. Since starting his minor league career in 2011, Wills has officiated in the Gulf Coast, Appalachian, South Atlantic, California, Carolina, Texas, Eastern, Florida Instructional, and International Leagues prior to his August 22, 2020 debut. Wills might be one of the last MLB new-hires to have graduated from the Jim Evans Academy for Professional Umpiring, which closed in 2012. Wills has worked 402 MLB games.

Chris Guccione has been promoted to Crew Chief after 17 years of major league service (over the course of 24 seasons starting in 2000). He has 3,021 major league games of experience during the regular season, in addition to 9 Wild Card Rounds, 7 Division Series, 5 League Championship Series, and 2 World Series. Similar to Dan Bellino last offseason, Guccione did not work the 2023 postseason prior to his 2024 promotion.

2024 Spring Training Invitee Umpires: Returning sleeve-numbered umpires for Spring Training in 2024 are David Arrieta (100), John Bacon (70), Brock Ballou (119), Paul Clemons (104), Tom Hanahan (69), Edwin Jimenez (75), Emil Jimenez (82), Alex MacKay (105), Dan Merzel (107), Jacob Metz (94), Charlie Ramos (111), Jeremy Riggs (112), Derek Thomas (106), Nate Tomlinson (114), and Brian Walsh (120).

Rounding out the list of 24 Spring invitees are Matt Brown, Steven Jaschinski, James Jean, Austin Jones, Tyler Jones, Dexter Kelley, Chris Marco, Johnathan Parra, and Jen Pawol.

Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 202 - Clint Vondrak (2; Elvis Andrus)

HP Umpire Clint Vondrak ejected White Sox SS Elvis Andrus (strike one call to Luis Robert; QOCY) in the top of the 6th inning of the #WhiteSox-#Rockies game. With none out and none on, Robert took a 0-0 cutter from Rockies pitcher Chris Flexen for a called first strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer half of home plate and at the hollow of the knee (px 0.59, pz 1.57 [sz_bot 1.77 / RAD 1.75 / MOE 1.57]), the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Rockies were leading, 5-2. The White Sox ultimately won the contest, 10-5.

This is Clint Vondrak (116)'s 2nd ejection of 2023.

*This pitch was located 0.02 vertical inches from being deemed incorrect.

This is the 202nd ejection report of the 2023 MLB regular season.

This is the 81st player ejection of 2023. Ejection Tally: 92 Managers, 81 Players, 29 Coaches.

This is Chicago's 12th ejection of 2023, 1st in the AL Central (CWS 12; MIN 9; CLE, KC 6; DET 3).

This is Elvis Andrus' 1st ejection since May 28, 2014 (Pat Hoberg; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).

This is Clint Vondrak's 2nd ejection of 2023, 1st since May 15 (Aaron Boone; QOCN = N [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: Chicago White Sox vs Colorado Rockies, 8/20/23 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 062 - Clint Vondrak (1; Aaron Boone)

HP Umpire Clint Vondrak ejected Yankees manager Aaron Boone (strike two call to Aaron Judge; QOCN) in the top of the 8th inning of the #Yankees-#BlueJays game. With two out and none on, Yankees batter Judge took a 1-1 slider from Blue Jays pitcher Jay Jackson for a called second strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer half of home plate and below the hollow of the knee (px 0.24, pz 1.41 [sz_bot 1.82 / RAD 1.70 / MOE 1.62]), the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Yankees were leading, 6-0. The Yankees ultimately won the contest, 7-4.

This is Clint Vondrak (116)'s 1st ejection of 2023.

*This pitch was located 2.52 vertical inches from being deemed correct.

This is the 62nd ejection report of the 2023 MLB regular season.

This is the 29th manager ejection of 2023. Ejection Tally: 29 Managers, 26 Players, 7 Coaches.

This is New York's 3rd ejection of 2023, T-1st in the AL East (BAL, BOS, NYY 3; TB 2; TOR 1).

This is Aaron Boone's 2nd ejection of 2023, 1st since April 12 (Larry Vanover; QOC = Y [Replay Review]).

This is Clint Vondrak's 1st ejection since Sept 11, 2022 (Derek Shelton; QOC = Y [Check Swing]).

Wrap: New York Yankees vs Toronto Blue Jays, 5/15/23 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 160 - Clint Vondrak (1; Derek Shelton)

HP Umpire Clint Vondrak ejected Pirates manager Derek Shelton (check swing strike three call) in the bottom of the 3rd inning of the #Cardinals-#Pirates game. With one out and one on (R1), Pirates batter Bryan Reynolds attempted to check his swing on a 1-2 fastball from Cardinals pitcher Jose Quintana as Pirates baserunner R1 Oneil Cruz stole second base. Play was reviewed and adjudicated by the UEFL Appeals Board, the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the Pirates were leading, 1-0. The Cardinals ultimately won the contest, 4-3.

This is Clint Vondrak (116)'s 1st ejection of 2022.

This is the 160th ejection report of the 2022 MLB regular season.

This is the 87th manager ejection of 2022.

This is Pittsburgh's 6th ejection of 2022, T-2nd in the NL Central (CHC 9; PIT, STL 6; CIN, MIL 4).

This is Derek Shelton's 4th ejection of 2022, 1st since Aug 5 (Edwin Moscoso; QOC = Y [Check Swing]).

This is Clint Vondrak's 1st ejection since August 25, 2020 (Joe Maddon; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).

Wrap: St Louis Cardinals vs Pittsburgh Pirates, 9/11/22 | Video as follows:

MLB Ejection 37 - Clint Vondrak (1; Joe Maddon)

HP Umpire Clint Vondrak ejected Angels Manager Joe Maddon (strike three call; QOCN) in the top of the 6th inning of the #Angels-#Astros game. With none out and two on (R1, R2), Angels batter Shohei Ohtani took a 3-2 fastball from Astros pitcher Blake Taylor for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer edge of home plate and below the hollow of the knee (px -0.89, pz 1.36 [sz_bot 1.59 / RAD 1.47 / MOE 1.38]), the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Angels were leading, 8-4. The Angels ultimately won the contest, 12-5.

This is Clint Vondrak (116)'s first ejection of 2020.
Clint Vondrak now has -2 points in the UEFL Standings (0 Prev + 2 AAA - 4 Incorrect Call = -2).
Crew Chief Alfonso Marquez now has 2 points in Crew Division (2 Previous + 0 Incorrect Call = 2).
*This pitch was located 0.24 vertical inches from being deemed a correct call.

This is the 37th ejection report of the 2020 MLB regular season.
This is the 15th Manager ejection of 2020.
This is Anaheim's 3rd ejection of 2020, T-1st in the AL West (LAA, OAK 3; HOU 2; TEX 1; SEA 0).
This is Joe Maddon's 2nd ejection of 2020, 1st since Aug 23 (Lance Barrett; QOC = N [Check Swing]).
This is Clint Vondrak's first career MLB ejection.

Wrap: Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim vs. Houston Astros, 8/25/20 | Video as follows:

MLB Debut of Umpire Clinton "Clint" Vondrak

Umpire Clint Vondrak made his MLB debut during Monday's Giants-Astros game in Houston alongside Chief Ted Barrett and his crew of Adrian Johnson and Nick Mahrley.

Vondrak begin his professional baseball career in 2012 and has officiated in the Pioneer, Midwest, California, Southern, and Pacific Coast Leagues.

He officiated the 2016 Southern League All-Star Game.

Vondrak is the ninth rookie umpire to have an MLB debut during this 2020 regular season.
Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Nate Tomlinson (8/7/20).
Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Erich Bacchus (8/7/20).
Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Adam Beck (8/5/20).

Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Randy Rosenberg (8/4/20).

Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Lewis "Lew" Williams III (8/2/20).

Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Jeremy Riggs (7/28/20).

Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Jose Navas (7/24/20)

Related Post: MLB Debut of Umpire Edwin Moscoso (7/23/20).