Will Bankrupt FTX Patches Disappear from Ump Uniforms?

MLB's first-ever umpire patch partner FTX, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, filed for bankruptcy just 18 months after signing a sponsorship deal with Major League Baseball and replacing uniform sleeve real estate previously occupied by memorial patches honoring fallen umpires. Does FTX's bankrupcy failure mean that the patches will disappear and umpires will get their beloved left sleeves (and right chests) back?

According to Columbia University's Joe Favorito, it's a distinct possibility: "If there's no company, the branding goes away"...but with precedent to sell ad space already established, what ill-fated financial alchemy tech company will take doomed-to-fail FTX's place?

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Teachable Tripp - Moving to a Tricky Double Whacker

Tmac's Teachable Moment this Thursday features 1B Umpire Tripp Gibson moving to adjust his position as Phillies first baseman Rhys Hoskins stretches to catch a throw wide of first base as Nationals batter-runner Joey Meneses arrives at the bag.

The key to officiating this play is to read the fielder, in this case Hoskins. As the play develops, Hoskins appears poised to lunge into foul territory to try and field the throw, which tells U1 Gibson to similarly move toward foul territory in order to officiate the pulled foot vs tagged base aspect of the play.

By virtue of attaining a keyhole angle to see the foot and base interaction, Gibson is able to rule the runner safe by virtue of a pulled foot.

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2022 CCS Year-End Umpire Awards Nominations Open

Close Call Sports announces its annual Umpire Ejection Fantasy League Postseason Awards and opens nominations and elections at this time. You may vote for 7 different award categories. Reply to this post if you wish to campaign for or explain why you chose a certain umpire for a specific award.

Link to Postseason Awards Ballot (also appears below):

a. Umpire of the Year (min. 1 / max. 1 umpire) +5

b. Promising Umpire of the Year (min. 1 / max. 2) +3

c. Bernice Gera Honorable Umpire (min. 0 / max. 1) +2

d. Fill-In Umpire of the Year (min. 0 / max. 1) +2

e. Most Improved Umpire (min. 0 / max. 1) +1

f. Crew Chief of the Year (min. 0 / max. 1) +1

g. Best Ejection of the Year (min. 0 / max. 2) +1

h. Most Disappointing Season (min. 0 / max. 1) -1

An eligible umpire may be selected for as many or as few awards as that umpire is eligible for; Ballots will be accepted until 11:59pm on Wednesday, November 16, with awards distribution beginning shortly thereafter.

Ballot as follows:

Teachable Taking a Pulled Foot at 1st Base

This Teachable Moment features 1B Umpire Lance Barksdale officiating a pulled foot out/safe play at first base as Oakland shortstop Nick Allen successfully throws out Angels batter Luis Rengifo at first base. Challenged by Los Angeles, this call would ultimately stand on Replay Review.

Key to this play is how Barksdale sets himself and remains stationary as the play arrives at first base, watching the first baseman's feet, knowing that with the ball already caught well before the runner's arrival, the play will come down to whether or not the first baseman pulled his foot off the base in order to field the throw, and, if so, whether the pulled foot would be able to return to touch first base prior to the runner's arrival.

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Trailer - Umpire Tmac Mic'd Up During Pro Game

Coming up this offseason, Close Call Sports, in partnership with Batboy Productions, will follow Tmac on the field, as he wears a microphone while umpiring professional baseball. Join us as we Play Ball from an Umpire's Perspective.

This "Game in the Life of an Umpire" feature includes several key elements during a baseball game, including pre-game preparation, the on-field plate meeting at home, plays in the field, and discussions and conversations with players, coaches, and other umpires.

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Playing the Times' 'You Be the Ump' Strike Zone Game

After the New York Times released an online "You Be the Ump" strike zone game, we decided to test our RoboUmp skills at this simulation of what virtual home plate umpires see...in a matter of speaking.

Lindsay discusses certain aspects of the simulation's accuracy (or lack thereof) regarding the umpire's point of view and absence of a catcher, as well as technical topics such as the width of a baseball or officiating mechanics such as working the slot.

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2022 No-Hitter 4, Tripp Gibson (1; HOU Combined)

HP Umpire Tripp Gibson called the Houston #Astros' combined no-hitter vs the #Phillies in Philadelphia in Game 4 of the 2022 #WorldSeries, joined by 1B Umpire Lance Barksdale, 2B Umpire Alan Porter, 3B Umpire James Hoye, LF Umpire Pat Hoberg, and RF Umpire and Crew Chief Dan Iassogna.

Gibson officiated Cristian Javier, Bryan Abreu, Rafael Montero, and Ryan Pressly's combined no-hitter with a net accuracy of 96.0%.

This is Tripp Gibson's first career MLB no-hitter and the first postseason no-hitter since October 6, 2010, when HP Umpire John Hirschbeck called Roy Halladay's no-hitter.

This is the first Major League no-hitter since June 25, 2022 (Alex Tosi; Houston Combined).

The UEFL f/x look:

Balls: 83 called balls outside strike zone / 5 called balls within strike zone = 83/88 = 94.3% accuracy.

Strikes: 36 called strikes within strike zone / 0 called strike outside strike zone = 36/36 = 100% accuracy.

Total Raw Accuracy Score: 119/124 = 96.0% accuracy (+3 PHI [Favored Philadelphia by 3 pitches]).

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Pat Hoberg Calls Perfect Game in World Series Gm 2

Home Plate Umpire Pat Hoberg called a perfect game during Houston's victory over Philadelphia in Game 2 of the 2022 #WorldSeries between the Phillies and Astros. He saw 129 callable pitches—which includes balls and called strikes but excludes all swings—and officiated all of them correctly.

The reason Fox Sports' FoxTrax on-screen TV graphic zone may have differed from Hoberg's pitch calling is a tale as old as PitchCast, StatCast, Pitch f/x, and QuesTec, combined. Television visualizations still have trouble with vertical strike zones (computers have problems drawing these zones too), while PitchCast sacrifices accuracy for expediency, leading to errors in broadcast TV depictions.

The UEFL f/x look:

Balls: 89 called balls outside strike zone / 0 called balls within strike zone = 89/89 = 100% accuracy.

Strikes: 40 called strikes within strike zone / 0 called strikes outside strike zone = 40/40 = 100% accuracy.

Total Raw Accuracy Score: 129/129 = 100% accuracy (+0 Nu [Neutral Skew, favored neither team]).

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Diaz Called Back to Bat After Umpire Rules He Leaned In

Aledmys Diaz grounded out to complete Houston's extra-inning loss to Philadelphia in Game 1 of the 2022 #Phillies-#Astros #WorldSeries, but not after he tried to get on base another way. Two pitches before the game-ending groundout, HP Umpire James Hoye denied Diaz free passage to first base on a hit-by-pitch from Phillies pitcher David Robertson, ruling that Diaz failed to make an attempt to avoid being touched by the ball, which by rule excludes the customary first base award on a standard HBP. 

Official Baseball Rule 5.05(b)(2) states, "The batter becomes a runner and is entitled to first base without liability to be put out when—

They are touched by a pitched ball which they are not attempting to hit unless (A) The ball is in the strike zone when it touches the batter, or (B) The batter makes no attempt to avoid being touched by the ball; If the ball is in the strike zone when it touches the batter, it shall be called a strike, whether or not the batter tries to avoid the ball. If the ball is outside the strike zone when it touches the batter, it shall be called a ball if they make no attempt to avoid being touched."

Accordingly, as leaning into a pitch most certainly doesn't meet the criteria for attempting to avoid it, Diaz was called back to bat.

Interestingly college posits a unique penalty for this violation that is different than OBR (and NHFS), per NCAA Rule 8-2-d-1a: "If the ball is in the strike zone when it touches the batter, or if the batter moves to intentionally get hit or freezes to allow a pitch that is not within the batter's box to hit them, the ball is dead, it shall be called a strike and the batter is not awarded first base."

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Roster - 2022 World Series Umpires

Major League Baseball assigned seven umpires to officiate the 2022 Fall Classic between the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies. Led by Crew Chief Dan Iassogna, MLB's #WorldSeries umpire crew features three first-timers (Tripp Gibson, Jordan Baker, Pat Hoberg), and three umpires calling their second World Series (James Hoye, Lance Barksdale, Alan Porter). It is Iassogna's third Fall Classic.

Umpires will rotate such that one person will be in reserve/off-field for the game prior to their plate job. Rotations thus will follow a RF-LF-3B-2B-1B-Reserve-HP scheme; Game 1's configuration is listed below. Replay Officials will remain in New York for the entirety of the Series. James Hoye (denoted by *) will serve as acting crew chief when Iassogna is off the field.

2022 World Series (Houston Astros vs Philadelphia Phillies) Umpires:

HP: James Hoye* [Game 1 Plate]                         [4 WC, 4 DS, 3 LCS, 2nd World Series]

1B: Dan Iassogna -cc [Game 3 Plate]                [3 WC, 7 DS, 6 LCS, 3rd World Series]

2B: Tripp Gibson ^1st WS^ [Game 4 Plate]        [3 WC, 3 DS, 1 LCS, 1st World Series]

3B: Jordan Baker ^1st WS^ [Game 5 Plate]        [3 WC, 2 DS, 1 LCS, 1st World Series]

LF: Lance Barksdale [Game 6 Plate]                  [3 WC, 6 DS, 3 LCS, 2nd World Series]

RF: Alan Porter [Game 7 Plate]                          [3 WC, 6 DS, 3 LCS, 2nd World Series]

Reserve: Pat Hoberg ^1st WS^ [Game 2 Plate]   [2 WC, 3 DS, 1 LCS, 1st World Series]

World Series Replay Officials: Chad Fairchild and Carlos Torres.

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