Ask the UEFL - What Happens After UIC Gets Hurt?

When a home plate umpire is injured and leaves the game, who replaces him? And what happens to the injured umpire after he gets removed from the contest?

When an umpire leaves, the questions begin.

This question found its way to the UEFL mailbox after Jerry Layne's game-ending head injury Wednesday in Baltimore, when 2B Umpire Alan Porter replaced Layne behind the plate for the remainder of that day's game.

Answer: Subject to Crew Chief discretion, the second base umpire shall replace an injured plate umpire (MLB Umpire Manual VI). If the injury occurs before the game is official, this umpire's next game assignment will be at third base. If the injury occurs after the game is official, this umpire's next assignment will be at first base.

The injury's extent dictates response protocol.

As for the injured umpire, the extent of the injury shall govern the return-to-play procedure. For instance, if a "simple" illness such as a common cold or dust-in-eye is to blame, the umpire generally returns when the illness has passed. If the injury is more complex—a muscle sprain or tear, or the more serious head trauma behind home plate—certain protocols from the Commissioner's Office and Umpire Medical Services must be followed, including but not limited to the head injury/concussion procedure that may include a stint on the 7-day concussion list in addition to a battery of tests before the Director of Umpire Medical Services will clear the umpire for return-to-play. The injured umpire may not even leave the assigned city in which he sustained his injury until he is cleared to travel by the Commissioner's Office. In order for an umpire to receive clearance to return to work, the umpire must be capable of working home plate, even though he will generally not work the plate on his first game back. In the event of significant injury-related time off, an umpire may first be assigned to the minor leagues for rehabilitation.

Some injuries are clearly less severe.

Whereas the Crew Chief specifies an umpire's position in the rotation when a new umpire joins the crew—subject to certain restrictions—the Director of Umpire Medical Services and Commissioner's Office specify where in the rotation a returning ill/injured umpire will be placed.

Looking through the game-ending injury log for plate umpires in the majors over the course of the 2016 season, we see that of the 14 instances in which a plate umpire has left during the pendency of a game, he has been replaced:
> 6 times by the 2B Umpire (43%).
> 5 times by the 1B Umpire (36%).
> 3 times by the 3B Umpire (21%).

The answer seems somewhat consistent with the MLBUM guideline, as second base umpires have gone behind the plate more often than any one of the other positions have, but it happened that way in less than half of the injury cases in 2016. As the U2-to-UIC guideline is subject to Crew Chief discretion, we can observe this protocol by crew.

Other injuries require more extensive care.

For instance, Jerry Layne's crew has suffered three game-ending plate umpire injuries this season (6/27 Layne; 8/15 Wendelstedt; 8/31 Layne), and in all three cases, the second base umpire has replaced the departing plate umpire.

On the other hand, Dale Scott's crew has seen two such injuries (6/19 Scott; 7/16 Scott), resulting in the first base umpire filling in behind home plate on both occasions.

Some crew chiefs may opt to maintain the integrity of the rotational order by having the 1B Umpire move to home plate if the injury occurs early in the game (e.g., 5/26 Guccione [1st inning]; 7/16 Scott [1st]; 5/23 Nelson [3rd]; 7/15 Fairchild [1st]). Similarly, some may choose to preserve the alignment if the injury occurs extraordinarily late in the game by having the 3B Umpire work home plate for the final moments (e.g., 6/23 Emmel [9th, 2 outs; the game ended on the very next pitch]).

Second base is left vacant in a three-person alignment.

Second base offers a few distinct advantages: Neither the first nor third base umpire has to actually change positions as a result of switching to three-person mechanics. In other words, if the first base umpire is in a rhythm calling plays at first base, he, for the most part, will continue to fulfill that role uninhibited.

The second base umpire will also have a full day off between plate games, even if it is only one day: If either a first or third base umpire works the plate, that usually will be a consecutive plate day, unless the crew/that umpire has a day off immediately before or after the game.

A call-up's first game will be on the bases.

Another variable to keep in mind relates to MLB's vacation schedule and umpires joining a new crew. For instance, a Triple-A umpire who is called up will not be assigned to work the plate for that first game (The MLB Umpire Manual forbids it), and instead will be placed at second or third base. Similarly, a Major League umpire switching crews may (1) not have plate gear, or (2) have recently worked a plate game. If any such umpire is assigned to second base during a game in which the plate umpire becomes injured, such a second base umpire may not be equipped to move behind home plate.

Finally, some base umpires—especially new-to-crew umps and during the first or last game of a series—might not even have their plate gear with them. See this article about travel delays and CB Bucknor wearing street clothes during an MLB game for more information.

In all, there is much to consider when assigning a replacement plate umpire during a live game, and although MLBUM suggests the second base umpire, there are a handful of extenuating circumstances that can have an impact on the Crew Chief's decision.

Injury - 94-mph Fastball Misses Spot, Hits Jerry Layne

Umpire Jerry Layne took a fastball to the mask on a near-direct shot after catcher Russell Martin was unable to corral an elevated pitch, prompting the veteran crew chief to depart Oriole Park at Camden Yards on Wednesday evening. It is Layne's second game-ending head injury of the season.

HP Ump Jerry Layne is examined after his hit.

With one out in the bottom of the 3rd inning of the Blue Jays-Orioles game, Blue Jays pitcher Aaron Sanchez threw a 94-mph fastball up and over the plate, where it was deflected by catcher Martin directly into the center of HP Umpire Layne's traditional-style facemask.

Pursuant to protocol related to head trauma and potential concussion, Layne was replaced for the remainder of the contest behind the plate by 2B Umpire Alan Porter with acting crew chief Hunter Wendelstedt and Scott Barry holding their positions at first and third base, respectively.

Layne most recently was forced to leave a game due to a pitched or batted ball to the facemask on June 27, 2016—just one month prior to the present headshot—when a fouled-off 92-mph fastball struck Layne in the right jaw. Layne also suffered a pitched ball deflection from the catcher on April 15, 2015, when Francisco Cervelli was unable to handle a 3-2 fastball.

MLB Ejection 147 - Todd Tichenor (4; Arquímedes Caminero)

HP Umpire Todd Tichenor ejected Mariners P Arquimedes Caminero for throwing at Rangers batter Elvis Andurs in the bottom of the 7th inning of the Mariners-Rangers game. With one out and none on, Andrus took a 3-1 fastball for a hit-by-pitch. Replays indicate the pitch was located inside and struck Andrus on the upper left ribs (px -2.765, pz 4.196) two batters after a two-run HR and after Andrus previously ran into Mariners first baseman Dae-Ho Lee during a 2nd inning groundout (when the score was 0-0); all four balls during the at-bat had been thrown inside (Balls 1-3 px values: -1.921, -1.325, -1.295), the call was irrecusable. At the time of the ejection, the Rangers were leading, 10-0. The Rangers ultimately won the contest, 14-1.

This is Todd Tichenor (13)'s fourth ejection of the 2016 MLB regular season.
Todd Tichenor now has 3 points in UEFL Standings (1 Previous + 2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call = 3).
Crew Chief Gerry Davis now has -1 points in Crew Division (-2 Previous + 1 Irrecusable Call = -1).

This is the 147th ejection report of the 2016 regular season.
This is 70th player ejection of 2016. Prior to ejection, Caminero's line was 1.2 IP, 2 ER, HR, HBP.
This is Seattle's 2nd ejection of 2016, 5th in the AL West (HOU 6; LAA, OAK 5; TEX 4; SEA 2).
This is Arquimedes Caminero's 2nd ejection of 2016; May 24 (Larry Vanover; QOC = U [Throwing At]).
This is Todd Tichenor's first ejection since August 18, 2016 (Dale Sveum; QOC = N [Interference]).

Wrap: Seattle Mariners vs. Texas Rangers, 8/31/16 | Video available via "Read more"

Dude, What Happened Last Night? About Pitch f/x Error

Pitch f/x suffered a major malfunction at the wrong time—an ejection—Monday night in Kansas City. Whether due to the triangulation technology itself or due to Pitch f/x operator error (the more likely culprit), Brian O'Nora's ejection of Joe Girardi on Monday received an "incorrect" Quality of Correctness during the game, based on the "live" Pitch f/x numbers, only for QOC to be reversed to "correct" based on the overnight "revised" PFX figures. Just imagine if YES Network had actually shown the computerized strike box.

Pitch #2, as reported by BrooksBaseball, and called "live."

To recap, the initial or "live" ejection report featured Yankees batter Didi Gregorius taking a 0-1 slider from Royals pitcher Chris Young for a called second strike. Its px value was 1.222 and its pz was .907 with a sz_bot of 1.570. In other words, the ball was horizontally over a foot to the right of the center of home plate (meaning, to the left-handed Gregorius, it was inside), and it vertically was less than a foot off the ground, or about eight inches below Gregorius' knee hollow. In the diagram to the right from BrooksBaseball.net, this pitch is represented by the red square indicated as "2" (with the orange arrow pointing to it).

Pitch #2, shown in Gameday's plot after revision overnight.

However, the overnight or "revised" pitch tracking from Pitch f/x on MLB Gameday made the following changes to the initial report (changes are indicated in bold): Gregorius now took a 0-1 fastball from Young whose px value was .456 and pz was 1.675 with a sz_bot of 1.62. Thus, the pitch type changed from slider to fastball, the horizontal location was now over the inner half of home plate instead of in the lefty's batter's box, and the vertical location was 2/3 of an inch above the bottom of the strike zone. It's almost as if it was an entirely different pitch.

To explain how this happened necessitates the understanding of a key fact in today's computerized system known as pitch f/x: PFX is subject to several types of error, including operator error.

Sorry Joe, Brian was right all along.

I'll leave you with the post-mortem report: the "live" graph only has six pitches whereas the "overnight" graph has seven. Similarly, "live" pitch #2 looks awfully similar to "overnight" pitch #3, "live" #3 looks like "overnight" #4, and so on until "live" #6 and "overnight" #7. At the other end of the spectrum, notice that "live" #1 corresponds fairly well with "overnight" #2 and that there is no "live" pitch to go alongside "overnight" #1. Long story short, this is a missed pitch error. Read on to read about other potential causes of pitch f/x error and where a missed pitch may come from:

Calibration Error: With any triangulated system—or any system that provides a measurement for that matter—the device must be calibrated before use. With Pitch f/x, the capturing devices must work together to provide a fairly depiction of a ball's location, for instance, as it arrives at the front edge of home plate. If a Pitch f/x device is not calibrated properly, its measurements for the entire game may be erroneous, yet consistent batter-to-batter (more info here). PitchInfo/BrooksBaseball, for instance, advertises the ability to correct for the consistent error that is due to calibration problems. Thus, had last night's event been due to calibration error, one would surmise that Brooks would have picked up on it and corrected for it (Brooks didn't). Likewise, the error would have been consistent from pitch to pitch (it wasn't).

Measurement/Capture Error: Classification error may be considered a subset of measurement error, but for the purpose of this discussion, measurement error is distinct from calibration error in that measurement error is not necessarily consistent from pitch-to-pitch (while calibration error, for the most part, is consistent from pitch to pitch). Recall that pitch f/x provides a px value and a pz value, both of which are exact data points; however, the baseball is a sphere with a certain volume and a diameter of approximately 2.9 to three inches. Thus, it's important to note that pitch f/x is able to do its job by capturing only the center point of the baseball. As such, measurement error results when the camera has trouble finding the exact center of the baseball from the captured image: a blurry ball, an odd shadow, humidity, wind, or other discoloration can hamper the technology's ability to accurately provide location information.

Fitting or Modeling Error: Since pitch f/x captures multiple position measurements based on the ball's flight during the pitch, it uses a best fitting algorithm to place the ball at the front edge of home plate. If the camera is having trouble picking up the ball (see measurement error) or following it, or if an outlier data point appears, it may improperly model the pitch location at home plate's front edge.

2D Strike Zone: This is not so much a bona fide error as a pitfall of the present PFX technology and its method of reporting the pitch's location as it reaches the front edge of home plate. The strike zone is obviously three-dimensional and the front edge-reported px and pz values do nothing to measure the zone's depth. Best fitting algorithms can predict the ball's flight through a 3D zone, though this is subject to modeling error.

Pitch Classification Error: MLBAM's Ross Paul first developed an algorithm to mathematically determine pitch type over five years ago. The reason this discussion is brought up is because the initial classification of slider changed overnight to fastball, meaning that something changed when processing through the classification algorithm overnight. This algorithm looks at things like pitch speed versus spin axis angle, release point, movement, break, etc. So for a slider to become a fastball means that some variable other than simply the location at home plate's front edge also changed.

Operator Error: This could apply to either the Pitch f/x operator or Gameday operator (stats stringer). Among the pitch f/x operator's tasks is to set the strike zone for each batter, or for each pitch. If the operator incorrectly indicates or allows the cameras to incorrectly locate the batter's knee hollow or upper midpoint, sz_bot and/or sz_top will be incorrect. The stats stringer logs and reports each pitch and game event in MLBAM's Gameday system. If the stringer misses a pitch or misreports an event (e.g., attributes Pitch #1's qualities to Pitch #2 or vice versa), this could have a cascading effect on future pitches, resulting in multiple errors, which is likely what happened Monday night in Kansas City.

MLB Ejection 146 - Brian O'Nora (1; Joe Girardi)

HP Umpire Brian O'Nora ejected Yankees Manager Joe Girardi for arguing a strike two call in the top of the 8th inning of the Yankees-Royals game. With two out and the bases loaded, Yankees batter Didi Gregorius took a 0-1 fastball from Royals pitcher Chris Young for a called second strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over inner half of home plate and at the hollow of the knee (px .456, pz 1.675 [sz_bot 1.62]), the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the Royals were leading, 8-1. The Royals ultimately won the contest, 8-5.

This is Brian O'Nora (7)'s first ejection of the 2016 MLB regular season.
Brian O'Nora now has 3 points in UEFL Standings (-1 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 3).
Crew Chief Jeff Kellogg now has 7 points in Crew Division (6 Previous + 1 Correct Call = 7).

This is the 146th ejection report of the 2016 regular season.
This is 57th Manager ejection of 2016.
This is New York's 2nd ejection of 2016, T-4th in the AL East (TOR 14; BOS 6; BAL 3; NYY, TB 2).
This is Joe Girard's 2nd ejection of 2016, 1st since May 5 (Chris Guccione; QOC = Y [Balk]).
This is Brian O'Nora's first ejection since September 16, 2015 (Jered Weaver; QOC = U [Throwing At]).

Wrap: New York Yankees vs. Kansas City Royals, 8/29/16 | Video available via "Read more"

MLB Ejections 142-145 - Mike Everitt (3-6; 4 DET Tigers)

HP Umpire Mike Everitt ejected Tigers DH Victor Martinez for arguing a strike one call in the bottom of the 3rd, Tigers Hitting Coach Wally Joyner and Manager Brad Ausmus for arguing a strike three call in the bottom of the 5th, and Tigers RF JD Martinez for arguing a strike three call in the bottom of the 6th inning of the Angels-Tigers game. In the 3rd, with two out and none on, Martinez took a 0-0 fastball from Angels pitcher Brett Oberholtzer for a called first strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the inner half of home plate and knee high (px -.436, pz 1.580 [sz_bot 1.540]), the call was correct. In the 5th, with none out and none on, Tigers batter Ian Kinsler took a 2-2 slider from Angels pitcher Jhoulys Chacin for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the heart of home plate and below the hollow of the knee (px .096, pz 1.365 [sz_bot 1.510 / MOE 1.427]), the call was incorrect. In the 6th, with none out and one on, Martinez took a 1-2 fastball from Angels pitcher Chacin. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the inner half home plate and and at the hollow of the knee (px -.603, pz 1.611 [sz_bot 1.690 / MOE 1.607]), the call was correct. At the time of all four ejections, the Angels were leading, 3-1. The Angels ultimately won the contest, 3-2.

This is Mike Everitt (57)'s third, fourth, fifth, sixth ejection of the 2016 MLB regular season.
Mike Everitt now has 14 points in UEFL Standings (10 Prev + 4*[2 MLB] + 2*[2 QOCY] - 2*[4 QOCN] = 14).
Crew Chief Mike Everitt now has 14 points in Crew Division (12 Prev + 2 Correct Calls + 0 QOCN = 14).

This is the 142nd, 143rd, 144th, 145th ejection report of the 2016 regular season.
This is the 68th, 69th player ejection of 2016. Prior, to ejection the Martinezes were 1-1 & 1-3 in the contest.
This is 56th Manager ejection of 2016.
This is Detroit's 7-10th ejection of 2016, 1st in the AL Central (DET 10; CWS 7; MIN 6; CLE, KC 5).
This is Victor Martinez's first ejection since July 11, 2015 (Marty Foster; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).
This is Wally Joyner's first ejection since May 21, 2008 (Jim Reynolds; QOC = U [Balls/Strikes]).
This is Brad Ausmus' 3rd ejection of 2016, 1st since May 16 (Doug Eddings; QOC = N [Balls/Strikes]).
This is JD Martinez's first career MLB ejection.
This is Mike Everitt's first ejection since June 30, 2016 (Mike Matheny; QOC = Y [Replay Review]).

Wrap: Los Angeles Angels vs. Detroit Tigers, 8/27/16 | Video available via "Read more"

MLB Ejection 141 - Mike Winters (3; Bryce Harper)

HP Umpire Mike Winters ejected Nationals RF Bryce Harper for arguing a strike three call in the bottom of the 10th inning of the Rockies-Nationals game. With none out and none on in the bottom of the 10th, Harper took a 2-2 fastball from Rockies pitcher Jake McGee for a called third strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located over the outer edge of home plate and thigh high (px -.886, pz 2.259) and that all preceding pitches during the at-bat had been properly officiated, the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the game was tied, 4-4. The Rockies ultimately won the contest, 9-4, in 11 innings.

This is Mike Winters (33)'s third ejection of the 2016 MLB regular season.
Mike Winters now has 10 points in the UEFL Standings (6 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 10).
Crew Chief Mike Winters now has 4 points in Crew Division (3 Previous + 1 Correct Call = 4).

This is the 141st ejection report of the 2016 regular season.
This is the 67th player ejection of 2016. Prior to ejection, Harper was 1-4 (3 SO) in the contest.
This is Washington's 4th ejection of 2016, 4th in the NL East (ATL 7; MIA 6; NYM 5; WAS 4; PHI 1).
This is Bryce Harper's 2nd ejection of 2016, 1st since May 9 (Brian Knight; QOC = Y [Balls/Strikes]).
This is Mike Winters' 1st ejection since July 21, 2016 (AJ Pierzynski; QOC = Y-C [Obstruction]).

Wrap: Colorado Rockies vs. Washington Nationals, 8/27/16 | Video available via "Read more"

Case Play 2016-9 - A Backswing on Strike 3 [Solved]

Tampa Bay scored a double play after Ron Kulpa ruled Red Sox batter David Ortiz interfered with a catcher's attempted throw to second base, having himself struck out swinging on a 2-2 fastball.

The Play: With one out, one on (R1), and a 2-2 count, Red Sox batter David Ortiz swung at and missed a 93-mph fastball from Rays pitcher Brad Boxberger while Red Sox baserunner R1 Xander Bogaerts attempted to steal second base. Replays indicate this pitch was then caught by Rays catcher Bobby Wilson, who appeared poised to throw to second base and make a play on R1 Bogaerts, until B1 Ortiz's bat made contact with Wilson's helmet, effectively ending the catcher's throwing attempt.

HP Umpire Ron Kulpa thereafter ruled Bogaerts out for Ortiz's interference and Ortiz out on the third strike.

Question: Given the aforementioned play, what is the proper call for each of the following scenarios?
(A) Call the play as is (one out, R1, 2-2); was Kulpa's ruling correct?
(B) All else equal, the count was 2-1 (one out, R1, 2-1);
(C) All else equal, there were two outs and the third strike was dropped (two outs, R1, 2-2, Dropped 3K). Note: Part (C) calls for consideration of backswing contact so that F2 Wilson can't make any play.

Solution: The solution to this play, at the professional level, is archived at this very website from an odd Replay Review from July 5, 2014 featuring plate umpire Mike DiMuro and an overturned call at second base. In that play, DiMuro ruled the batter's backswing on a swinging third strike unintentionally struck the catcher as R1 tried stealing second base. 2B Umpire Jerry Layne initially ruled R1 out, so DiMuro's call was waived, but after a challenge that reversed Layne's call to "safe," DiMuro properly reinstated his backswing ruling and ordered the now-safe R1 back to first base as a result of the dead ball. B1, naturally, was out on the third strike.

KEY POINT: "Backswing interference" is a misnomer: Unintentional backswing contact is not interference.
(A) If the ruling is that Ortiz deliberately interfered, then a double play as the result of interference is correct. If the ruling is solely that Ortiz's forceful backswing unintentionally hit the catcher, the proper call is a dead ball strike, since follow through/backswing contact is not interference in OBR. Ortiz is out, but R1 Bogaerts is returned to first base with two out.
(B) Same as [A], except that Ortiz inherits a 2-2 count (unless he is called for "true" interference by stepping across home plate, deliberately hitting F2 with the bat, or for some other action).
(C) The inning is over and Ortiz is out, as the ball becomes dead as soon as his backswing unintentionally hits the ball. Unfortunately for the batter, this dead ball occurs during his third strike.

NOTE ABOUT RULES DIFFERENCE IN HIGH SCHOOL: Under NFHS rules, Scenario (A) results in a double play, since the follow-through contact is interference in high school (assuming R1 could have been thrown out). In NCAA/college, however, it is not interference: "on a third strike, the ball is dead; the batter is out." Oddly enough, PBUC has the exact same interpretation as NCAA ("on a third strike, the ball is dead and the batter is out"). In other words, backswing (which occurs pre-pitch) or follow-through (which occurs post-pitch) contact is interference in high school, but not in college or pro. Because of this difference, the runner is out in high school for the follow-through interference of his recently-retired teammate (e.g., B1), but not in college/pro, because in college/pro, the just-retired B1 did not commit interference, since backswing contact with the catcher is not true interference.

Official Baseball Rules Library
OBR 5.09(a)(2): "A batter is out when—A third strike is legally caught by the catcher."
OBR 6.01(a)(5): "It is interference by a batter or a runner when—Any batter or runner who has just been put out, or any runner who has just scored, hinders or impedes any following play being made on a runner. Such runner shall be declared out for the interference of his teammate."
OBR 6.03(a)(3): "A batter is out for illegal action when—He interferes with the catcher’s fielding or throwing by stepping out of the batter’s box or making any other movement that hinders the catcher’s play at home base."
OBR 6.03(a)(3) Comment: "If the batter interferes with the catcher, the plate umpire shall call 'interference.' The batter is out and the ball dead. No player may advance on such interference (offensive interference) and all runners must return to the last base that was, in the judgment of the umpire, legally touched at the time of the interference. If, however, the catcher makes a play and the runner attempting to advance is put out, it is to be assumed there was no actual interference and that runner is out—not the batter. Any other runners on the base at the time may advance as the ruling is that there is no actual interference if a runner is retired. In that case play proceeds just as if no violation had been called. If a batter strikes at a ball and misses and swings so hard he carries the bat all the way around and, in the umpire’s judgment, unintentionally hits the catcher or the ball in back of him on the backswing, it shall be called a strike only (not interference). The ball will be dead, however, and no runner shall advance on the play."

Video available via "Read more"

A Rare Off-The-Cowboy-Joe Double - Rule 5.06(c)(6)

After a ground ball struck 2B Umpire Joe West's foot in shallow center field, Cubs batter Willson Contreras took advantage, hustling into second base with a double as the Padres fielders recovered during Tuesday's game in San Diego.

With two out and none on, Contreras grounded a base hit up the middle and onto the outfield grass, where the ball bounced into Joe West as he began his run toward the infield, the added delay of Padre retrieval allowing Contreras to achieve second base ahead of the throw. Score it an umpire-assisted double.

Cowboy Joe West plays soccer at Petco Park.

As previously discussed in Umpire Interference, Rule 5.06(c)(6) [or 5.09(f) under old-format OBR] states that a batted ball becomes dead when, "A fair ball touches a runner or an umpire on fair territory before it touches an infielder including the pitcher, or touches an umpire before it has passed an infielder other than the pitcher; runners advance, if forced."

In regard to remedial action for this scenario, 5.06(c) continues, "The ball becomes dead and runners advance one base, or return to their bases, without liability to be put out."

Diagram of the play, which is past the infield.

Although rare, a batted ball that has already passed the entire infielder staff, only to then touch an umpire, is a live ball. This is what occurred Tuesday in San Diego, as B1 Contreras' batted fair ball bounded past at least one Padres infielder (for the sake of technicality, it was the shortstop) before touching Cowboy Joe in shallow center field, meaning that West and his crew properly kept the ball alive and in play.

Earlier this month, we explored the case of a batted ball striking a second base umpire who works inside, or on the infield grass. In that play, a batted ball deflected off the pitcher before bouncing off the second base umpire and rolling to the shortstop, who stepped on second base and threw to first for a double play. That, too, was properly officiated, as the batted ball first touched a defensive player (the pitcher) before touching an umpire. Had the ball merely passed the pitcher without him touching it, however, only to then strike the inside umpire, the proper call would be dead ball, and a one base award to the batter and any forced runners, since the pitcher is not considered a full-fledged infielder specifically for the purpose of Rule 5.06(c)(6).

Torre's Warning Leads to Coach, Not Manager, Ejections

One month ago, Joe Torre told managers to stop arguing balls and strikes with the help of video evidence to support their case, and the stats confirm, Torre's warning worked...Kind of...Maybe...Not really.

Fewer managers are getting tossed for pitches.

Since Monday July 18 and the first series since MLB's Chief Baseball Officer distributed his managerial memo, just two managers have been ejected for arguing balls and strikes.

They would be Boston's John Farrell, who was ejected by Gabe Morales on July 31 in Boston, and Milwaukee's Craig Counsell, who got the boot courtesy of Bill Miller on August 12. In both cases, the umpire's call was correct and the ejected skipper was wrong.

In comparing these two ejections over the course of 394 games and one month to the 25 managerial ball/strike ejections over 1,344 games prior to Torre's directive, we find that the rate of ejection prior to Torre's edict was one managerial ball/strike ejection per 53.76 games, compared to one such ejection per 197 games since, which is approximately a 72% drop in these types of ejection.

Gibbons has stopped getting himself run.

For example, Blue Jays Manager John Gibbons, who led baseball with six ejections from Opening Day through July 1, suddenly stopped getting ejected altogether: he has zero ejections since.

So Torre's warning worked, right? The answer is "yes," if the only consideration is whether a manager has been ejected for arguing balls and strikes. Otherwise, it's not that simple.

Since Torre's memo, more assistant coaches (bench, base, hitting, and pitching coaches, etc.) have received pitch call ejections while their respective skippers have stayed in the ballgame.

Coaches like Barry Bonds are getting ejected.

Over the same 394 game period beginning July 18, six coaches—including one assistant of an assistant—have been ejected exclusively for arguing balls and strikes: that's one ejection for every 65.67 games played. Combining all manager and coach ejections for arguing balls and strikes over that period, we see that managers/coaches have been tossed on the order of once every 49.25 games played, which is similar to the previous period's rate of 53.76 games per managerial ball/strike ejection.

Non-managerial coach ejections historically have occurred less frequently than those of managers and players: for example, just 12 coaches were ejected prior to July 18 (one per 112 games), compared to 53 players and 47 managers for that same period, meaning that coaches comprised 11% of all ejections over that time. Since then, however, coaches have made up a greater share of overall ejections, essentially doubling their ejection representation rate (six coaches / 29 ejections = 21% of ejections are coaches).

Conclusion: As was the case when baseball first introduced expanded Replay Review in 2014, ejections did not decrease as the result of MLB's attempt to ease the team-umpire relationship through a new initiative (whether via instant replay in 2014 or Torre's bulletin in July 2016); in contrast, ejections actually increased (in 2014), but more notably, the reason for ejection shifted drastically in 2014 (and 2015). Instead of getting ejected for arguing a simple out vs. safe call at first base, team personnel switched to more vehement ball/strike arguments, which effectively kept their ejection numbers at levels comparable to, and in no way less than, the previous season's.

Farrell argues 3B Coach Butterfield's ejection.

Now that baseball and Torre are trying to crack down on this ejection reason shift by telling managers to stop getting ejected under certain circumstances, teams are evolving once again: Managers are dutifully pulling back and taking a seat...while their coaches and assistants take ejections on their behalf, so as to preserve the baseball tradition that is arguing with and getting ejected by the umpire. In fact (see picture of John Farrell to the right), some coaches and assistants potentially are getting ejected so as to provide their manager with an excuse to argue with the umpire, without subjecting the skipper to an ejection, akin to the queen's sacrifice in chess, which is exactly what baseball arguments have become: a chess match.

So, has Torre's message worked? It depends on how literal you want to be.