MLB to Debut Record 10 Rookie Umpires in 2020

To cope with the unprecedented number of senior umpires opting out of the 2020 MLB season, Major League Baseball will call upon the services of a record-high 10 rookie minor league umps to fill in the gaps throughout the summer.

MiLB's Triple A International and Pacific Coast Leagues supplied MLB with a corral of call-up candidates, and the following umpires were invited to work MLB Spring Training and the resumption known as Summer Camp. One (Jose Navas) began the 2019 season in Double-A's Southern League, but was since promoted to Triple-A.

With 61 full-time staff umpires (13 opt-out + 2 injured) calling games and 23 call-ups available, MLB will experience the highest percentage of call-ups on the field than at any time in the MLB Umpire era.

2020 Rookie Umpire Call Up List (2019 League in Parentheses) as reported by Ump-Attire. com
> Erich Bacchus (International League);
> Adam Beck (International League);
> Nestor Ceja (Pacific Coast League);
> Paul Clemons (Pacific Coast League);
> Dan Merzel (International League);
> Malachi Moore (Pacific Coast League);
> Edwin Moscoso (Pacific Coast League);
> Jose Navas (Southern League [Double-A, since promoted]);
> Junior Valentine (Pacific Coast League);
> Ryan Wills (International League).

According to local Venezuelan media, David Arrieta (Pacific Coast League) may also join the rookie class, pending physical. These are the most rookie debuts since the American and National League staffs merged in 1999.

The 12 call-up umpires remaining from 2019 will all remain on the call-up list for 2020. In order of major league experience, they are (MLB games officiated in parentheses): Sean Barber (513), Ben May (483), Tom Woodring (450), Roberto Ortiz (247), Jeremie Rehak (231), Ryan Additon (200), John Libka (183), Nick Mahrley (164), Shane Livensparger (108), Brennan Miller (38), Alex Tosi (33), John Bacon (28).

MLB Names 7 Interim Crew Chiefs for 2020

Major League Baseball named seven interim crew chiefs for the COVID-shortened 2020 season. Angel Hernandez, suing MLB under charges of race discrimination, is one of them.

Earlier this summer, umpires deemed "high-risk" of complication related to contracting coronavirus were offered the opportunity to opt-out of the 2020 season, at full pay. Umpires not designated as high-risk were still offered the ability to sit out, but as an unpaid option.

Though high-risk crew chief Joe West outspokenly decided to work the 2020 season, nine other umpires who ordinarily serve in full time crew chief roles took MLB's opt-out option, including Gerry Davis, Fieldin Culbreth, Kerwin Danley, Brian Gorman, Tom Hallion, Sam Holbrook, Jerry Layne, and Mike Winters.

Chiefs West, Ted Barrett, Jeff Nelson, Bill Miller, Larry Vanover, Jerry Meals, Mark Wegner, Alfonso Marquez, Jim Reynolds, and Dan Iassogna reportedly did not opt out, all in all leaving open a handful of crew chief vacancies for appointment.
Related Post: Joe West Opts In, Several Crew Chiefs Out for 2020 (7/7/20).

Non-crew chiefs electing to sit out 2020 include Scott Barry, Phil Cuzzi, Bruce Dreckman, and Brian O'Nora, bringing the total number of opt-outs to 13. We first started tracking umpires reporting to summer camp (as well as those opting out) on July 15. The 2020 staff is similarly expected to be regionally based.
Related Post: 2020 MLB Summer Camp (Spring) Roster (7/15/20).

With Greg Gibson and Paul Emmel beginning the season on the Injured List, MLB has had to make some cuts. Amongst those are a reduction in crews from 19 to 17—you'll recall that in 2014, MLB expanded the crews to account for expanded instant replay. Even though Replay Review is expected to operate in 2020, the two extra crews were contracted for the COVID season.
Related: Confirmed: MLB Hires 7 New Umpires to Full-Time Staff (1/14/14).

With eight crew chiefs out, MLB designated the following longtime umpires interim crew chiefs for the 2020 season:
> Mark Carlson
> Laz Diaz (delayed)
> Angel Hernandez
> Marvin Hudson
> Ron Kulpa
> Paul Nauert
> Bill Welke

Joe West Testifies for Angel in Hernandez's MLB Suit

Angel Hernandez picked up a few key umpire witnesses in support of his discrimination lawsuit against Major League Baseball, presenting declarations from Joe West and Richie Garcia in the latest filing of Hernandez v MLB. Fieldin Culbreth's deposition from 2019 also made an appearance.

Fieldin Culbreth spoke about pressure from the league to apply for an open crew chief position in 2013 even though Culbreth did not initially want to apply and felt the job should have gone to Wally Bell or Angel Hernandez.

In May 2020, Rich Garcia told the AP he was "sick of it," in reference to Randy Marsh's claim that Garcia was fired in 2010 for watching son-in-law Vic Carapazza work a minor league game. Garcia, who has consistently stated he had zero involvement in Carapazza's hiring, went so far as to speak with then-World Umpires Association President Joe West, who backed Garcia's version of events, recalling that Garcia said, "'I don't want to be in a situation where I have a conflict of interest because he's my son-in-law.'"
Related Post: Rich Garcia 'Fed Up' Following Marsh Testimony (5/19/20).

Now, in July 2020, Garcia has turned that fed-up attitude into tangible testimony, submitting a written declaration in the Angel Hernandez lawsuit, writing, "Quite simply, Angel Hernandez should have been promoted to crew chief a long time ago. He is an outstanding umpire. I recommended him for the World Series several times."

Joe West also submitted a written declaration in July 2020, slamming MLB for deficient video replay technology in 2013 (Hernandez's "Cleveland Game") and for seemingly punishing Hernandez both for whistleblowing the video problem and for a July 2019 game in which Hernandez presided over a designated hitter/pitcher substitution situation in Tampa Bay: Despite the league telling Hernandez he got the call right and that he acted appropriately, West said that MLB, after a most unusual and unprecedented investigation, inexplicably removed Hernandez from his interim crew chief role.

MLB Announces Replay Improvements, Hawk-Eye

MLB announced several improvements to Replay Review technology for the COVID-shortened 2020 season, including a relocation of MLBAM video headquarters to Manhattan, as well as formal introduction of Hawk-Eye to replace electronic ball/strikes vendor TrackMan.

Baseball's 4K camera networks will double from 12 to 24 isolated angles for the 2020 season, with a new replay operations center in Manhattan, across the street from Radio City Music Hall. From 2014-2019, MLB's replay HQ had been located at Chelsea Market at the old MLBAM offices.

MLB also announced as part of its second-generation Statcast system, that Hawk-Eye would replace TrackMan's Doppler radar system, with five cameras targeted for pitch tracking: four behind home plate and one in center field. Advertised frame rates will vary from 100 to 500 frames per second, at 4K resolution.

MLB claimed Hawk-Eye's error margin going forward is expected to approach 0.1 inches, down from anywhere from 1 to 2 inches in prior years, which recalls our observed silver lining of the weekend's protection/face covering discussion: with all the cards lined up to adopt some element of an automated balls/strikes system in 2020, baseball has been awfully quiet about the previously hyped robo-umpire concept.
Related Post: MLB Protective Gear, Masks for Umpires Stirs Debate (7/18/20).

Video as follows:

Injury Scout - Tony Randazzo Exits Early After Foul Ball

HP Umpire Tony Randazzo left Sunday's all-Chicago exhibition game after an early foul ball to the mask at Wrigley Field.

In the bottom of the 1st inning of the White Sox-Cubs pre-season contest, Cubs batter Javier Baez fouled a first-pitch 91.5-mph cutter from White Sox pitcher Drew Anderson into Randazzo's traditional-style facemask atop Randazzo's COVID surgical-style mask. Randazzo remained in the game through the first two innings of play and left the field thereafter; he had originally been scheduled to officiate between four and five innings.

The crew's 5th umpire, Ben May, entered the ballgame as a substitute home plate umpire to begin the 3rd inning, with Mark Carlson, Alex Tosi, and John Tumpane remaining on the bases.

Relevant Injury History: Randazzo was hit directly by a pitch in May 2017.
Related Post: Injury Scout - Hit in 5th & 8th, Randazzo Leaves in 14th (5/13/17).

Last Game: July 19 | Return to Play: 2021 | Time Absent: Rest of Season | Video as follows:

MLB Protective Gear, Masks for Umpires Stirs Debate

Major League Baseball has encouraged, but will not require, umpires to wear face coverings or masks, setting off a de facto personal preference debate of what to wear, if anything.

MLB will also develop face shields for the home plate umpire who works in proximity to catchers and batters. According to The Athletic, MLB is testing the shields to make sure they are shatterproof.

MLB's masks optional policy splits the difference between South Korea's KBO and Taiwan's CPBL, the former which requires umpires to wear masks and gloves while the latter carries no such mandate.

A majority of umpires in Spring Training 2.0 have worn various measures of protective equipment.

For instance, Carlos Torres was photographed in Atlanta wearing a face covering, as were the trio of Washington, DC assignees—David Rackley, Chris Segal, and Larry Vanover (though Vanover did not appear to wear a face covering during his plate job Saturday evening)—and New York officials Sean Barber and Roberto Ortiz at Yankee Stadium. At Dodger Stadium, Ryan Blakney wore a white face covering underneath his black-padded traditional facemask.

In San Francisco, the simple act of umpires wearing face coverings contributed to feelings of good will with the Giants ball club.

Giants Manager Gabe Kapler recently praised the two umpires assigned to train in San Francisco—Doug Eddings and MLBUA President Bill Miller—for donning face coverings when offered, perhaps offering a glimpse into a new subtle way to build rapport and improve game management in the age of coronavirus: "Bill and Doug, I give them a ton of credit because they're super humble and open, and so our training staff had a few extra very, very comfortable masks and those guys did a great job. They were open to giving these masks a try and I think everybody on the field was proud of that."

In New York (Mets), HP Umpire Ryan Additon and base umpire CB Bucknor carried small bottles of hand sanitizer attached to their belts.

And when Clint Frazier hit his home run Saturday evening in Queens while wearing a face covering, home plate umpire Jose Navas was right behind him wearing his own fabric cover.

In all, most umpires throughout the league have worn some degree of protection during MLB's preseason restart.
Related Post: 2020 MLB Summer Camp (Spring) Roster (7/15/20).

Having questioned COVID case calculations while later clarifying his belief that the virus itself is very real even if case or death statistics may suffer from inflation, Joe West, along with fellow crew chief Mark Wegner in Tampa Bay, recently adopted the plastic face shield prototype MLB hopes to use throughout the 2020 season; West initially wore blue medical gloves and, like Wegner, wore a surgical-style mask underneath his facemask, but switched to the face shield Thursday after it arrived mid-game to Tropicana Field.

In Kansas City, Todd Tichenor, who wore a white face covering behind a catcher who also wore a mask, told Yahoo! Sports, "I want to make it work," explaining he'd do his best to mask up while admitting there might be times, perhaps out of habit, when he might inadvertently remove it: "Sometimes I let it slip from my nose. That was the tough part, was keeping the full mask on. I kinda just told myself, if I can do that 80 percent of the time, maybe I'm saving somebody 80 percent of the time."

In June, the World Baseball Softball Confederation shared a photograph of a catcher/umpire's mask with plastic shield. When umpiring legend Perry Barber asked why cover just the nose and mouth and leave the eyes exposed (as a mucous membrane, the eyes are susceptible to viral transmission [reception]), WBSC's response ("no screen in eye area here to avoid any interference with visibility due to reflection, lights, etc") portrayed the ultimate dilemma in a COVID restart: safety vs functionality.

Silver Lining: One hot-button issue not being discussed whatsoever? Switching to a computerized strike zone or automated ball/strike system that would remove an umpire from the field.

The extent to which baseball will go to arm its umpires with protective equipment should indicate, with all of baseball's chatter relative to robot umpires, the value of keeping human umpires involved and on the field.

Sidebar: Speaking of arming umpires, Rob Drake, in Oakland, was pictured Thursday not wearing a face covering on the bases while plate umpire Gabe Morales wore both a covering and blue gloves (as did Brian Knight the day before). MLB's face covering policy seems very much to rely on personal preference.

Video as follows:

Former Umpire Rick Reed Dies at the Age of 70

Rick Reed, the MLB umpire who survived two strokes during his umpiring career, died Thursday at the age of 70.

The Detroit native officiated his first American League game in 1979, later serving as a crew chief across Major League Baseball until his 2009 retirement. In May 2008, Reed suffered a stroke, followed by another in February 2009.

He would return to officiate 41 games in his final season before retiring after 3,392 regular season games and 31 years of big league service, which included three Division Series (1997, 2000, 01), three League Championship Series (1989, 95, 99), and the 1991 World Series, working as an umpire when Kirby Puckett hit a walk-off home run in Game 6 to win it for the Twins. Reed ejected a total of 71 players, coaches, and managers during his career.

After his retirement, Reed joined Major League Baseball as its Detroit umpire observer and evaluated umpires as they officiated games at Comerica Park. He also served as an observer for basketball referees in the NCAA Division I's Summit League Conference.

Prior to umpire school, Reed took a sports officiating class at Eastern Michigan University, explaining his 'A' grade helped pique his interest in the profession.

He appeared in the film For Love of the Game, where he played—what else—the home plate umpire, recalling in a 2010 interview that he was hit by a pitch in the mask 13 times during rehearsal so that catcher John C. Reilly's miss would look convincing.

2020 MLB Summer Camp (Spring) Roster

As summer's restart turns to intrasquad games at teams' home ballparks, MLB Spring Training 2.0 brings in umpires. The following is a list of umpires and locations/cities where they have appeared.

Of Major League Baseball's 76 full-time umpires, approximately 11 have opted out due to their classification as high-risk for complications from coronavirus or for other personal reasons. The remaining umpires, along with a handful of Minor League and fill-in umpires, having completed MLB's safety protocols, join teams at cities near home.

Umpires during the season will be assigned regionally, to one of MLB's three 2020 divisions (West, Midwest, or East).

UEFL'er RC2004 has provided the following and maintains a spreadsheet of assignments. As this is a working list, please comment below with any additions or changes and we'll update the table! Crew Chiefs are listed in bold. Opt-outs are italicized.

MLB Summer Camp/Spring Training 2.0 Umpires' Roster

Umpire (MLB)	Team	Umpire (MLB)	Team	Umpire (MLB/MiLB)	Team
Baker, Jordan	TEX	Gorman, Brian	Out	Reynolds, Jim	ARI
Barksdale, Lance	TEX	Guccione, Chris	COL	Ripperger, Mark	SD
Barrett, Lance	TEX	Hallion, Tom	Out	Schurwater, Stu	TOR
Barrett, Ted	ARI	Hamari, Adam	COL	Segal, Chris	WAS
Barry, Scott	Out	Hernandez, Angel	MIA	Tichenor, Todd	KC
Bellino, Dan	MIL	Hickox, Ed	CLE	Timmons, Tim	CLE
Blakney, Ryan	LAD	Hoberg, Pat	KC	Torres, Carlos	ATL
Blaser, Cory	COL	Holbrook, Sam	Out	Tumpane, John	CHC
Bucknor, CB	NYM	Hoye, James	TB	Vanover, Larry^	WAS
Carapazza, Vic	MIL	Hudson, Marvin	ATL	^Wegner, Mark	TB
Carlson, Mark	CWS	Iassogna, Dan	ATL	Welke, Bill	DET
Conroy, Chris	PHI	Johnson, Adrian	HOU	Wendelstedt, Hunter	HOU
Culbreth, Fieldin	Out	Knight, Brian	OAK	West, Joe	TB
Cuzzi, Phil	Out	Kulpa, Ron	STL	Whitson, Chad	CIN
Danley, Kerwin	Out	Layne, Jerry	Out	Winters, Mike	Out
Davis, Gerry	Out	Lentz, Nic	CWS	Wolcott, Quinn	SEA
De Jesus, Ramon	BAL	Little, Will	CIN	Wolf, Jim	ARI
Diaz, Laz	Delay	Marquez, Alfonso	ARI	(Additon, Ryan)	NYM
Drake, Rob	OAK	Meals, Jerry	PIT	(Bacon, John)	CLE
Dreckman, Bruce	Out	Miller, Bill	SF	(Barber, Sean)	NYY
Eddings, Doug	SF	Morales, Gabe	OAK	(Libka, John)	DET
Emmel, Paul	Injured	Muchlinski, Mike	SEA	(Livensparger, Shane)	BOS
Estabrook, Mike	MIA	Nauert, Paul	ATL	(Mahrley, Nick)	SD
Fairchild, Chad	MIA	Nelson, Jeff	MIN	(May, Ben)	CHC
Fletcher, Andy	STL	O'Nora, Brian	Out	(Miller, Brennan)	BAL
Foster, Marty	MIL	Porter, Alan	PHI	(Ortiz, Roberto)	NYY
Gibson, Greg	Injured	Rackley, David	WAS	(Rehak, Jeremie)	BOS
Gibson, Tripp	SEA	Randazzo, Tony	CHC	(Tosi, Alex)	CWS
Gonzalez, Manny	HOU	Reyburn, DJ	STL	(Woodring, Tom)	LAA

Other MLB full-time staff:
^Visconti, Jansen: PIT

Other MiLB (umpires not previously on MLB's call-up list)
Bacchus, Erich: MIN
Beck, Adam: BOS
Ceja, Nestor: LAD
Clemons, Paul: KC
Merzel, Dan: MIN
Moore, Malachi: LAA
Moscoso, Edwin: HOU
Navas, Jose: NYM
Valentine, Junior: NYM
Wills, Ryan: PHI

Joe West Wins Defamation Lawsuit Against Paul Lo Duca

Umpire Joe West won his defamation lawsuit against former MLB player Paul Lo Duca, a New York court ruling via default judgment that the ex-Mets catcher and Barstool Sports personality's comments during a podcast episode constituted enough proof for the court to determine a viable cause of action exists, namely that Lo Duca allegedly slandered West.

In October 2019, West filed suit against Lo Duca, alleging he and podcast producer The Action Network defamed West during a podcast by falsely claiming as fact that West accepted a bribe in exchange for favorable calls during a Mets game featuring pitcher Billy Wagner, and falsely portraying as fact that West ejected Lo Duca "eight or nine" times during his career.
Related Post: Joe West Sues Paul LoDuca Over Bribery Claim (10/22/19).

Following a Close Call Sports Fact Check to the same effect, West's team argued that both claims were defamatory and demonstrably false, citing statistics and box scores indicating West never served as home plate umpire during a game in which Billy Wagner pitched and Lo Duca caught, and that West ejected LoDuca just once during his MLB career—not eight or nine times.

In March 2020, West settled with defendant The Action Network and accused Lo Duca of ignoring the lawsuit. The present court order of July 2020 accordingly removes The Action Network from the lawsuit's caption and finds, via default judgment, that Lo Duca did ignore the suit, which itself was/is viable.
Related Post: Pants on Fire - Paul Lo Duca's Joe West Accusation (5/10/19).
Related Post: Joe West Settles with Action Network, Accuses Paul Lo Duca of Ignoring Lawsuit (3/24/20).

In concluding his remarks and awarding West his victory, New York Supreme Court (County of New York) Judge John J. Kelley wrote ordered the following:
> Default judgment against Lo Duca on the issue of liability.
> Remove The Action Network from the caption (e.g., dismiss in light of settlement).
> Set inquest to assess damages at a later date.

LoDuca's Twitter profile lists his e-mail.

Shortly after the order's issuance, West lawyer Nicholas J. Zaita (who also represents Angel Hernandez in the latter's discrimination suit against Major League Baseball) filed an affidavit of service with the court, attesting that he served Lo Duca with the Decision and Order via e-mail to LoDuca's Loduca@barstoolsports.com e-mail address.

Earlier in the case, West's team tried serving Lo Duca several times at his various residences, to no avail, and the court ultimately granted permission to serve Lo Duca at his Barstoolsports.com e-mail address, as reflected on Lo Duca's verified Twitter profile.

The newly titled case of Joseph H. West v Paul Lo Duca will next appear before the court on September 15, 2020, at 9:30am.

Video as follows:

Umpires Emerge At MLB Summer Camp 2020

We officially have umpires at MLB ballparks as the first MiLB call-ups and full-time big leaguers alike took to the field across baseball for the first time since Spring Training's March 2020 cancellation.

Judging by sleeve numbers alone, Sean Barber and Roberto Ortiz (both Florida residents) officiated Sunday's Yankees intrasquad game in New York while Chad Whitson (Ohio) visited Cincinnati.

Cubs Manager David Ross said Sunday that Chicago native Tony Randazzo and crew will work Cubs scrimmages.

Notably, umpires in New York did not appear to wear face coverings or masks during the Yankees' scrimmage (as opposed to interim-ump and retired player Jason Varitek, who donned a black face covering in Boston, or KBO umpires overseas, who stepped onto the field for their season wearing the covers).

Video as follows: