Ejection 059: Tim McClelland (1)

HP Umpire Tim McClelland ejected Rangers catcher Yorvit Torrealba for arguing a safe call in the bottom of the 7th inning of the Rangers-Angels game. With one out and three on, Angels batter Kendrys Morales hit a 2-0 fastball from Rangers pitcher Koji Uehara to right fielder Nelson Cruz, who threw to catcher Torrealba as baserunner Mike Trout attempted to score from third base on the sacrifice fly. Replays indicate Trout's foot contacted home plate scarcely prior to Torrealba's tag contacting Trout's person, the call was correct. At the time of the ejection, the Angels were leading, 3-1.

This is Tim McClelland (36)'s first ejection of 2012.

Tim McClelland now has 4 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 4).

Crew Chief Tim McClelland now has 2 points in the UEFL's Crew division (1 Previous + 1 Correct Call = 2).

UEFL Standings Update

This is the 59th ejection of 2012.

This is the 22nd player ejection of 2012.

This is Yorvit Torrealba's first ejection since his ejection by Venezuelan League Umpire Dario Rivero, Jr. in December. Torrealba was suspended by the Winter League for subsequently battering Rivero, Jr. by throwing an open hand slap at Rivero, Jr.'s face mask. MLB declined supplemental discipline.

This is Tim McClelland's first ejection since September 25, 2011.

This is the Texas Rangers' second ejection of 2012 and fourth ejection overall today.

Wrap: Rangers at Angels, 6/2/12

Video: McClelland Rules Trout Safe, Torrealba Throws Tantrum, is Promptly Ejected for Theatrics
Video: Torrealba Tossed Immediately While Arguing 'Safe' Call on Play at Plate (Rangers Feed)

Ejections 057, 058: Bob Davidson (2, 3)

HP Umpire Bob Davidson ejected Yankees Manager Joe Girardi and Batting Coach Kevin Long for arguing a strike call in the top of the 7th inning of the Yankees-Tigers game. With one out and two on, Yankees batter Curtis Granderson took a 0-0 changeup from Tigers pitcher Joaquin Benoit for a called first strike. Replays indicate the pitch was located knee high and off the outer edge of home plate (px value of -1.204), the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the Tigers were leading, 2-1. The Tigers ultimately won the contest, 4-3.

These are Bob Davidson (61)'s second and third ejections of 2012.

Bob Davidson now has 0 points in the UEFL (4 Previous + 2*[2 MLB + -4 Incorrect Call] = 0).

Crew Chief Jerry Layne now has 4 points in the UEFL's Crew division (4 Previous + 0 Incorrect Calls = 4).
*This ruling has been affirmed in a 3-0-1 decision by the UEFL Appeals Board.

UEFL Standings Update

These are the 57th and 58th ejections of 2012.

This is the 30th Manager ejection of 2012.

This is Joe Girardi's 14th ejection as Yankees Manager.
This is Long's first ejection as Yankees Batting Coach.

This is Bob Davidson's first ejection since May 15, 2012.

Wrap: Tigers at Yankees, 6/2/12

Video: New York Yankees Coach Long, Manager Girardi ejected arguing Davidson's strike zone

Pitch f/x courtesy Brooks Baseball

Ejection 056: Paul Schrieber (1)

HP Umpire Paul Schrieber ejected Kansas City Royals catcher Humberto Quintero for arguing a ball call in the top of the 7th inning of the A's-Royals game. With none out and none on, A's batter Jemile Weeks took a 1-1 fastball for from Royals pitcher Louis Coleman for a called second ball. Replays indicate the 1-1 pitch to Weeks was located at the bottom of the knees and over home plate (Lower Bound, Upper Bound of [-1.0912, -0.9019]) and the 0-0 pitch was located at the midpoint between the top of the shoulders and the top of the jersey pants (Lower Bound, Upper Bound of [0.9746, 1.1639]), the call was incorrect.* At the time of the ejection, the A's led, 6-2. The A's ultimately won the contest, 9-3.

This is Paul Schrieber (43)'s first ejection of 2012.

Paul Schrieber now has -2 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + -4 Incorrect Call = -2).

Crew Chief Tim Welke now has 0 points in the UEFL's Crew division (0 Previous + 0 Correct Call = 0).

*Under the Miller Rule (UEFL Rule 6-2-b-2 and Comment), when at any point the Lower Bound, Upper Bound is less than |1.000|, the pitch may be a strike. 

UEFL Standings Update

This is the 56th ejection of 2012.

This is the 21st player ejection of 2012.

This is Humberto Quintero's first ejection of 2012.

This is the Kansas City Royals' first ejection of 2012.

This is Paul Schrieber's first ejection since September 26, 2011.

Wrap: A's at Royals (6/2/12)

Video: Quintero has words with Schrieber in the top of the 7th, gets ejected

Mets' Johan Santana Pitches No-Hitter, 3B Umpire Adrian Johnson Earns Save

Mets pitcher Johan Santana and 3B Umpire Adrian Johnson combined for a little Friday night magic in New York as Santana completed the first no-hitter in Mets franchise history.

Here's how. Santana, who had kept the St. Louis Cardinals hitless through five innings, faced Cardinals slugger Carlos Beltran in the top of the sixth inning. With a 1-0 count, Beltran connected on an 88 miles-per-hour fastball from Santana, sending a line drive screaming past third base and down the left field line.

Ruled a foul ball by Johnson, the broadcasters and replays indicate the ball traversed the front edge of the third base bag in fair territory before striking the ground past third base, also in fair territory and on the chalk line; had an ejection resulted from the animated argument between Johnson, 3B Coach Jose Oquendo and Manager Mike Matheny, the Quality of Correctness would have been incorrect (because of where the line drive first touched the ground, not because of where it passed over third base as the Cardinals broadcasters incorrectly cited, though the answer to both questions is one and the same).

Nonetheless, as the Umpire Ejection Fantasy League traditionally does after a no-hitter, here is the instant analysis of how plate umpire Gary Cederstrom called Johan Santana's no-hitter.

Callable Pitches: 77 (57-20)
Called Balls: 54 of 57 Correct = 94.7% Accuracy
Called Strikes: 16 of 20 Correct = <90.0% Accuracy
Total Accuracy: 70 of 77 Correct = 90.9% Accuracy

As the above statistics indicate, Santana was the beneficiary of four incorrect strike calls (called strikes located outside of the strike zone) while he was the victim of three incorrectly ruled balls (called balls located within the strike zone), a net result of one incorrect strike call or one beneficial call.

This of course does not include 3B Umpire Adrian Johnson's huge foul ball call on Beltran, which is why at least one Cardinals writer who was in the Citi Field pressbox reported the question, "Will 3B Umpire Adrian Johnson get the save?"

After the contest, Santana addressed the incorrect foul ball call during his press conference: "There are times where one play, one call makes the whole difference ... tonight that was that call. I can't say anything about, I just went with it, the umpire made his call and that was the end of it. I just stayed with my game."

Wrap: Cardinals at Mets 6/1/12
Video: Umpire Johnson Erroneously Rules Beltran's Liner Foul; Preserves Santana's No-Hitter
Video: Santana's post-game press conference, addresses foul ball call

Does Adrian Johnson's Missed Call Cheapen Johan Santana's No-Hitter?

Bud Selig Meets with Ken Hawk Harrelson over Umpire Rant

Ken "Hawk" Harrelson and MLB Commissioner Bud Selig spoke on Thursday regarding comments Harrelson had made during Wednesday's White Sox-Rays game after home plate umpire Mark Wegner ejected Chicago pitcher Jose Quintana for throwing at Tampa Bay right fielder Ben Zobrist. Manager Robin Ventura was ejected during the subsequent pitching change for arguing Quintana's ejection.

White Sox/Comcast/WGN broadcaster Ken Hawk Harrelson

News of Selig's meeting with Harrelson was broken by the Hawk himself: "I talked to Bud Selig yesterday, we had a talk. Actually, Bud talked and I listened. If it was a prize fight, they would have stopped it in the first round."

White Sox chairman Jerry Reinsdorf also addressed Harrelson regarding his on-air comments directed at Wegner, while Sox senior vice president of sales & marketing Brooks Boyer said Harrelson will address his behavior during Friday night's broadcast: "We've discussed it, and we'll talk about it on the air and it will be gone as of tonight."

Boyer additionally hinted his support of Wegner's call while obliquely criticizing Harrelson's judgment in choosing to blast the umpire: "I could certainly be wrong but I think this was a good way for [Harrelson] to understand the importance of what's going on on the field. I think moving forward those type of bursts and snaps will be limited if not eliminated."

On Wednesday, Harrelson angrily vented and ranted about Wegner and several other unnamed MLB umpires: "You've got to be bleepin' me! What in the hell are you doing? What are you doing Wegner? You've got to be kidding me. That is so bad that is absolutely brutal. That is unbelievable."

Umpire Odds & Ends: Ejections on Par with 2011 Pace

Update: With the month of May in the books, 763 games have been played in all thus far for the season, 425 games in May, and 142 games since first looking into our season's ejection pace on the 21st of May.

The Ejection Rate is as follows (As of the end of play on May 31):
Season: 1 in 13.87 games (7.21%) compared to 6.6% for April and the first 21 days of May.
May: 1 in 10.65 games (9.41%)
Since May 21: 1 in 10.14 games (9.86%) compared to a 9.19% rate for the first 21 days of May.

MLB Ejections on Par with 2011 Pace: At the conclusion of Sunday's games, Major League Baseball has seen 621 regular season games played. On Sunday, Hunter Wendelstedt ejected Tim Dillard of the Milwaukee Brewers for the 41st ejection of the season. With Wendelstedt's ejection, 2012 has featured one ejection per 15.15 games or an ejection in 6.60% of all games played to date.

MLB Umpire Ejection Rates, April-May, 2011 & 2012

Last season, Major League Baseball saw its 620th game played at the conclusion of play on May 17, 2011. That day saw the 40th ejection of the season, with Jerry Meals tossing Seattle Mariners Manager Eric Wedge. The 41st ejection of the 2011 season occurred the very next day. The ejection rate after the 620th game of last season was 1 per 15.5 games or an ejection in 6.45% of games played to date.

The ejection pace between April and May (so far) this season has been significantly different, with a greater ejection rate in May. With 338 games played in April, there were 15 ejections, or an ejection once every 22.53 games or 4.44% of all games. However, May has seen 283 games played thus far and 26 ejections. To this point in May, there has been an ejection once every 10.88 games or 9.19% of all games, or a 107% increase in ejections from April-to-May 2012. In April of last year, 381 games were played with 21 ejections occurring (1 in 18.14 games or 5.15%). In May of last year, 431 games were played in all with 38 ejections occurring in all (1 in 11.34 games or 8.17%), just a 59% increase in ejection from April-to-May 2011.

Do you believe the ejection pace will continue at its current rate for May? Will we continue to see a similar pace to last year or do you think things may be starting to heat up between players, managers and umpires with ejections like that of Brett Lawrie and Charlie Manuel?

Ejection 055: Jeff Nelson (1)

1B Umpire Jeff Nelson ejected Detroit Tigers First Base Coach Tom Brookens for Unsportsmanlike-NEC in the top of the 2nd inning of the Tigers-Red Sox game. With none out and none on, Tigers batter Prince Fielder came to bat, but prior to the first pitch of the top of the 2nd, Brookens was ejected Nelson for arguing. In the top of the 1st inning, with one out and none on, Detroit Tigers batter Brennan Boesch grounded out to Red Sox shortstop Mike Aviles to first baseman Adrian Gonzalez. Replays indicate that Boesch touched first base just prior to when Gonzalez possessed the throw from Aviles. However, because this ejection occurred beyond the half inning break immediately following the half inning in which the call occurred, the ejection is not eligible for a post-inning exemption.* It is also unknown if this is the exact reason for ejection, but this was the only visibly close call made prior to the ejection. There has been speculation that it may have been due to a disagreement about Brookens' placement in the coach's box. The call was irrecusable.  At the time of the ejection, the contest was tied, 0-0. The Tigers ultimately won the contest, 7-3.

This is Jeff Nelson (45)'s first ejection of 2012.

Jeff Nelson now has 2 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call = 2).

Crew Chief Tim Tschida now has 3 points in the UEFL's Crew division (2 Previous + 1 Irrecusable Call = 3).

*This call is not eligible for a post-inning exemption under UEFL Rule 6-5-c-2, therefore the reason for ejection is Unsportsmanlike-NEC and an irrecusable call.

UEFL Standings Update

This is the 55th ejection of 2012.

This is the 6th Coach ejection of 2012 (non-Managers).

This is Tom Brookens 2nd ejection of 2012, most for Coaches (non-Managers).
Last year, Texas Rangers First Base Coach Gary Pettis was the only Coach (non-Manager) ejected multiple times (twice).

This is the Detroit Tigers seventh ejection of 2012 (most in Majors).

This is Jeff Nelson's first ejection since August 19, 2011.

Wrap: Tigers at Red Sox 5/31/12

Video: Brookens argues prior to the beginning of the top of the 2nd and is ejected by annoyed Nelson

MLB "Looking Into" Laz Diaz, Russell Martin Spat

A Major League Baseball spokesman said Thursday that the league was "looking into" a spat between umpire Laz Diaz and New York Yankees catcher Russell Martin. The spat occurred last night in Anaheim, when Diaz was behind the plate for the Yankees 6-5 victory over the Angels. Only Martin has discussed the incident and all known accounts are from him. Diaz was not able to comment because Martin had made the comments an hour after the conclusion of the game and the umpires had already left.

According to Martin, the spat began in the second inning after he and Diaz argued over the strike zone. Instead of being ejected from the game, Martin says Diaz found an unconventional way to punish him: not allowing him to throw the ball back to the pitcher after a foul ball. For this, Martin says Diaz "is a d**k. Write it hard."

Martin's account of the incident said it began with Diaz saying "that it was a privilege that I had to earn, for me to throw the ball back." Martin went on to say, "that's never happened to me before. I even told him, because there's guys on base, I like to keep my arm loose. Nope. 'I'm not letting you throw the ball back.' That's pretty strange, to me. That's a good story, huh?"

Ejections 053, 054: Mark Wegner (1, 2)

HP Umpire Mark Wegner ejected Chicago White Sox pitcher Jose Quintana for throwing at Tampa Bay Rays right fielder Ben Zobrist and White Sox Manager Robin Ventura for Unsportsmanlike Conduct-NEC in the bottom of the 4th inning of the White Sox-Rays game. With two out and none on, Rays batter Ben Zobrist took a 0-0 fastball inside, behind his legs for a called ball. Wegner immediately ejected Quintana for the inside pitch, the call was irrecusable.* After Ventura made a pitching change, he was ejected by Wegner for arguing the Quintana ejection, the call was irrecusable.* At the time of the ejections, the White Sox were leading, 3-1. The White Sox ultimately won the contest, 4-3.

These are Mark Wegner (47)'s first and second ejections of 2012.
Mark Wegner now has 4 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2*[2 MLB + 0 Irrecusable Call] = 4).*
Crew Chief Mike Winters now has 3 points in the UEFL's Crew division (1 Previous + 2*[1 Irrecusable Call] = 3).
*These calls are irrecusable under new UEFL Rule 6-2-b(5).

UEFL Standings Update

These are the 53rd and 54th ejections of 2012.
This is the 20th player ejection of 2012.
This is the 29th Manager ejection of 2012.
This is Jose Quintana's first ejection of 2012.
This is Robin Ventura's first ejection of 2012, and first career ejection as a Manager.
Prior to his ejection, Quintana's line was 3.2 IP, 1 H, 1 ER.
This is Mark Wegner's first ejections since August 30, 2011.

Wrap: White Sox at Rays 5/30/12
Video: Quintana throws behind Zobrist, gets ejected by Wegner; Ventura argues and joins Quintana
Video: White Sox broadcaster Ken "Hawk" Harrelson blows a gasket over Wegner's ejection
Video: Extended rant by Hawk Harrelson

Ejection 052: Doug Eddings (1)

HP Umpire Doug Eddings ejected Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters for arguing ball calls in the bottom of the 5th inning of the Orioles-Blue Jays game. With two out and two on, Blue Jays batter Rajai Davis hit a 2-2 fastball from Orioles pitcher Miguel Gonzalez for a RBI single. Both the 0-1 (pitch #2 of the at bat) and the 1-2 (pitch #5 of the at bat) were called for balls. Replays indicate that both pitches were belly button high, however inside off the plate (pitch #2 had a px value of -1.127 and pitch #5 had a px value of -1.053, well within the ball range). There were no incorrect callable pitches in the at bat, the call was correct.* At the time of the ejection, the Blue Jays led, 8-1. The Blue Jays ultimately won the contest, 8-6.

This is Doug Eddings (88)'s first ejection of 2012.

Doug Eddings now has 4 points in the UEFL (0 Previous + 2 MLB + 2 Correct Call = 4).

Crew Chief Dana DeMuth now has 1 point in the UEFL's Crew division (0 Previous + 1 Correct Call = 1).

*This call is correct under the Kulpa Rule (UEFL Rule 6-2-b-1) because the pitches in question had px values of -1.127 and -1.053, respectively. The ball range begins with a px value of |0.935|.

UEFL Standings Update

This is the 52nd ejection of 2012.

This is the 19th player ejection of 2012.

This is Matt Wieters first ejection of 2012.

This is the Baltimore Orioles' 2nd ejection of 2012.

This is Doug Eddings' first ejection since April 21, 2011.

Wrap: Orioles at Blue Jays 5/29/12

Video: After Davis singles, Wieters continually jaws at Eddings over ball calls and is ejected