Teachable - Manny's Keyhole Look and Call Patience

For this Teachable Moment, 2B Umpire Manny Gonzalez finds the keyhole angle with which to take a slide play at second base as Baltimore's Rougned Odor tried to avoid Toronto middle infielder Bo Bichette's tag, ruling the runner safe after taking the time to see the entirety of the play, a call eventually confirmed via Replay Review as a result of Blue Jays manager John Schneider's unsuccessful challenge.

With a position to see the tag play from above, Gonzalez observes Bichette's glove miss Odor's right arm. A split second later, this same position enables Gonzalez to see Odor's fingertips on second base when Bichette lunges for a second tag try.

Video as follows:

Wendelstedt Umpire School Announces Updated MLB Plan

After MLB decided to replace its traditional umpire training school-to-Minor League Baseball model with a greater emphasis on its Umpire Camps system, the Wendelstedt Umpire School announced it will continue sending graduates to MiLB, pursuant to an arrangement with MLB that allows the independent school in Ormond Beach to continue its operations.

The Wendelstedt Umpire School announced today that its updated arrangement with MLB will keep the 85-year-old school in operation and preserve its tradition. According to the school:

> Today's arrangement offers top graduates of the Wendelstedt Umpire School—the only open-access and independently operated school in the U.S. for training umpires to work at all levels of professional and amateur baseball—an opportunity to participate in MLB's new umpire development program, and enter the ranks of professional umpiring.

Under MLB's new Umpire Camps program, top performers at the camps will join top graduates of the Wendelstedt Umpire School for advanced training at the Jackie Robinson Training Complex in Vero Beach, where top performers will then be offered Minor League umpiring jobs.

School owner-operator Hunter Wendelstedt notes that unlike in years past, "There is no advanced course" (it's advanced "training"). "We will be sending our top graduates to Vero to show their skills and possibly place in the Minor Leagues. We will also send graduates to MLB placement leagues—Appalachian League, etc. If those students do not get placed into the minors, they will go to Vero (guaranteed) on MLB the following year."

For more information about the Wendelstedt Umpire School or to enroll, visit umpireschool.com.

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?

Video as follows:

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.

Video as follows:

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.

Video as follows:

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.

Video as follows:

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.

Video as follows:

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]).

Video as follows:

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]).

Video as follows: