As usual, Lindsay is all over it. And she disagrees with the consensus view:
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Interference is very much a matter of discretion by the umpire. As Lindsay notes, the rule says the runner âcanâ be called out, not âshall.â I think that was a bad exercise of discretion.
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Hereâs the way I see it:
Can you call interference there? Absolutely. As Lindsay states, there isnât any caveat in the rules that says you have to do it knowingly/intentionally to have it called.
Was it tickytack? Also absolutely. If you donât call Interference there, LITERALLY NOBODY is going to be saying you blew the call/missed it.
PS Junior Valentine is a fucking shitty umpire.
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PS Junior Valentine is a fucking shitty umpire
The tackiest of tickytack calls. If interference were called every time a runner and fielder incidentally share space while a ball is in play, the game would be worse for it.
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If it had made one iota of difference in Hendersonâs ability to make the catch (which, again, he didnât even need to do because it had already been called an infield fly), Iâd have some sympathy. But it didnât: he wandered over to the spot and stood there and waited for the ball. Instead we have an umpire who exercises poor discretion and then is too prideful to reverse a bad call (and in one of the rare situations where reversal wouldnât require undoing a bunch of follow-on action, no less). It was just bad (read: everyday) umpiring.
On a related note: has anybody had a strong enough stomach to read about whatever âunintended consequencesâ Manfred fears from robo-umps for balls and strikes?
Once itâs Infield Fly called by HPUâŚhow can there be obstruction by a guy walking back to 2B?
In goofing around looking at bad calls, I found this one. Itâs from a few years ago, but I donât recall seeing it. It doesnât get much worse.
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Isnât Junior Valentine the phantom balk caller?
On Stanek
One more this year, IIRC.
As a runner, you have to yield the right of way to a fielder attempting to make a play.
It is the runnerâs responsibility to stay out of the way/fielderâs path, and intent has zero to do with the call.
Yes, heâs been known as a âticky tackâ umpire for quite a while.
And BTW, I agree with Mark. You can call interference there, but that doesnât mean you should.
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Yeah he swung, but he didnât really mean it.
The Athletic put out a piece today on Angel Hernandez. Does lightning-rod umpire Angel Hernandez deserve his villainous reputation? ($)
There is this gem:
âAnybody that says heâs the worst umpire in baseball doesnât know what theyâre talking about,â said Joe West, who has umpired more games than anyone ever, and has himself drawn plenty of criticism over the years.
Really that is the best expert witness you could find?
Basically the article says if you know him he is a good guy but as an ump, heâs not statistically the worst (just in the bottom 3rd).
This isnât the Athleticâs best effort.
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And now weâll kick it to our expert in serial killers, take it away Jeff Dahmer!
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I almost said that is like Jeffry Dahmer saying Ted Bundy isnât that bad of a guy.
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He is known for giving all the leftover baseballs to kids on games he HPUs.
What a guy! Giving away something free that he doesnât pay for after being terrible at his job 90 percent of the time!
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I wonder how many of those he would give away if he had to pay the going rate of approx $15 (used) for each one.
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