One of the things I like most about sports is how a game changes over time; how different a game is now, than even 5 years ago. (Another thing I like is how they stay remarkably the same- for example, as many juicers as there were jacking pop flies out of shrunken ball parks during the Steroid Era, baseball still has only three hitters who've ever hit 700 home runs.) But this post is about change. You watch a football game and see a free safety drill a receiver over the middle that the QB hung out to dry. Ten years ago, it would've gotten the safety on that week's installment of Jacked UP; now, that very same play gets him a week's worth of unpaid vacation, and an unsolicited and involuntary paycheck donation to the NFL. Some changes are good; some not so good. Usually, though, the not so good changes are eventually addressed.
One thing I noticed watching Sunday's Royals game- and it's something that's been around the game for a while, but it's really starting to emerge these last few years- is what I'd like to call the Rise of the Celebrity Umpire. These guys go out of their way to attract attention to themselves in a game. Baseball isn't the only sport. I think Ed Hochuli takes much pride in his workout routine, and goes out of his way to let everyone know what a great lawyer he is with his long winded explanations. I think Mike Carey and Ed Hightower like pointing....a lot. But these actions only draw attention when attention is already on these referees. It's not like Hochuli intentionally calls a holding penalty to get air time- he just relishes the time he already gets. And his explanations are often helpful to fans not familiar with the game, or even for NFL die hards, a lot of plays have nuances to them that they may not understand. Whether it's a block or a charge, you have to call something, so I really don't care what Hightower does when he's making the call so long as he gets it right. With Hightower, even though he makes a lot of mistakes, coaches and players have praised him, not only for his consistency, but also his demeanor. Particularly, he's been very informative to players who are still learning the game- and the college game is still an instructional level, for most players. I'm okay with making the most of attention you already have. What I'm seeing too often in baseball is a different problem.
These guys go out of their way to get attention. 30,000 people paid good money to see the Royals and Cardinals- two of the best 30 baseball clubs in the world- play a competitive game. They paid to see a future Hall of Famer in Albert Pujols. They paid to see All Star Joakim Soria. The paid to see Rookie of the Year candidate Eric Hosmer. They paid to watch Tony LaRussa manage a game. Instead what they got to watch, was Joe West's crew umpiring a baseball game.
Angel Campos is God awful. Maybe he's a great guy-I don't know him personally, so I don't intend this to be a personal attack, but his umpiring leaves some things to desire. He missed an obvious balk in Saturday's game (once a pitcher comes set, he has to break, if he wants to throw over; he can't make a snap throw, even if he steps to the base). He called an inconsistent strike zone all day Sunday (I don't care if you have a small zone; the pitchers can adjust to this; Tim McClelland has a small zone, and pitchers like him just fine; what gives pitchers fits is when an umpire will call two pitches in the same spot different things, especially when it's the same pitch in the same spot.) for both teams (hence the high scoring). He refused to ask for help on a bunt attempt that he didn't see. Finally, he ejected Matt Treanor when he had absolutely no business doing so.
Conversation with the catcher over balls and strikes is part of the game- especially in the bigs. Every game has its unwritten rules (called etiquette). In golf, for example, the player with the lowest score on the last hole has the honor of teeing first; the player whose ball is furthest from the cup goes ahead of those closer to the pin; if one player has a long putt, and you have a tap, go ahead and hole out to get off the green; don't walk across a player's putting line. In basketball, if the other team isn't fouling you when you have a late lead, milk the shot clock. In soccer, if a player from the other team is injured and you have the ball and there's no advantage, play the ball out; then, if you're the other team, on your throw in, throw it back to the other team's goalie (this is nowhere in the rule books, but I've seen people get carded for not doing it). In football, you don't pass when you're up late and leading by two possessions; don't try and "steal" the other team's audibles.
Baseball is no exception. You don't steal when you're ahead big after the 5th inning. You don't bunt to break up a no hitter (I've never understood this rule), or when you have a big lead. If you're the batter, you don't peek back at the catcher. Last, when you're the catcher, and you're having the game long conversation with the umpire over balls and strikes, you don't turn around. The flip side of this rule, is that, if you're the umpire, you don't get in the catcher's face. When you're had enough, dust off home plate- this lets the catcher know the conversation is finished. If the catcher proceeds, squeeze the zone, but do not, under any circumstance, "show the catcher up"; he's not showing you up, and you owe it to him to reciprocate.
Sunday was the second game I've seen recently (the other was umpire Mike Eastabrook last year with Jason Kendall) where an umpire either didn't know one of the most fundamental rules of the game- one that anyone who's watched major league baseball for any considerable amount of time knows- or he just blatantly disregarded it. I understand both were minor league umpires, and that things are different there; that umpires have more control over the games. However, this is the big leagues. And it's very difficult for me to believe Angel Campos didn't know this rule- I know it, and I've never played baseball. What's more likely is that he's the latest in a breed of hot shot umps who not only want to control the game, they want to be it, as well. They won't take any flack from anybody, and the first time anyone disagrees, they run that person from the game.
I understand that the game of baseball is full of players who, quite frankly, are jerks. The temptation, as an umpire, is to fire back. The problem is, this isn't the umpires' job. You see NFL games all the time where a player is dissatisfied with a call, and makes a public display- occasionally, he'll even get flagged. You know what you don't see? The referee getting back up into that players face and shouting back. Even in basketball, the ref might T the guy up, or maybe even eject him, but he doesn't argue back. And that's exactly what you're seeing in baseball. In fact, what you're seeing more and more of, are umpires who INITIATE disputes.
What Eastabrook did to Kendall was completely out of line. And the Royals aren't the only team it's happened to. Tampa Bay, the Chi Sox, the BoSox, and the Diamondbacks have had similar run ins with maverick umpires. As a lawyer, the first day of Trial Advocacy class (AKA How To Try a Case 101), within the first 5 minutes, our instructor advised us that in a court room there are 3 areas of sanctity- 3 areas that you, as an attorney, need permission to go into: the witness box, the jury box, and the bench (hence "Permission to approach."). In baseball, the catcher's box is a lot like that. That's his space, and the umps really have no business there. If you're an ump and you get into a catcher's face, what do you think he's going to do? What do you think his manager is going to do? If you get in a catcher's face, you're arbitrarily deciding to scratch him from the line up. He's going to get ejected, because you're baiting him. As an umpire, your job is to see the game and call what you see. When you do what Campos did, you're affecting the game, and you're doing so on your own accord. It'd be like Ed Hochuli getting into Peyton Manning's huddle to reprimand him.
Jim Joyce, last year, had a famously awful blown call, costing Armando Galarraga a perfect game. In 1985, Don Denkinger, arguably cost the Cardinals a World Series. Both were- and still are- highly respected umpires. The reason is that each of them acknowledged his mistake. And neither became too emotional when the other team called him out (Denkinger showed much more patience with Whitey Herzog than Campos did with Treanor). Sports are highly emotional games. Players and coaches get very high strung. A lot of money and pride are at stake. Umpires and referees are supposed to be voices of sanity and objectivity. When umpires do what Campos did Sunday, they're neither.
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