Umpires.....

        Wednesday night's game between the Braves and Nationals was a pretty good game, Harper hit his 28th HR, Charlie Culberson seems to just have a knack for doing big things, hitting a 3 run HR to give the Braves the lead, and Ronald Acuna Jr hit a HR and robbed a HR. The Braves won the game 8-3 and pulled within .5 of the Phillies for 1st in the east. Despite all of this, there is likely going to be a lot of talk the next day or two about umpires as rookie sensation Juan Soto was ejected in the 6th inning. Soto was getting in the box for this 3rd plate appearance after striking out on a borderline slider with men on in the 4th. Soto was cleaning the box with his spikes, said something to home plate umpire Greg Gibson, and you can see Gibson remove his mask and say "What". Soto then said something again and was promptly ejected from the game.
     The professional tweeters instantly jumped all over MLB and the umpires with the hashtag #umpshow. Of course everyone and their dog seem to also be professional lip readers, even when Soto's head was down. There didn't seem to be a camera angle that caught what Soto initially said, but it was clear he initiated the conversation. I think we are rushing to judgement here, I'm not defending Gibson's move to run Soto, but I'm not going to likewise defend Soto without knowing the context. What was clear is that he was bringing up an at bat from 2 innings back. After looking at the pitch it was registered as on the corner by the "K Zone", but nevertheless Soto thought it was a good idea to bring it up in his next plate appearance. There were definitely other pitches that Gibson missed, like a called 3rd strike to Harper that was clearly out of the zone. I bring that up to make the point that Gibson was inconsistent most of the night. This happens, every now and then you get an umpire who is probably just having an off night. These umpires are dissected and examined throughout the year, and there is a long line of younger guys waiting to take their place. If an umpire is consistently bad usually they don't hang around very long, usually.

     The other point that many people brought up was that Gibson ran Soto because he is a rookie. There may be something to that. It is somewhat of an unwritten rule that young guys, specifically rookies don't call out umpires, much less argue with them. Say what you want about baseball's unwritten rules, but there is something to telling these young guys to earn their stripes before they attempt to throw their weight around. If Joey Votto is arguing a strike zone it has more value than a rookie, no matter how talented he is. Even in that same game, you saw Harper get a longer leash on the argument than Soto did, Harper is established and he has somewhat earned his right to gripe. Also, I think because Soto brought up the argument in the next at bat, that really hurt his cause. If you're going to state your case, do it right after the call is made, what good does bringing up a pitch from 2 innings ago do for you as a hitter. 

     Bottom line for this case, I think Gibson had an itchy trigger finger maybe caused by some dugout chirping, but until we know exactly what was said we can't make a true decision on whether it was valid. 

     Umpires in general I think have gotten a bad rap. Now this is nothing new, because everyone has always yelled at the umpire. That tradition is just as old as the game it self. It's safe to say umpires in general have improved over the years, and if you don't think so go watch a game from the 70's or 80's and tell me what you think about their zones and calls. Or pull up video of the 1997 NLCS between the Braves and Marlins and look at the strike zone Livan Hernandez was given. The point is umpires are not perfect and I'm not sure if we really want that. 

     I believe with the surge in analytics and increase in technology has brought an expectation that nothing should ever go wrong in a baseball game. The game is broken down like code into numbers that predict all outcomes and tell the managers and players everything that is going to happen so they can be prepared, but then the umpires come in and "ruin it". The human element that the umpires bring allows for the human element of the players to show as well. When that shortstop makes the diving play in the hole and makes a strong throw across the infield and it's bang-bang at first, you want to see that umpire wind up and punch that guy out. If we reduce it to automated machines that signal it on scoreboard, it won't have that same feel. The called 3rd strike has been a real treat to watch some who do get a little animated. If you want to see robotic umpires go watch a fastpitch softball game. All umpires make the strike calls exactly the same, and it's BORING! The human element is what makes the game special from all aspects. 

     There is talk of an automated strike zone, I believe it is coming. I'm not excited about it, but it's hard to stand in the way of "progress". I think that the ultimate goal for some people is to eliminate the need for umpires, again to keep from anything going wrong. I saw a piece on MLB network the other day discussing whether they should get rid of the error, and just everything put in play is a hit. It seems ridiculous, but who knows where people will take things. That's a whole different conversation.