[Cannon Shell]

Originally Posted by Rupert Pupkin

I know that seems to be the prevailing opinion that as long as they are consistent, then it is ok. I agree with you that it is obviously much better if they are consistent and in most of the games I'm complaing about, the umpire was in fact conistent. But as a hitter, you still have have practically no chance, even if you know that the umpire is giving the pitcher a wide strike-zone. You can try to adjust and swing at the pitches that are 4 inches outside, but you are still at a huge disadvantage. You have to start crowding the plate so you can reach that outside pitch. Then you have no chance on the pitches on the inside corner.

And often times, the umpire is only giving the call to the big-name pitcher and not the pitcher on the other team.

http://www.baseballprospectus.com/unfiltered/?p=1331

I do know is that Hirschbeck has absolutely no incentive to act with the intent suggested by Cohen. Umpires are constantly reviewed, and it would be bad enough for Hirschbeck that he missed these calls, period, let alone that he purposely missed them in an attempt to send a message. Actions like that tend to result in fines and discipline, not high praise.

The PITCHf/x data further confirms the outside location of this controversial pitch. While serving as home plate umpire this season, with right handed hitters up to bat, Hirschbeck has had to make a call (IE - ball wasn’t fouled off, whiffed at, or put in play) on 373 different pitches with similar horizontal location to the Manny pitch. He called strikes on 32 of these pitches, several of which were further outside than the slider to Ramirez. Hirschbeck hasn’t missed calls on pitches like this that often but the Ramirez call certainly wasn’t an isolated incident.

Does he harbor ill will towards Ramirez? I don’t know. I doubt Gary Cohen knows either. If Yuniesky Betancourt or some other hacktastic hitter with a poor eye were called out on a pitch like this, everyone would question the call for thirty-four seconds and then move on with their lives. Since it is Manny we’re talking about here, the same pitch suddenly balloons into a potential conspiracy with umpires “fixing” at bats to shun a player whose actions they look down on. It’s possible, no doubt, but it seems like a far reach that better fits person opinions on what should happen rather than what actually happened.