MLB umps are under the microscope for every pitch, every out, every missed call. At some point, they start fighting back. That was the case Wednesday.
Less than 24 hours after Guardians catcher Austin Hedges skewered umpires for an overturned call at home plate, the MLB Umpires Association released a statement defending the call and berated MLB and its players for implementing the somewhat confusing home plate collision rule (via ESPN):
The statement also answered some of Hedges’ critiques regarding a seeming lack of accountability for the men in blue:
It’s simple: don’t block home plate without possession of the baseball or change the rule.
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Like players, our mistakes are subject to intense public scrutiny and we are also held accountable by our employer in performance evaluations. Although we don’t always know in real time if our calls are correct, we review them closely following the game and try to learn from any mistakes.
The play that sparked the MLBUA’s statement occurred in a Tuesday matchup between Detroit and Cleveland. A replay review overturned an out call at the plate; Detroit would score three runs in the inning and the Guardians would go on to lose the game 4-3.
Hedges, the catcher on the play, would deliver a takedown of the umpires following the game in a heated diatribe, calling their performance a “debacle.”
Rule 7.13, colloquially titled the “Buster Posey rule,” dictates that catchers may no longer block the plate without possession of the ball. The rule has oftentimes been met with confusion and the league has, multiple times, tried to clarify the application of said rule.
Still, it’s been done to no avail, and it looks like umpires are trying to finish the debate, not continue it.
