Stellini: MLB’s ‘ump show’ hits social media
From Nick Stellini at Baseball Prospectus on June 19, 2019:
There’s a kernel of traditional baseball wisdom that the only way you know an umpire’s name is if they’re a bad umpire. The umpires, theoretically, are there to serve as a sort of inherent force of baseball natue. They call balls and strikes, determine who’s out on the bases, what’s fair and foul, and so on. They’re there to quell beanball wars and explain the ramifications of asses being in jackpots. If you know their name, it’s probably in association with bad strike zones or antagonism, or both. If you’re a reader of this site, or even perhaps just a casual fan of the game, odds are you know the names of some umpires, and you probably hold some negative sentiments for them. This isn’t necessarily a column about poor umpiring (only partially) but about what the role of umpires should be, and how umpires apparently view their place within baseball.
Read the full article here: https://www.baseballprospectus.com/news/article/50841/prospectus-feature-mlbs-ump-show-hits-social-media/
Originally published: June 20, 2019. Last Updated: June 20, 2019.