Ok guys, tell me what you think:
http://www.ajc.com/highschool/content/sp...ab_newstab
This happened May 31st (just two days ago) in the State Championship game (game 3 of 3 game series) between my high school Cartersville and Stephens County. Cartersville is in purple (Purple Hurricanes) and Stephens is in red (Indians). Cartersville has now won 4 state titles in the past 8 years. Stephens last made it to the state finals 35 years ago.
The Cartersville pitcher had just recorded his 9th straight strikeout in a row just an inning before (6th of them looking). The last batter, the #9 ranked player in the nation for 2008 was caught looking. He then began to cuss the umpire. The next half-inning with a runner on second, the catcher ducks and the ball hits the umpire square in the mask. The pitcher is the brother of the last batter that struck out.
Was it intentional? The cheering you hear with air horns and such is from the Stephens side.
Video link:
http://www.workhorsevideoproductions.com...0pitch.mpg
The pitcher doesn't act like it was on purpose... I'd tend to agree with the excuse, the catcher was waiting on a curveball and it never broke.
It looked like the catcher intentionally missed the ball.
You'd be hard pressed to convince me that wasn't on purpose...
I was an umpire for 8 years and only got hit on foul balls, passed balls that got through the catchers legs, etc., but have never been intentionally thrown at. That my friends is as intentional as it gets. However, I think it was the catcher that caused it to be intentional. I've never see someone go down to stop a breaking ball like that before the ball is even supposed to break.
The coach can say he called for a breaking ball, but normally the catcher doesn't go down like that unless the ball is actually breaking.
Watch the catcher's head. He's ducking. If he was anticipating a curve, he'd be watching the ball, not where he thinks it's gonna end up.
Put me down on the intentional side. It's all a little too coincidental for me.
Is the umpire part of the field? Does count as a wild pitch & the runner get to advance or is it a dead ball when it hits the umpire?
Umpire is part of the field in all situations except one. An umpire is NOT a part of the field, if, when an umpire is inside the diamond (behind the pitcher's mound but to one side..either in front of 2B or SS) and a line drive hits the umpire first. At that point the play is dead.
Other than that, the umpire is part of the field. The runner was allowed to move up to third base.
The fact that the team was in the championship game (game 3 of a best of 3 series at that), plus the guy on second, makes me believe it was not intentional. We don't know much about the pitcher, maybe they called for a breaking ball in the dirt? I guess maybe I just am not as pessimistic as others...
The score was 9-1 (Cartersville ahead, the white and purple team) and the Cartersville pitcher had struck out 9 straight batters.
That catcher looks like he intended it. Not so sure about the pitcher. The catcher put his head way down before the ball got there. It might be easier to compare if we had video of the pitch that they claim they were supposed to be throwing to compare the actions of the catcher to. Did he always put his head down like that, or was this different?
The Georgia High School Sports Association fined the school $1,000 today. The Umpires Association is seeking legal action.
techfan4 Wrote:The Georgia High School Sports Association fined the school $1,000 today. The Umpires Association is seeking legal action.
Criminal or civil? I don't see how you could get past reasonable doubt in a criminal case & can't see the damages being worth pursuing in a civil trial.
Wow. I don't know if the pitcher had anything to do with it, but the catcher sure made it look intentional on his part. That catcher bailed out waaaayyyyy before the ball got there. He didn't even pretend that he was trying to catch the ball. Rather, it looks like he called for a high, tight pitch knowing the batter would get out of the way and he could duck it to make sure it hit the ump. That would be assault and battery, but proving intent is a problem because he was savvy enough to come up with an implausible excuse for the way he acted. Maybe that is the legal action the umpire's association is talking about.
I have seen plenty of umps who should have legal action taken against them for impersonation of an umpire. That said, there is no place in the game for that foolishness.
This incident made the Bill O'Reilly show, USA Today, MSNBC, Sports Illustrated, CNN, and ESPN on ABCNews.
The umpire now has the Major League Baseball Umpires Association backing him legally. THEY want him to seek legal action.
Stay tuned...
yeah, it's up on espn.com