Results tagged ‘ idiot ’
‘Bout Damn Time: Umpire Bob Davidson Suspended For A Game
by Craig Calcaterra @ Hardball Talk
Bob Davidson, the umpire with the absolute worst temperament in the game of baseball, has been suspended for a game by Major League Baseball. Why? For poor “situation handling.”
Umpire Bob Davidson has received a one-game suspension for his repeated violations of the Office of the Commissioner’s standards for situation handling, Major League Baseball announced today.
This is clearly the result of his run-in with Charlie Manuel the other day when, after Manuel barked something from the dugout, Davidson made a point to unleash an obnoxious and defensive expletive-filled rant at Manuel. Which is nothing new for Davidson.
He has repeatedly picked fights with players and managers over the years, escalating situations that should have been innocuous and otherwise not acting like the voice of reason and authority that an official in any capacity — be they umpire, referee, judge, cop, teacher or parent — should be.
In case you haven’t guessed, I am pleased at the suspension. I am even more pleased at the fact that MLB has announced this discipline to the world rather than keep it quiet. The best way to improve officiating is to impose such discipline and to do so in a transparent manner.
Now: if only it was for more than one game …
Bob Davidson: Baseball’s Grumpy Old Man
Source: Deadspin
Welcome to Better Know An Umpire, an effort to educate ourselves on the human elements who have ultimate decision-making power over some 2,500 Major League Baseball games a year.
Name: Bob Davidson (a.k.a. Balkin’ Bob)
Uniform number: 61
Age: 59
Height/weight: 6 feet, 230 pounds
First year as MLB umpire: 1982
Total MLB games worked through 2011: 3,298 (home plate: 840)
Previous experience: Midwest League, Florida State League, Florida Instructional League, Southern League, Dominican Republic Winter League, American Association
Career ejections: 148 (eight in 2011)
No-hitters called: Zero
Over/under record (1999-2011): 99-95
Hated in: Every stadium he works
Notable alleged blown calls: Phillies-Marlins, August 5, 2010; Mets-Yankees, May 18, 2008
Claim to fame: On Aug. 23, 1989, Davidson ejected Youppi!, the Montreal Expos mascot, after repeated complaints from Dodgers manager Tommy Lasorda. It seems Youppi! had been dancing on top of the Dodgers dugout roof while dressed in a nightgown.
Scouting report from Major League Umpires’ Performance, 2007-2010, by Andy Goldblatt:
Davidson is the game’s angry old man. His career ejection rate of 4.4 percent is twice the major league norm. … When it comes to plate judgment, Davidson isn’t at all controversial.
Scouting report from a legendary sports columnist:
Davidson has a history of grandstanding to draw attention to himself, whether it be his incessant balk calls, his meddling into other umpires’ calls, his rabbit ears, thin skin, and quick ejections.
Baseball players, managers and coaches have come to expect Davidson to hot-dog his way through games.
…
I don’t even know why I’m mentioning specific episodes; if I listed every call that Davidson got wrong I’d be typing for the next 48 hours at least. He’s a disgrace to the game and has been for many, many years. Baseball people laugh at him.
But here’s what worse: that MLB continues to employ this clown. Davidson is living proof of the low, almost non-existent, standards for MLB umpiring in today’s game.
Average K/9 (2010): 14.2
Average BB/9 (2010): 5.92
Sample PITCHf/x strike zone: May 25, 2010. Rays manager Joe Maddon and outfielder Carl Crawford were ejected for arguing balls and strikes. (Called strikes against Tampa Bay hitters are shown as red triangles.)
True fact: On September 7, 2010, before Trevor Hoffman recorded his 600th career save, Davidson pulled off the holy trifecta of ejections: the home team (Brewers outfielder Chris Dickerson), the road team (Cardinals pitching coach Dave Duncan), and a drunk fan.
On umpiring:
I fucked it up. I’m the one who thought it was a damn foul ball. I saw it on the replay. I’m the one who fucked it up so you can put that in your paper. … Bolts and nuts, I fucked up. You’ve just got to move on. No one feels worse about it than I do.
Strike 3 Call:
Youk & Dustin Pedroia respond to Bobby Valentine’s criticism of Youkilis
Even after winning the first three games of their four game series versus division rival the Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox are finding ways to create controversy.
In an interview with WHDH before Sunday’s game, Red Sox manager Bobby Valentine said of Youkilis:
“I don’t think he’s as physically or emotionally into the game as he has been in the past for some reason. But [on Saturday] it seemed, you know, he’s seeing the ball well, got those two walks, got his on-base percentage up higher than his batting average, which is always a good thing, and he’ll move on from there.”
WEEI’s Rob Bradford reports that Youkilis arrived early to the stadium, where he met in private with Valentine.
The criticism comes as Youkilis showed signs of recovering from a slow start to the season.
Not surprisingly, Kevin Youkilis was asked about Bobby Valentine’s comment that Youk was not “physically or emotionally into the game.” Rob Bradford of WEEI has his comments:
“That’s not what I see. I go out every day and play as hard as I can. I take every ground ball in the morning, take every at-bat like it’s my last. I don’t think my game has changed at all … I’m more confused than anything, because I think everyone knows I go out and play the game as hard as I can.”
Meanwhile on Monday, Dustin Pedroia came to his teammate’s defense in comments to the media. NESN’s Tom Caron tweeted Pedroia as saying:
”I don’t really understand what Bobby’s trying to do. But that’s really not the way we go about our stuff here. I’m sure he’ll figure that out soon. We’ve got Youk’s back. He’s played his [butt] off for us for a long time …”
Asked if he thought Valentine’s comments could have been meant as a motivational tool, Pedroia didn’t sound impressed.
“Maybe in Japan or something,” he said, referring to Valentine’s stint as a manager there. “Over here in the U.S., we’re on a three-game winning streak, we want to feel good and keep it rolling. We feel we have a good team and we’ve just got to get each other’s backs and play together. Because if you don’t do that, I don’t care what sport you’re playing, you’re not going to win.”
The comments from Pedroia undoubtedly will revive Curt Schilling’s take on Valentine, where he suggested that the manager was not a good fit for the Red Sox.
Even as a Yankees fan I have quite a few fans of the Red Sox for friends and I can say the news that this assclown was hired as their new manager this off-season was almost universally regarded as a “dumpster fire waiting to happen”.
After witnessing all of this it’s not hard to understand why.
