#RobotUmps

Check out the gap between the called third strike and home plate

Yesterday Mariano Rivera record his 16th save of the season.  The final out was a strikeout of Michael Morse.  No one confuses Morse for an elite hitter, but the need to review the final strike call is glaring.  It wasn’t close.  I know humans aren’t perfect and they get graded and all, but it’s just a bad call to end a game.  And then the umpire, Jerry Layne, did his little strike out dance.  Is this really necessary.  Does an NFL referee add a little stank to his offsides call?  Be a professional, audibly say strike three, maybe make a fist to indicate out and walk off the field.  Below is the pitch chart.

The worst is that the pitch is right next to a called ball.  98% accuracy is fine when the misses are close.  I’m not sure exactly how the umpires are graded but the misses should be weighted by distance from zone.  A call missed by an inch isn’t as bad as one missed by 6 inches.  Abtter should protect the plate and probably swing at a close one.  But no one can reasonably expect Morse to swing at a pitch like that. (unless he is fooled, which he is a decent amount)  To top it all off, Fayne does his strikeout dance to end the game.  Not quite an #umpshow, but combined with the bad call, it’s horrible.

Jerry Fayne about to pull a Street Fighter tiger upper cut on Michael Morse