Anger towards umpires and why I feel like an ass
by BMcCarthy
Sixth inning of a tie game- 1 out- runners on 1st & 3rd- Elvis Andrus hitting. He attempts a squeeze bunt and pops it up. I run in, dive and catch it. Then I throw to third base to complete the inning ending double play.
Except, that’s not how Laz Diaz saw it. He said that I “trapped it”, and then all hell broke loose. I went nuts, Bob Melvin came out to defend me (and argue the horrible call) and went nuts too. Over and over Laz continued to say that he saw me “trap the ball”. And that’s what pushed me over the edge. I cannot stand being accused of something I didn’t do- or someone telling me that I’m wrong when I am 100% certain that I’m in the right. So this was the perfect storm for me to be pissed off.
I try to never be angry on a baseball field, especially over an umpire’s decisions. That’s mostly because you can’t change anything and because my focus is so singular when I’m pitching, that worrying about anything else becomes destructive.
This one was different for all the reasons I listed earlier. That point in the game was extremely high leverage. If he correctly rules that I caught it, then I’ve completed six innings (helpful for saving the bullpen) and we’re tied. After that play, Texas were now up 4-3 with runners on 1st and 2nd and one out. That is two massively different scenarios as a result of that decision. Combine that with another grown adult telling me that I trapped the ball (when I knew for a fact that wasn’t the case) and I exploded.
Usually I enjoy swearing, but only on much friendlier terms. I was swearing at Laz like he had personally tried to screw me and now the more I look back at it, I was being an asshole. I could’ve sworn at him until my cerebellum melted, but what would that have solved? Nothing.
In the future, I think I’m going to start going for the much calmer discussion/debates. Raging can be fun, but nothing gets accomplished. I’m very aware that Laz did what he felt was correct. I don’t know how he didn’t see me catch that ball, but he says he did and under his job title, I’m obligated to abide by that. He’s just doing his job as best as he knows how, and I stood there and screamed and belittled him for it. That’s not how I want to carry myself going forward.
Of course this brings up the Replay debate, of which I’m sure I’ll write about in the future.
we all lose our heads sometimes, man. I’m a huge baseball fan and am really looking forward to reading your blog. I think your persistence and willingness to adapt during your career are very inspiring. In my opinion this incident is ultimately a positive because your response to what happened is mature. I’m sure the fact you guys scored a W helps, too.
“Raging can be fun.” – This made me actually laugh out loud. What’s important is you helped your team beat the defending AL champs in a hard-fought game. You got them in a position to win the game, and that should be a good feeling to have. Keep up the good work on the mound and on here.
Solid post. Very cool to hear someone else’s thoughts on a situation where they were cheated. It’s always easier to be level headed once out of the situation at hand. All sports are so intense and dramatic it has to be hard to keep your cool even as a professional. It will be interesting to see what happens next time you get shafted like that, hope your cooler head prevails. As much as it sucks that it is the case, professional ball players are idols to kids. How you guys act in the face of a bad call, terrible loss, or great win really rings home with them. Best advice I’ve ever heard is “Act like you’ve been there before and you’ll be there again.” It works in both winning and losing, and being on the good side or as end of a bad call. As everything else, it’s always easier said than done.
Great to get the perspective of the player in these situations. Good read.
I think the replay aspect is the key thing here (let’s face it – whether you’re raging or reasoning the umpire isn’t going to change his mind). The human element is important in sports, but (and I’m not sure how much gets replayed on the big screens in the stadium) it’s not right that replays of the big, contentious calls are often available to everyone – except the guys charged with getting them right.
agreed 100%
I think what is most upsetting as a fan watching is that he didn’t bother to ask for assistance from any other ump and got the chance to get more thoughts on the play. I would rather have the right call made and time taken to make the right call.
As for your behavior I think it is a very advanced mentality that many people, including myself, struggle to achieve. When something like this happens you need to be able to blow steam off and usually it is the ump who gets the short end. Having bob go out and defend you and get tossed just helps motivate the team even more. There are times where you need to stay passive and other times you have to let it out. It’s a hard line to walk.
I agree about asking for help. One of the guys on MLB Tonight made a related point about the recent missed call in Colorado when Helton was several feet off of first. That was that the other umpires seem to always want to defend the other guy’s call, even when it is obviously wrong. It seems as though the better thing to do for your fellow umpire would be to jelp him get it right. Otherwise, he’ll have to own that awful call the rest of the year, and in some cases for the rest of his career. But they seem to be more concerned with not ‘showing up’ each other.
Most umpires act like old-school cops and defend their own reputations and the reputations of their brethren first and foremost. Any umpire with even a modicum of introspective capacity realizes that his profession is becoming increasingly obsolete. Selfish protectionist tendencies are innate in workers facing uncertain futures.
However, it does seem quaint and naive to put up such a united front in the face of concrete daily/nightly evidence of their failures.
I umpire baseball. Do I work anything higher than High School and small Juco ball? No. Question for you…who does Diaz go to for help? The glove is moving towards home plate and Diaz is the ONLY guy who would have a look at the catch/no catch. If you ask U2/U3/U4 what they got…nothing but an ass, soles of feet and some elbows. There is no way ANYONE can help Laz on this play. He has to own it in his best judgement and go on with the game. Did he blow the call? Is super-slow replay, probably. In real time it’s too close to tell. He has a 50/50 chance to get it right. Make no mistake, someone was probably going home on that call…
Do players usually apologise to Umps the day after incidents like this, or is that uncommon?
Great question… I would love to know what conversations players/managers have with umps following incidents like this.
Brandon, what happens next time Diaz is umping one of your starts? Do you make a joke of it? Pretend like it never happened?
Justin Verlander recently apologized for things he said to an umpire during a game, I believe Dan Bellino.
I remember in the WS last year, Lance Berkman thought a ball was outside and he was not happy. But, I guess he went in the clubhouse and got to look at the pitch on the pitch tracker and the next time up he was smiling and talking to the ump.
I think that is good to see.
Didn’t the ump who took away the no hitter from the pitcher in Detroit, eventually write a book together?
Not saying we all have to do that but it is good to see the redemptive side of sports.
As a former Athletic Trainer I love everything sports related, but even more when it comes from the perspective of an athlete. Looking forward to more posts!! And still holding out hope that one day MLB will fall in line with every other major league sport and realize umpires can’t see everything and that instant replay is needed more. Maybe give each manager a red flag like in football!!!!
i agree with what your saying…. but he had a horrible angle to the ball. He was blocked by kurt suzuki. There is no way he saw the ball. Pretty sure he just guessed the call. Umpires shouldnt think that asking another umpire for help isn’t wrong. I think its a ego thing. They just need to sack up and ask for help.
I’m a fan of an NL team, but I don’t like seeing bad calls. It detracts from the fan’s enjoyment, and clearly, doesn’t make you players happy either. Why not get them right? It is certainly possible to do so. Let PitchFX call the balls and strikes, and use replay when necessary to get the calls right. That way, players decide the game.
I think most people would have reacted similarly in that situation (that was a wretched call) but good for you to be able to take a step back and look at it from a less heated point of view.
And for making a blog instead of blowing up twitter.
Not a lot of players are capable of checking their egos and admitting when something they did or the way they acted may have been out of line. It’s refreshing to see that there are still players with common sense and decency left in the game.
With that said…I would have gone ballistic too.
[...] describing the play and the argument, McCarthy says: Usually I enjoy swearing, but only on much friendlier terms. I was swearing at Laz like he had [...]
Good Stuff BMac. As a lifelong A’s fan living in NC I must tell you that I am pumped about the squad this year. My 8 year old asks daily…when is Brandon pitching again? Always wants to see the highlights. He’ll love seeing your blog. Let’s GO OAK-LAND!
Fortunately for me, I wasn’t watching the game live or even able to listen to it on the radio (no FM signal where I work) so my initial exposure to ‘the call’ was through live tweets of the game from others. After seeing replays of the play later, I can fully understand why ANYONE would have acted the way they did “in the moment”, especially when it was YOU who made the play.
It’s been said you can’t see yourself and what you’re doing at the time, so you have to rely on others to tell you after the fact… but you OBVIOUSLY can FEEL yourself catch a ball… and the act of trapping requires you to do something altogether mechanically different. For me, the telling part of your KNOWING you had caught the ball was you instant instinctive action to get to your knees and throw to third… why else would you have done that?
I don’t think you need to berate yourself for your reaction to the call. I think in the heat of the moment you did what any seasoned professional would have done- someone questioned your veracity and you defended your actions. You didn’t go on and on, kick dirt on his shoes, spit in his face (yeah and that guy is in the HoF?), throw your glove at him… you swore. Adults do that in many situations.
Could you have reacted differently? Maybe. But in the years I’ve watched you, I’ve never seen you faced with a similar situation and I don’t think you’ve ever had to react to this wretched of a call before. Will you react differently if it (We hope not) ever happens again? Yeah, I can say based on your comments you likely will.
Having seen the transformation you’ve made over recent years in your professional life to be the best you can be at what you do, I can fully understand someone questioning your veracity, especially in a critical juncture of the game, setting you off. And that’s what I saw happen- you were set off your routine and your game. The outcome of a game is supposed to be determined by the 18 players in uniform on the field, NOT the guys who are there as paid observers.
Je was wrong…and youre learning a terrific lesson! Kudos!
Awesome. I hope this becomes a regular thing! (You writing, not umpires screwing you over).
I enjoy swearing too, it makes me feel superior to others when I come up with a new and creative way to introduce it into everyday conversations.
“I cannot stand being accused of something I didn’t do- or someone telling me that I’m wrong when I am 100% certain that I’m in the right.”
I am 100% the exact same way! I will pretty much lose my temper with any one – and I mean any one – who does this to me. This happens to everyone. Don’t stress it.
You may have been an ass to the umpire, but least you didn’t go all Brett Lawrie or Delmon Young on him.
I didn’t see the play but did you throw the pitch expecting a squeeze and expecting a pop up?
[...] Diaz ruled that McCarthy had trapped the ball, and a run scored. A replay showed that Diaz missed the call. McCarthy was understandably upset with the ruling, so he went berserk. Then, he created a blog. [...]
…more Richard Marx, less apologizing for yelling. keep up the good work.
Brandon,
Good to see you man up and accept your reaction was not the best way to handle things. Hopefully next time you run into Diaz he will also man up and admit he was wrong too.
Brandon,
Great read man. I like that you write about what goes one inside a players mind, rather than spouting off the cliche things you have to say in front of the media. I hope you stick with it man, I enjoy it.
I write an Orioles blog on wordpress, thebohpen.com. By the way, I don’t live in my moms basement. I have a room in the attic.
[...] his credit, McCarthy, who often speaks his mind on Twitter, took the time to explain himself and his reaction to the play after the game on his blog: I went nuts, Bob Melvin came out [...]
I reacted the same way in my living room as you reacted on the field, even though no one on the field could hear me. I wonder if Laz would have asked for help from 3rd if they would have overturned the play. Big difference that the boys came back and won the game, or I think I would still be steamed by the call.
I watch a lot of A’s games, the only ones I miss aren’t on TV, and this year as been remarkable in that there have been few missed calls that have gone against the A’s and even few that have gone for them. In year’s past, it has been mostly the opposite, and at a much higher frequency. Maybe the 2012 A’s are going to be the team of destiny!!!
You guys sure are fun to watch, I feel like you are never out of the games, great attitude on the field. Even with the DL bug biting again this season, everyone is stepping up their game. Great to see, keep it up.
It’s refreshing to see a MLB player, who was justified in his frustration, still be able to think clearly and walk in humility. It’s even better to see this as an A’s fan, knowing that there are great guys in the clubhouse with great character and not just great ability. LET’ GO OAKLAND!
“You’ll Never Pitch Alone”
As a AL fan I’m so ready to not just expand replay, but install quest-tech for balls/strikes. Let the “that’s the way we’ve always done it” purests enjoy their human element slop in the NL.
Did someone say “anger?”
Do you think replay would have helped in this case or would it have slowed the game down? Where do you stand on that debate?
Wow. 2 explosions in 2 days by 2 very good players over horrendous calls. Good thing you didn’t throw your glove.
Hey, at least you didn’t fire a battling helmet at the guy. In reality, I think you and Melvin fired up the team and help willed the win… love this team and its never say die attitude this year.
I appreciate your treatment of “Texas” as a plural noun (“Texas were now up 4-3…”). I assume this is the inadvertent result of your devotion to Liverpool and reading British journalists and not an indication of some underlying anti-American sentiment on your part.
(Love the fact that you’re doing this blog! Look forward to future posts.)
I just watched the replay and don’t think you overreacted but it’s good to know you think you did. I don’t think a lot of players take into account how their actions can be viewed, especially by younger fans. I’m a Dodger fan but proud to root for you anytime outside of Dodger Stadium.
WTF! Diaz is an idiot! Get that moron some fkn glasses!! How could he call that a trapped ball when he couldn’t even see it! Oh chit! temper.. ok ok.. serenity now! serenity now!! whew!! I almost lost it there
Anyway.. BMc.. good read.. good call.. and keep up the good play. A’s all the way dude!
I all is now is BMac, you were stellar yesterday! I also like that you showed some real fire when the call was botched. Keep it rolling BMac. Fonz
Time for instant replays and automated calls of strikes/balls. Tired of bad calls determining outcomes of games…
I almost wrecked my car listening to that play yesterday… keep up the good work. Most exciting A’s team in five years.
I know I should say something related to the topic, but I can’t contain my glee at the fact that this blog exists! Its strange to be a huge baseball fan while having little to no idea of what most baseball players are like in their personal lives – or more accurately, that despite all my irrational fan-love for my favorite players they seem totally disconnected from the universe that I live in. In other words – I’m attending grad school, am a musician/artsy fartsy type, and wear glasses (NEEERRDD!!) and as much as I loved, say, Jason Giambi as a kid, I always had the feeling that he would probably have beaten the shit out of me in high school. Point being, the fact that a major league baseball player exists who quotes arrested development, shoots down the typical sexist/homophobic bullshit that is rampant in (much of) the fan/athlete community with snark and wit like it’s no big deal, and basically singlehandedly justifies the concept of baseball players using twitter (ok, you and ozzie guillen) is ridiculously awesome. No offense to Jason Giambi (dont beat me up!) The fact that I live in Oakland and am a huge is fan is gravy (side note, I LOVE the team this year – crafty pitching aplenty, stealing bases like it’s 1985, two hawaiians, and the sweet schaudenfreude of the opposing teams’ fans when we surprise them and win). Anyway, your godhood over on Athleticsnation is even more assured now. Oh yeah, and man was that a bullshit call (rest assured I was losing my mind when i watched the game), but props to you for being able to reflect on the situation later without childish rage – you’re a better man than me! TL/DR: Keep doing what you’re doing, you’re the shit.
PS Assuming beane offers you something respectable, PLEASE STAY IN OAKLAND!!
The reason Diaz didn’t go for help has nothing to do with ego and everything to do with mechanics. Based on the situation and the play, there are times where an umpire can go for help, and there are times where he simply can’t.
A catch / no catch like this one is the plate umpire’s call, and no other umpire has the slightest angle on it, and therefore there is no asking for help in that situation. Based on proper umpire mechanics, the base umpires are NOT looking at the ball at that time, and are no use for help in that particular situation. You live and die by the call, and as we know from replay, 90% of times the umpire was right.
well on the bright side, you didnt throw a helmet that bounced off the ump or do anything else that would warrant a suspension. Kudos
[...] 10:14PM PDT – Top of 8th, 3 out – Suzuki should be mad at the umpire for that one. Don’t get why umpires are so reluctant to call for help, also the check swing call is a tough one to see from behind the plate. Side view proves Suzuki did hold up and that pitch was clearly not a strike otherwise. I’d be mad if I were him too, second poor call against the A’s in as many days. Doesn’t affect the outcome like the potential of the Brandon McCarthy trap call the other day. For a good read on that check out McCarthy’s own blog. [...]
With a call like that, even if you hold yourself back from launching a verbal assault at the umpire, how difficult is it to calm down enough to go back out to the mound and continue to pitch as if it didn’t occur?
What exactly honestly encouraged you to post “Anger towards umpires and why I feel like an ass BMcCarthyThoughts”?
I personallycertainly enjoyed it! Thanks for the post ,Lon
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