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Saw that......damn Ump got what he deserved.
http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/story?id=3450245
LIFE OF REILLY
Brushing back a batter? Okay. But this? You have to be kidding.
by Rick Reilly
You've heard of Kill the Ump, Lynch the Ump, and Strangle the Ump, right? Well, get ready for the latest thing—Bean the Ump.
It happened on May 31 in the Georgia high school Class AAA championship game. Stephens County was losing to Cartersville 9-1 early, partly because nine straight SCHS batters had struck out. The last ring-up so hacked off superstar shortstop Ethan Martin—who had just been drafted 15th overall by the Dodgers—that he threw his helmet in protest. But that figured. Martin and his brother, Cody, who was pitching, reportedly had been complaining about balls and strikes the entire game.
So now it's the bottom of the fourth, with Ethan playing short and Cody on the mound. The catcher is Matt Hill. There are no outs. The count is 0-1. Cody winds up and flings a very high, very hard fastball. Hill comes out of his squat, puts his glove up to catch it, then does a very funny thing.
He doesn't.
Instead, the YouTube video will show, he drops to his knees before the ball gets to him. Doesn't even try to catch it. Just flops to his knees, with his head looking down at the plate. Never looks up or back. The ball, meanwhile, conks umpire Jeff Scott square in the face mask. Rocks him back. Then squirts up the third-base line.
Scott Singer, who videotaped the game from behind the plate, told the Atlanta Journal-Cons ution, "I don't know what was going through their heads but … it's like, good god!" After the game, Hill explained that he'd been expecting a curveball, instead got a fastball and just didn't catch it.
Yeah, surrrre. I used to catch a little. Happens all the time. You're expecting a curveball and instead you get a fastball so you say, "Boy, didn't see that coming. I'll just drop to my knees and wait for the next one."
What's worse is that Hill's coach, Mark Gosnell, believed him! Right, Coach. And remember that time you found the school mascot tied up in a locker with a sock in his mouth? That was definitely terrorists.
If indeed this was premeditated—take a look for yourself and decide—then maybe Cody Martin should be drafted too. Say what you want, but that's pretty good aim.
Anyway, now the ump has to get back behind noncatcher Hill, who may very well have just schemed to remove his noggin from his neck. Wouldn't you have loved to have heard the conversation as they awaited the next pitch?
Ump: Uh, any chance you might catch this one, or should I duck now?
Hill: Depends. Is it going to be a strike?
Isn't it enough for an umpire to endure all the blind jokes—Hey, ump, what's it like to get your checks in Braille?—without two players actually trying to blind him?
Cartersville wound up winning the game 13-1, and when state athletic officials saw the tape, they snapped. "The catcher did not intend to catch the pitch," says Ralph Swearngin, executive director of the Georgia High School Association. "I didn't see the eyes of the catcher tracking the pitch." He put Stephens County on "severe warning" and fined it $1,000.
Then some payback came for Hill, who was planning to walk on at Gordon College in Barnesville, Ga., next season. He got the word from Gordon coach Travis McClanahan, who said, Forget it, we don't want you. "I've seen catchers get crossed up before," says McClanahan. "But he appeared to be blocking a curveball in the dirt. I was shocked. I've never seen that happen. I've never heard of a player even suggesting doing that."
I bet Hill didn't see that one coming. Don't know, though, since neither Hill nor Martin is talking.
As for umpire Scott, he had a headache after the game and went for an MRI. Then he decided to get himself a lawyer. And I'm guessing there are two things that lawyer is checking out: the health of his client and the health of Hill's dad's wallet.
Good god, what's becoming of us?
Track star: Well, yeah, I've always hated that official, but I sure didn't mean for my javelin to go right through his spleen like that!
Announcer: But you're a sprinter.
I hope Scott does ask for damages, and that the players have to pay in a way they'll never forget: by being forced to umpire Little League games. They'll be amazed how vile parental vocabulary can be, how far little brothers can spit and how many pitched balls wind up hitting them in the thorax.
But at least the 8-year-olds won't be doing it on purpose.
Saw that......damn Ump got what he deserved.
whats the big deal? he was wearing a mask
^ never has played baseball
I'm not 1000% sure the pitcher and catcher did that on purpose. An 0-1 count is an odd time to do it. If the catcher sucked and really thought it was a curveball, who knows. Perhaps the pitcher wasn't in on it.
I can't put the Dominican seal of baseball approval on this matter.
P.S.
Rick Rielly was awesome with SI ... I've been underwhelmed by his work so far with ESPN. It's like he's trying too hard or something.
uh yeah, baseball is probably one of the gayest sports to play or watch. You need approximately 0 athletic ability and it is more boring than soccer. SOCCER dude, it's that bad.
but seriously. he had a face protector.
i wasn't referring to the fun of the game, i was referring that a fastball still fvckin rocks your dome even with a mask on.
yeah it's not like sniffin daisys but i mean come on
Baybol bin bary bary goo ta us.
I think they did it on purpose and I think it's hilarious that they did so. Nothing is more infuriating the an ump who gets balls and strikes consistently and one sidedly wrong. If it now becomes an epidemic it won't be good, but after a HS career where I often thought how fun it would be to put .45 hollow tips into some idiot ump's chest I find this to be a more moderate, realistic and ultimately deserved form of retribution. One concussion for a moron is a great symbolic act in the ongoing saga of poorly called strikes.
I agree, although I think he's only done like two columns so far. So, he has time to improve.
As an aside, I thought his more recent work at SI slipped noticeably from how good it was in the late 90's-early 2000's and that he's been trying to hard for quite some time now. I was starting to think of him more as just a caricature of himself anyways.
I'm pretty sure the first rule I learned in baseball was to keep your eye on the ball.
This catcher fails at baseball. But wins at life.
BTW, without any other sort of premeditated evidence, I don't think this video could hold up in court as enough to charge these kids. It sure as doesn't look like he TRIED to catch it, but all he has to do is stick with that 'chasing a curveball into the dirt' story, and I don't think a jury would really have enough evidence to base punitive damages on.
Last edited by Dex; 06-20-2008 at 12:14 PM.
If the dude didn't totally bail out with his face going into the dirt I could see it being just piss-poor play, but it looks pretty deliberate to me. Either that or he's the biggest Nancy-boy to play C in a long time.
That stunt cost him his spot on the college team he was set to join in the fall. So much for winning at life.This catcher fails at baseball. But wins at life.
True.
But I got to see an ump get beaned in the face.
And I can't really give a about that guy's bad decisions.
gotta admit it, that was a sneaky play.
not like he lost a scholarship or anything
There are major league umps out there with permanent brain damage from getting beaned with baseballs. Probably not a real wise play.
Kid needs acting lessons on making an act of retribution look accidental. At least pretend to follow the ball.....come on!
good for the biased ump sons. if only NBA players would punch out the refs now to teach them a lesson too.
I'll go out on a limb and say you were never good at baseball............which is funny, because according to you, it takes "0 athletic ability".
That is crazy. Its not good to hit someone intentionally. You never know what can happen.
Those kids and their parents should settle before it goes to trial.
has a batter ever taken a case of the beanball to trial?
if not, why should this ump? wouldn't it open up the door for whiny egocentric stars to do the same? you can sue anyone for anything these days...watch out for sensitive posters, trolls.
Talk about poor sportsmanship...
Video no longer available: your legal system at work.
Oh, well, could have been worse. Could have been one of Clemens' kids.
why would you want to be good at something so boring? at least you get to run around playing football and basketball instead of just standing in one spot
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