Tim Welke Strikes Again

[redsfan30]

I was looking around on the Sun Deck and found a piece about Tim Welke blowing another call. Keep in mind, Welke was the home plate umpire last Thursday who called a ball on Sean Marshall right before the three run tater to win the game.

Yesterday in the Rockies Dodgers game, a groundball was hit to short and the throw to first pulled Todd Helton off the bag by a good foot to 18 inches. Welke calls the baserunner out.

Balls and strikes are one thing and they can be argued until the end of time. But this should be a job-reviewable offense.

Hopefully somebody more computer savy than myself can post a link to the video...it's on Yahoo.

[klw]

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?...s_col&c_id=col
Above is the MLB.com article with video. At the end of the clip is the best angle- wow Helton was never near the bag! Jump ahead to the 58sec mark.

You know it is bad when the 1b says what Helton did.

Helton came well off the bag to field third baseman Chris Nelson's rushed, wide throw in the sixth inning. TV replays showed Helton was a good three feet away from the bag, yet 27-year veteran umpire and crew chief Tim Welke called the Dodgers' Jerry Hairston Jr. out to end the inning in the Rockies' eventual 8-5 victory at Coors Field.

"Neighborhood?" Helton quipped. "It wasn't in the same area code."

[dougdirt]

MLB Tonight showed it and claim that Helton was 3.1 feet off of the bag when he caught the ball.

[RedsBaron]

I want to hear again why instant replay shouldn't be used for terrible calls such as this. That was a worse call than Jim Joyce's of two years ago that robbed Armando Galarraga of a perfect game.
I understand that umpries are human and make mistakes like the rest of us. What I do not understand is why MLB refuses to take action that could prevent those mistakes.

[George Anderson]

That was embarrasing.

The HP umpire is running up the line to look for a potential pulled foot so why Welke and the HP ump didn't get together and get the call right is beyond me.

I just watched it again and Welke is way out of position, had he been 10' off the baseline instead of 15' plus he would have had a better angle to see the foot on the bag. Instead he was looking straight at the first baseman making the catch as opposed to an angle where he can see the play better.

[TOBTTReds]

There's a pic in this thread...
http://www.redszone.com/forums/showt...t=95207&page=2

[MikeThierry]

The minute I think NHL officiating is the worst in professional sports, an ump misses such a clear call like this and gets me back to the opinion that MLB umpiring is the biggest joke in the 4 major sports. This is another example of why the "human element" is a flawed way to officiate a sport.

[Reds Fanatic]

i think the umpires union is the biggest reason nothing gets done to incompetent umpires. Umpires are protected by the union not matter how bad they are. The fact that CB Bucknor even has a job shows you that nothing is ever done no matter how bad they are.

[HokieRed]

IMHO, Welke called a terrible game in Homer's start against Washington. There was no plate for Bailey at all that day. The Reds flailed away at Jackson so badly they never took advantage of it.

[Blimpie]

As the First Base Coach, Lopes should have been FAR more vocal from the onset of the call.

It was not until Mattingly came charging out did he appear to even have an opinion on the matter.

That sure didn't help the Dodgers' ability to get the call appealed.

[smith288]

Why don't all the officials get together like in basketball and make the right call? If the HP saw the foot off, he should have immediately ran to Welke and said "dude, he was 3 ft off, he's safe". Then over turn the call and everyone's happy.

MLB is so bad with the umpire protection.

[Blimpie]

Why don't all the officials get together like in basketball and make the right call? If the HP saw the foot off, he should have immediately ran to Welke and said "dude, he was 3 ft off, he's safe". Then over turn the call and everyone's happy.

MLB is so bad with the umpire protection.

That is... unless the umpires resign en masse during an ill-fated attempt to gain leverage in a labor negotiation.

[smith288]

That is... unless the umpires resign en masse during an ill-fated attempt to gain leverage in a labor negotiation.

That was a pleasure to watch personally.

[Chip R]

Why don't all the officials get together like in basketball and make the right call? If the HP saw the foot off, he should have immediately ran to Welke and said "dude, he was 3 ft off, he's safe". Then over turn the call and everyone's happy.

MLB is so bad with the umpire protection.

That has happened with other umpires. I suppose it's up to the discretion of the umpire who made the call and his crew. Perhaps a guy like Welke is such a jerk that he doesn't even want to consider that he's wrong and will not ask for or accept help. Perhaps the other umpires on his crew felt that if they questioned his call he'd be a real bear to get along with. Who knows?

[George Anderson]

That has happened with other umpires. I suppose it's up to the discretion of the umpire who made the call and his crew. Perhaps a guy like Welke is such a jerk that he doesn't even want to consider that he's wrong and will not ask for or accept help. Perhaps the other umpires on his crew felt that if they questioned his call he'd be a real bear to get along with. Who knows?

The general rule of thumb is you dont get help on judgement calls unless it something like a pulled foot or swiped tag. However it is not a requirement that you ask for help so maybe Welke was just being a jerk.