We are back with the latest installment of the Ump Show, which has aired with increasing frequency in recent weeks. It sure feels like MLB umpires are losing the public's faith this season. Coaches and players jumped ship long ago. I am generally in favor of employing human beings over robots, but the constant hum of fans calling for robo-umps sure is a bad sign of where the profession stands.
Now, let's be real. It's kind of fun to have completely unknown quantities making decisions on the field and directly the flow of traffic, so the speak. At least when it doesn't involve your team. If my beloved Phillies lost the World Series on a blown called strike, I'd be pretty bummed. But if, for example, New York Yankees superstar Juan Soto got called out on a completely ridiculous interference call in a meaningless late-May game against the lowly Los Angeles Angels and looked on incredulously as his manager got tossed, I'd probably sit back and have a chuckle. Life is weird, baseball is weird.
There is a perverse joy to watching umpires mess up time and time again, but there is also a palpable frustration bubbling up within the MLB fandom. Angel Hernandez retired this week. Why is this still happening?
In case you didn't pick up on it, that little Juan Soto hypothetical ain't so hypothetical after all.
It happened Wednesday evening in Anaheim, in the top of the first inning with the bases loaded and no outs. Giancarlo Stanton rocketed the baseball 180 degrees vertical above second base. As Soto attempted to return to the bag ā so as to avoid the double play tag from Angels shortstop Zach Neto ā there was a collision.
But, it was the infield fly rule, so no harm, no foul... right?
You'd be wrong. Umpire Vic Carapazza was quick to complicate the matter.
Carapazza ruled Soto out by interference, turning bases loaded with one out into runners on the corners with two outs. New York was held scoreless in the inning as a result. Oh yeah, and Aaron Boone was ejected.
Yankees' screwed by interference rule as Juan Soto gets called out and Aaron Boone gets thrown out
There's nothing particularly new happening here. The MLB's random outcome generator is regurgitating old story beats. Boone has been tossed as much as any manager in MLB history over the last few years. He tends to get under umpires' skin. Meanwhile, we saw a controversial infield fly-interference double play... last week. It hasn't even been a full week.
On May 24, the Chicago White Sox's comeback bid against the Houston Astros was cut short by a rather egregious deployment of this very same rule.
In Soto's case, the argument against interference is slightly more muddied. He did sidestep the base path for a moment and bump into Neto, which prevented the Angels' shortstop from catching the ball. Now, Soto also has a right to the base, and he wasn't getting back to the base without getting in the way. Had Soto not gotten in the way, Neto could have caught the flyball and stepped on the base... for a double play.
Maybe all roads lead to the same point. Time is but a flat circle, and such. But, in the end, it feels a bit silly to start tossing out interference calls on an infield fly, which nullifies the need to catch the ball in the first place. This was a particularly sticky scenario, with the popout occurring directly above second base, but there has to be a better way to officiate this.
Maybe the robo-umps can sort it all out next season. Until then...