We've had a lot of questionable umpire decisions in baseball this year. And here is one from yesterday's games that I have never heard before.
It's a close Red Sox-Seattle game. The Seattle manager calls for his RH pitcher by pointing with his left hand and tapping his right arm. He says this is how he always makes his signal to the bullpen. The bullpen pitchers understood, since the RH reliever started walking toward the diamond. Then the umpire stops the reliever and tells him to go back to the pen, and orders the lefty reliever to come in the game (Oliver Perez). The umpire said he interpreted the signal as calling for the LHP, and when the manager objected, he was overruled by the umpire. The pitching change was a factor in the Red Sox winning the game, since a lefty killer (Victorina) was in the batter's box.
I don't understand how an umpire's interpretation of a signal to the bullpen should take precedence over the manager's intent or whatever signal he has worked out with his bullpen. I would have thought that the signaling is purely a convenience between the relief pitchers and their manager. It's not like the manager was deceiving the other team.
It's a close Red Sox-Seattle game. The Seattle manager calls for his RH pitcher by pointing with his left hand and tapping his right arm. He says this is how he always makes his signal to the bullpen. The bullpen pitchers understood, since the RH reliever started walking toward the diamond. Then the umpire stops the reliever and tells him to go back to the pen, and orders the lefty reliever to come in the game (Oliver Perez). The umpire said he interpreted the signal as calling for the LHP, and when the manager objected, he was overruled by the umpire. The pitching change was a factor in the Red Sox winning the game, since a lefty killer (Victorina) was in the batter's box.
I don't understand how an umpire's interpretation of a signal to the bullpen should take precedence over the manager's intent or whatever signal he has worked out with his bullpen. I would have thought that the signaling is purely a convenience between the relief pitchers and their manager. It's not like the manager was deceiving the other team.
