J.P Ricciardi and ESPN should be sentenced to umpire school

To ESPN:

Okay, Jim Joyce blew the call.  He owned it.  He entered the Tigers locker room, apologized to Armando Galarraga, and admitted his mistake in front of God and the sports media.*

*...who too often seem to think that these terms are redundant.

Sportscenter's highlight package of the game was well-presented and fair, both to Mr. Galarraga and to Mr. Joyce.

However, then SC brought in two buffoons for the "expert" take.  They started with a statement that Mr. Joyce's call is one of a series of blown calls unprecedented in the history of baseball.  First of all, that's what passes for journalism today?  You begin a segment with an inflamatory, prejudicial statement presented without evidence?  For shame.

Okay, then came J.P. Ricciardi's "analysis."  It would make sense to have an expert explain the mechanics of the first base umpire, to verify whether or not Mr. Joyce was in the proper position for the call.  Problem is, Mr. Ricciardi showed himself to be an ignoramus about umpiring right off the bat. 

The first rule of umpiring, one hammered into our heads at Umpire School**, one even written down in the rule book, begins (Rule 9.05):  "Keep your eye everlastingly on the ball while it is in play."  Mr. Ricciardi questioned why Mr. Joyce was watching the ball as the second baseman fielded it.  Why?  BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT A BASE UMPIRE IS TRAINED TO DO FROM THE FIRST DAY OF UMPIRE SCHOOL.

** I attended the Wendelstedt School in 2008


The proper mechanic on that play is for the first base umpire to watch the ball, and to take a couple of steps off the foul line into the field.  When the throw is made, THEN the umpire snaps his head to the base in order to make the call.  All kinds of things besides a routine play at first can happen on a grounder, and the base umpire is trained to be prepared for any of them.

Mr. Joyce was in correct position, and he followed correct mechanics.  Mr. Ricciardi contends that the call at first should be based on sound, and so implied that the call is easy.  That's true of a routine play when the first baseman is planted on the bag.  It is a much more difficult call when the pitcher covers, because the sound of the glove hitting the mitt is irrelevant - all that matters is which foot touches first, the runner's or the pitcher's.  Sure, a major league umpire needs to get that right, but I take issue with Mr. Ricciardi's inflammatory suggestion that the umpire should be able to call that with his eyes closed.

Mr. Joyce did everything right leading up to this play, but got the call wrong.  He should be held accountable for missing the call.  (That accountability should not include wikipedia death threats, obviously; but it should also not include ignorant ridicule by ESPN's talking heads.)

Mr. Ricciardi did everything WRONG leading up to his appearance on Sportscenter.  He failed to understand the correct mechanics of the play, he failed to understand the nature of the call, he failed to recognize his journalistic responsibility to keep perspective and objectivity.  For that he should be held accountable.

While I would prefer to see Mr. Ricciardi publicly humiliated for his poor judgement -- after all, he publicly humiliated Mr. Joyce -- I would be pleased to see Mr. Ricciardi sentenced to attend umpire school.  Perhaps that might cure him of his ignorance on a topic for which your network has proclaimed him "expert."

Greg Jacobs
Woodberry Forest School
Woodberry Forest, VA 22989
greg_jacobs@woodberry.org