Umpires attempt to set boundaries for White Sox and Royals

While Major League Baseball effectively defied “sticks and stones” and said words did more harm than assault with its punishments for Tim Anderson and Brad Keller in April, the inherent unfairness in the purpose pitch did register on the league’s radar after all.

If it didn’t, home plate umpire Mark Carlson wouldn’t have tossed Royals starter Glenn Sparkman for clipping the bill of Anderson’s helmet with a changeup Wednesday night. But given the history of the Royals obviously throwing at Anderson and denying it afterward — well, except Hunter Dozier — whichever umpires called this series would have been faced with three decisions, and none of them were good:

  1. Let the initial reaction cool down, then play on.
  2. Issue warnings to both benches.
  3. Throw out Sparkman.

No. 1 would have set the stage for White Sox retaliation. After the game, neither Anderson nor Rick Renteria thought Sparkman’s pitch was intentional, but maybe Reynaldo López thought it had malice. Or maybe López would retaliate regardless of what he really thought, because it was simply too close to Anderson’s head when the Royals already made him a marked man. The unwritten rules are hard to read.

No. 2 would have been unfair to the White Sox, as they might’ve had their freedom to miss inside taken away when they were the ones hit. They were already punished more severely than the Royals the first time around, which was ridiculous enough.

No. 3 is unfair to Sparkman, but that’s about it. I don’t think he meant to miss that close to Anderson’s head, especially with a changeup, and if he were wearing any other uniform he would’ve been allowed to play on. But Carlson’s call wasn’t especially unfair to the Royals as a whole, because they backed Keller assaulting Anderson, and baseball’s appeals process allowed them to pick a way to not be inconvenienced. Now they were.

I don’t think Carlson’s crew read John Stuart Mill before the game and decided utilitarianism was the way to go. Mapping it out, it’s more likely they figured giving Kansas City no benefit of the doubt regarding Anderson is the way to make White Sox-Royals games safer.

Ned Yost said the Royals wouldn’t throw at Anderson’s head:

“Coming into this series, we had no animosity toward that young man,” Royals manager Ned Yost said of Anderson. “None. And to think that we’re gonna hit him on purpose is ludicrous, one, and two, it was a changeup.

“It was forgotten. He had done his part, we had done our part. It was over.”

But since I’m in the list-making mood, Yost gets two things wrong here:

No. 1: Ned Yost is not a credible source when it comes to identifying the intent of his pitchers.

Back when Keller drilled Anderson on April 17, here was Yost’s response:

It’s worth noting that the company line uttered by Royals manager Ned Yost, Maldonado and Keller was that the pitch that hit Anderson “got away” from Keller as he tried to pitch inside.

Yost’s response to a question about Keller’s actions was, “What, that a pitch got away from him?”

If you make the choice to play dumb, you shouldn’t count on getting the choice to play smart. I suppose that’s another way Carlson’s decision was more just than it feels.

No. 2: It takes two to forget something.

By saying about the previous clash “it was forgotten,” he attempted the establish a universally understood position on the strength of past tense and passive voice. That’s a bold move, because here’s how it sounds:

“Remember the time when I sucker-punched you and the cops intervened before you could punch me back? Then you were fined for calling me a name? Let’s call it even.”

Anderson is the one who gets to decide whether it was forgotten, and it sounds like he’s not going to let it go anytime soon:

That’s his right, and one that feels reasonable to exercise considering Wednesday was his first game against the Royals since Keller drilled him. It could run the risk of getting ridiculous if it carries over years from now, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it.

Anderson did his part to let the Royals wear it. He stood his ground and glared at Sparkman, but he let the umpire escalate the matter and accept the blowback. He also delivered the game-winning hit, which made Renteria’s Venturian pitch management worth the headache.

While I can see pushing and shoving in future Sox-Royals games, it won’t stem from a lack of oversight by umpires or the way the White Sox conducted themselves here. It felt like a balance of justice was achieved in ways large and small, at least for one night. That might not make Royals broadcaster Ryan Lefebvre happy …

… but nothing makes Ryan Lefebvre happy.

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GreatjonHumber

I think this is actually a good way of dealing with this. If you are the kind of team that hits players on purpose for hurting your precious feelings, you lose the benefit of the doubt when you hit them on accident.

John SF

100% agree. and It’s actually what Jason was saying during the broadcast. Jason is usually pretty even minded, even during that initial confrontation. Let’s just say he is not especially hawk-like.

But last night Jason was making the point over and over that the Royals did this to themselves. And that’s soooo true. Anderson was f-ing AL Player of the Month. He’s becoming an icon. And the guy who tossed him and suspended him was the embarrassing Joe West.

Baseball needed to square that circle and it’s obvious that before the game started it was decided: if they hit Anderson you toss the pitcher. And they hit him in the head!!!! On his first at bat of the series!!! You have to toss the pitcher.

I don’t think the royals did it on purpose. I really don’t. And that’s bad luck for Sparkman. But if Sparky wants to complain to someone, he should complain to Keller who started this whole mess.

I’m glad the umpires reacted like they did, because it helps move us incrementally to a place where throwing at players has consequences. The initial Joe West “triple ejection” call didn’t help us move there. But yesterday did.

Trooper Galactus

I don’t get the Benetti haters out there. When he said “The Royals made their own bed,” that was about as poignant an assessment of the situation as could be offered. It’s maybe a bit homer-ish, but it’s at least a reasoned analysis.

John SF

it’s not even homer-ish! If anything, during the initial kerfuffle, Jason went way way way out of his way to be accommodating to both teams and all possible points of view. That’s part of what gives him the moral authority in this situation to make a more homer-ish take (which was still very nuanced and carefully worded).

And then you run the same broadcast through the KC announcer filter and you’re like, “holy cow, these guys are crazy.” Tim Anderson was never in the wrong and he especially was never in the wrong last night.

Lurker Laura

Excellent analysis, but you forgot #3 on the list of Things Ned Yost Got Wrong: phrases such as “that young man” have long had racial implications when directed from an older white guy to a younger black guy. Not that his word choice is surprising. He’s probably isn’t even aware he’s doing it, and as such, is a poster boy for that kind of thing.

Lurker Laura

Fair enough. I just don’t like the Royals very much right now 🙂

knoxfire30

all mad at ned and keller and the royals but thats a stretch

Lurker Laura

Yeah, okay. I woke up itching for a fight this a.m., apparently.

John SF

@Jim it’s possible they both have significant internalized racism — even if Ricky is notably Latino in an otherwise whitewashed manager field.

SonOfCron

I’ve never heard of this in my life. I guess I’m young-ish(?) at 34, but this is news to me.

As Cirensica

“young man” could have a condescending tone but not a racial one…I am just guessing.

John SF

oh, after living in the carolinas for several years I can promise you the “young man” is the polite “son” which is the polite “hard-r-nig***”

It’s pervasive and constant. Old grandpas complain about how that waiter was “a nice young man but he didn’t understand me when I said I wanted some ice but not no ice”

and baby boomer idiots say “I met this nice young man at the store today who was canvassing for the democratic party candidates but he was just so misguided he didn’t understand that the the minimum wage hurts the blacks more than it helps them!”

and obviously one of those is much more racist than the other. But they come from exactly the same heritage. The through-line on old white men calling young black men “young man” includes much much more baggage than you might initially expect considering how chill the phrase feels at first glance.

yinkadoubledare

“young man” doesn’t seem too bad, but if he had said “boy”, the racism dog would have gone ballistic with barking.

Lurker Laura

Or “son.”

John SF

ooph. Just hurts to remember.

NorthSideHitman

I have never heard or read that phrase as being racist. Where/when did you become aware of this?

Papa Giorgio

I think this is kind of a stretch.

Milky✌️

I do think this was handled appropriately. Maybe it’s unfair to the pitcher who had nothing to do with earlier circumstances, but that’s the position his own team put him in. One where they themselves gave up the benefit of the doubt, because of the way they chose to play the situation.

theSKOT

Maybe umps should start ejecting virtually all pitchers who hit a batter in the head. If you don’t have the control (mental or physical) to avoid hitting someone in the head with a 5 oz rock, maybe you shouldn’t be pitching.

Neat_on_the_rocks

I believe that is actually the rule in Japan.

John SF

not surprised they are crushing us in logical rules. They have socialized healthcare too so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

mikeyb

“It was forgotten. He had done his part, we had done our part. It was over.”

Well at least Yost is finally admitting that the last one was actually intentional.

youhadmeatabreu

I would have loved for a reported to have stopped Yost right there and ask, “so, you now admit that you threw at him before because that young man, you know the one you for whom you don’t harbor any ill well, blatently disrespected the game and got what was coming to him, right?” I also want to know what the (unwritten) rulebook is and why it is ludicrous that they would have thrown a change-up at him? Keller hit him with a fastball. So, is it fair to say that Yost trusts Keller to throw his fastball at him, but just not at his head. By the same token can’t you send a message by throwing an offspeed pitch you think he will duck out of the way of at his head? If I understand Yost, the Sox shouldn’t complain about a fastball that he now admits was thrown at Anderson because it was not at his head, but the pitch that actually did hit him in the head (on the very next at bat) wasn’t a fastball so that’s all good too. Apparently only if Anderson gets hit in the head with a fastball can the Sox complain . . . and then only if he didn’t flip his bat before . . . and then only if he walks to first without saying anything to offend Yost’s sensibilities. Do I have it about right?

John SF

Fucking A yeas.

It’s exactly as stupid as it sounds when you write it out logically and chronologically. The choices are stupid. The justifications are stupid. Ned Yost is (probably not, but still forced to act like he is) stupid. It’s all just so stupid it’s hard for reporters and bloggers to even handle this stuff in good faith.

TCBullfrog

I mean, that would have been nice, but the rest of that segment makes it pretty clear (to me) that the guy talking to him is toeing the same pro-KC line

mikeschach

“we had done our part” – that’s the big tell.
I believe the English translation of that phrase is: “we threw at him because he flipped his bat”

Willardmarshall

I miss AJ….

HallofFrank

Tim bat-flipping this HBP and the Keller HBP might be my two favorite things he’s ever done.

Josh Nelson

For the Patreon supporters, Eric Longenhagen will Monday’s guest. You can submit questions here: https://www.patreon.com/posts/27246232

PauliePaulie

Another great get, Josh. Congrats.

CarolinaSoxFan

I don’t have a degree in physics, but it seems reasonable to conclude that if Sparkman’s pitch had tagged his face or neck, the injury potential would be difficult to distinguish between 86 and 93 mph. Even at “only” 86 up and in, TA was unable to completely get out of the way.

The whole “it was just a changeup” argument…no.

Neat_on_the_rocks

Well, that argument is more that you dont throw at somebody with a changeup because it is harder to control. For almost all pitchers, they have best control of a grooved fastball. So when you throw at somebody, you’re gonna throw a fastball because you can most reliably locate it, as opposed to slower breakign stuff.

HallofFrank

I posted this on another thread, but it seems like a bad precedent to set for umpires to adjudicate intent based on the pitch thrown. Teams disposed to intentional plunkings could look at that and say, “oh, here’s a way we could hit a player without the repercussion of an ejection.” 

John SF

FWIW this was fine. .

Keller did intentionally throw at Anderson’s butt before. It’s obvious from the tape and the reactions. Yost said the pitch “got away from him” but that was obviously a lie. Today Anderson’s head got hit which is always a terrible thing but was also accidental. You can pretty clearly see that on review as well.

The point here is, the umpires unfairly threw out and suspended Anderson on the first call. And today they left him infinite room to hang himself and then just played on with him in the game. And Anderson chose to do nothing. He had infinite rope but just hung around being chill.

This compounds how “correct” the ump choice was because in the initial confrontation it was the KC dugout that “egged on” anderson and caused him to use supposedly racially inflammatory language (and then get suspended).

All of it was insane. Timmy should never have been ejected and he should never have been suspended. It was pure racist bullshit.

But Tim has learned his lesson. The trick is to get hurt but shake it off and do nothing and hope for a benevolent ruling from on high. Never ever speak back. Just be chill like black folk are supposed to be.

How you assess all this is very complicated. I personally think the average MLB umpire is an incompetent racist douchebag — in approximately that order. But also IDK. I’m not in charge of this stuff. I have some very strong and very vocal opinions… but there’s plenty of space for other opinions. The problem is there was never any space for Timmy to do anything except be accommodating. The racism initially wasn’t per se in the choices or even the people. The racism is always in the framework. Timmy called Keller a “weak ass nig*a.” after getting drilled by a fastball.

And then he got suspended for that despite everyone knowing “what he meant” and how he came to say it. But this time he got fucking hit in the head and he couldn’t say anything. MLB has drawn a firm line in the sand for black players and it’s basically just “be cool, be chill, be quite.”

And tim was quite! But still fuck them. Fuck the royals. Fuck yost. Fuck MLB Fuck everybody. Accident or not, Timmy should have had space to get angry today. But he didn’t have that space so he had to control himself. He had to keep it chill even if he could have gotten angry deservedly. Because that’s how the racism works. Black men have to stay chill all the time unless they become “scary black men” and white men get to shout and yell and it’s all just a part of how much they love the game.

Fuck all these douchebags. I hope they all flame out and I hope Tim goes to 7 ASGs in a row.

I’ve loved him since his first call up and every stupid racist incident since then has made me love him more. Tim reps the south side better than anyone has since Thomas.

John SF

Fuck that was a long post But I stand by all of it. FTR.

Lurker Laura

I’ve loved him since his first call up and every stupid racist incident since then has made me love him more. Tim reps the south side better than anyone has since Thomas.

Totes. Your entire post, but this especially.

TCBullfrog

This times 1000. If you say that it’s okay to hit someone with a changeup, because if they were trying to hit you they would have gone with a harder pitch, you’re inviting jerks to dance up to that line and profess innocence. Who can really tell?

I think the only reasonable thing to say is, if you hit someone with a pitch, you hit them with the pitch. And if there is any reason to think it was intentional, throw the bum out.

TCBullfrog

(TBH I would be okay with throwing them out regardless of intent but I’m willing to meet people halfway on this)

Joliet Orange Sox

I do have a Ph.D. in physics but I don’t know enough biology/anatomy to give a definitive answer to how much much different being hit by an 86 mph ball is from being hit by a 93 mph ball. I have read that the amount of bruising caused by being hit by an object is roughly proportional to the object’s kinetic energy. In this case, (86/93)^2 would be 85.5% as much kinetic energy so the slower pitch would cause roughly 85.5% of the bruising caused by the faster pitch.

The part that is left out of this simple calculation is that hitting in different places such as the face could lead to broken bones or a concussion that could create entirely different health issues.

In any case, I don’t think Sparkman hit TA on purpose.

Joist

Great summary, Jim. I would also add that the apparent consensus that the HBP was unintentional only strengthens the argument that intentionally drilling hitters is unacceptable because pitchers don’t have pinpoint control. Imagine Ricky asking Reynaldo to drill someone in the butt. How confident are you in his ability to avoid ending the dude’s career?

humberpie

Always wanted to get together numbers of careers ended or diminished by HBP. I feel like the players union would have something to say about it a fellow member intentionally harming another. Seems like some of these could go to trial as assault, don’t know if there’s a precedent for that in baseball or other sports.

I never got how anyone could see this as in anyway justified; hurt feelings leading to hurt people. Having done a lot of work on managing feelings in my life it makes a lot of baseball “old school” types come off as children to me.

But they will tell me I don’t understand because I never played.

humberpie
asinwreck

To hell with Ben Christensen, and to hell with Brent Kemnitz. (My thoughts on them are the same as they were two decades ago.)

Lurker Laura

I had never heard of that story until I just read the link. I’m with you: to hell with the pitcher, and the coach, and the Cubs for drafting him anyway. Geez, what an awful story.

Steve

Oh boy. Only 308 more plate appearances until Yonder Alonso’s option for next year vests.

As Cirensica

I seriously wonder if the White Sox are really gonna let that happen?

It is like signing for 8 million a free agent that provides negative WAR. That would be so incredibly stupid. I have to believe that before 308 PAs the White Sox will just DFA Alonso.

Trooper Galactus

What makes it even dumber is that he wasn’t a free agent. We traded for him and gave a division rival a C-grade prospect and salary relief to make our own team legitimately worse.

dansomeone

If the Sox DFA Alonso and another team picks him up as a free agent and then gives him enough additional PAs to trigger the option, would the Sox be on the hook for his full 2020 salary? If so, they better release him sooner rather than later.

As Cirensica

I am not sure that’s right. It does not sound right. If the White Sox DFA him, they are immediately off the hook regardless of what happens with him after the release day. Right?

PauliePaulie

It would be the Pablo Sandoval situation.
They would be on the hook for his salary (less whatever the team that signs him pays, usually league minimum). His contract is guaranteed.

As Cirensica

Yes, for 2019, but if his option vests while playing for another team, who is responsible for the salary in 2020?

PauliePaulie

The Sox. If it vests, his contract is guaranteed.
That’s why who pays options and/or buyouts are part of trade negotiations.

soxfan

Then don’t DFA him – just bench him and take the 25-man roster hit. Or find a reason to put him on the IL.

karkovice squad

Fangraphs posted their updated farm rankings.

https://blogs.fangraphs.com/pre-draft-farm-system-rankings/

Sox clock in at 4th. Padres and Rays are just on a completely different level.

Big caveat: graduations only include players who’ve cleared the rookie eligibility PA & IP thresholds. So because Jimenez is 26 PAs short of 150 due to his IL stint, he still counts in the Sox’ farm ranking. Other teams also have some notable promotions who also have yet to clear those thresholds but removing Jimenez would still knock them down the rankings.

Picking 3rd does offset that. Robert’s emergence also helps.

What it doesn’t do is meaningfully close the gap to the Padres and Rays. The Sox are really hurting for depth in the 45-55 grade range.

Trooper Galactus

Just a guess, but when they update those rankings we’ll lose a 60-grade prospect in Jimenez but Robert will probably be raised from a 55 to a 60 or 65 and Cease will probably rise to a 55 or 60. Collins and Basabe might also be due for a rise from 45 to 50. There’s enough good things happening on the farm to offset some of the disasters and graduations.

karkovice squad

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TCBullfrog

Well, the Padres may have a better farm system than us, but because Chicago is a big market we can make up that gap by paying big money for free agen….oh

melidoperez

Things banned on the KC charter:
Nudie mags
High OBPs
Websites explaining the concept of “benefit of the doubt”

Also, is there a reason this particular brand of brain rot being so highly concentrated in the lower Midwest/rust beltish region? These dopes, the Pitt announcer talking about Dietrich’s dead family member, the Brennemans always on the prowl for ways to be aggrieved, etc.

lil jimmy

It’s a pretty vulgar bunch over there. Like KenWU x 4

gibby32

Let me just say, this post was flat out brilliant: concise, accurate and insightful. The comments were pretty good also.

craigws

Am here for the John Stuart Mill reference.