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Bizarre umpiring abounds in SF Giants' final preseason games

The umpires lost track of many outs were in an inning Sunday, and Monday night they forgot how a force play worked
Sean Keane|
Bizarre umpiring abounds in SF Giants' final preseason games
Bizarre umpiring abounds in SF Giants' final preseason games

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San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants and Oakland Athletics finished their Spring Training schedule Monday, but it was the umpires who looked like they needed more practice.

In the top of the sixth inning, David Villar struck out. The A's changed pitchers, and then Joc Pederson walked. Pinch-hitter Luis Matos grounded into a fielder's choice and then the A's...ran off the field. And the Giants ran onto the field. And the umpires stood there and let it all happen.

After Alex Wood warmed up, Gabe Kapler protested, and sanity was restored. When the A's took the field again, Luis Matos took advantage of the confusion and stole second base, and then J.D. Davis flied out, something no one could mess up.

On Monday night, it somehow got worse. It was a special night for the Giants and Sergio Romo, who got off the retirement couch to throw one last time for the black and orange.

The game was a blowout by that point, but the crowd got excited as Romo's entrance music, "El Mechon" played and he jogged out to the mound.

And then the umpire called an automatic ball because Romo took too much time to warm up. Then called another automatic ball for a pitch clock violation.

That's usually known as an "ump show," when an umpire decides to take center stage. Even when a reliever is making his final appearance in an exhibition game. Better make sure he doesn't warm up too long while the crowd is cheering him wildly!

But perhaps the umpires were simply sticklers for the rules of baseball. Rules like, when forcing a runner at a base, you only have to touch the base, not tag them.

The umpires missed this one too. After a walk - helped by a free 2-0 count - a wild pitch, and an RBI single, pinch-hitter Carlos Perez hit a single. Except, the Giants threw to second ahead of baserunner Ryan Noda, but the umpire called him safe because he beat the superfluous tag.

The Giants already lost their challenge earlier, so the call stood, and Romo exited his final appearance without recording an out.

Maybe it's a league-wide disease. Earlier Monday, umpire Randy Rosenberg ejected J.T. Realmuto for...moving his glove, apparently?

Apparently the umpire thought Realmuto was embarrassing him. But the umpire had just thrown a replacement ball back to Craig Kimbrel, after Realmuto stuck his glove out, and the Phillies catcher pretty clearly assumed he would do it again.

To be fair, it's spring training for the umpires as well, and many of these March umpires will not be working in the big leagues. And Sergio Romo will never have to deal with them, or any umpire, ever again.

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Sean Keane
SEAN KEANE

Sean Keane (he/him) is a writer, stand-up, and co-host of the Roundball Rock NBA podcast. He wrote for Comedy Central’s “Another Period,” his work has appeared in McSweeney's, Audible.com, and Yardbarker, and he's performed at countless festivals, including SF Sketchfest, the Bridgetown Comedy Festival, RIOT LA, and NoisePop. In 2014, the San Francisco Bay Guardian named Sean an “Outstanding Local Discovery,” and promptly went out of business.

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