“Come to Your Senses” Umpires Find Themselves in Trouble Again – Missed Swing Check for Phillies Hitter Leads to Questions Being Raised

It seems every other week there’s a controversy regarding some umpire’s decision. With the calls to use more technology increasing, situations like this just add fuel to the fire. The New York Mets’ series against the Philadelphia Phillies experienced something similar on Monday. The Metsies who were leading suffered due to a wrong swing call that ultimately resulted in their defeat. 

The 9th inning saw the Mets leading the game 4-2. With time ticking quickly, the Fightin’ Phils decided to push for one last rally. The team was able to take the score to 4-3 when the controversial call happened. The Mets’  Edwin Diaz fell behind Whit Merrifield 3-1 with two bases filled. Later Diaz pitched a slider and Merrifield swung the bat. However, the first base umpire determined that it wasn’t a swing and suddenly the bases were filled.

That led to the Phillies tying the score and taking the game to extra innings where they won 5-4. This decision became controversial with even famous analyst Mark Derosa questioning the umpire’s criteria. Derosa noted that he has talked to umpires multiple times. “I said this in the A block and asked multiple umpires – what is your definition of a check swing? The most you’ll get back is usually it’s an intent to hit the baseball.” 

The analyst agreed that people’s “interpretation of intent might be different than mine.” As a result, he wished that something was done to fix it. “I always thought it was ‘break the wrist, walk away’ thing. But that’s a full hack! Come on to your senses,” Derosa said furiously. The analyst isn’t the only one, decisions like these have added to the overall frustration of the fans and players.

2024 seems to be the season where umpires are facing added scrutiny. That has led to them being at the center of multiple controversies which has further dampened their relationship with the fans.

Another incident follows after the Phillies and Mets’ scandal 

While the Philadelphia Phillies-New York Mets incident was getting louder, another situation arose in the game between the Miami Marlins and the Detroit Tiger. The umpire removed Marlins’ skipper Skip Schumaker from the game in an incident that reminded fans of Aaron Boone’s ejection. That led to Schumaker rushing to the field to ask the umpire to tell him what he had done. Later it was revealed that the umpire took back the ejection just to eject the Marlins’ bench coach Luis Urueta.

So it seems the umpires and the MLB fans find themselves at loggerheads almost every day now. From Aaron Boone’s ejection to Aaron Judge’s ejection to the present swing call controversy – the situation remains the same. With fans now picking up on every mistake, this battle could be growing into a long fight soon.