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Any opinions on this video?

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by eagle9857, Jun 5, 2008.

  1. eagle9857

    eagle9857 New Member

    Recently, I covered a high school state baseball championship game in Cartersville, Ga. The link below shows one of the pitches during the game. I just want to get everyone's take on this. It's been a major event going on because the catcher allowed the ball to hit the umpire. It's dominated the high school headlines in Georgia over the last week and I just wanted to get everyone else's opinions.

    http://www.workhorsevideoproductions.com/the%20pitch.mpg
     
  2. Grimace

    Grimace Guest

    Wow. That was definitely on purpose. What's the background story? Umps not calling strikes or something?

    NEVERMIND. I found it:

    Georgia high school fined after ump is hit by pitchby FOXSports.com



    The Georgia High School Association has fined a school $1,000 for an incident in the state playoffs last weekend in Cartersville, Ga.

    In the fourth inning of Saturday's deciding game of the Class AAA championship series, Stephens County catcher Matt Hill ducked and did not attempt to catch a pitch that struck the home plate umpire, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.

    Stephens coach Mark Gosnell said Hill and pitcher Cody Martin denied plotting to hit the umpire, who was not hurt, and said the passed ball during a 13-1 loss to Cartersville was a result of a signaling mix-up.

    But GHSA executive director Ralph Swearngin believed otherwise after viewing video of the play.

    "I made my decision primarily by watching whether the catcher tracked the pitch with his eyes," he told the paper. "In my opinion, he did not. I think that he would have been searching for the ball if it were a matter of being crossed up."

    Stephens County principal David Friend said he thought the ruling, which included placing the baseball program on "severe warning status," was fair.

    "I told (Swearngin) that I thought we deserved it," Friend said. "We had the opportunity to be on a big stage, in a state championship series, and we had several players who didn't represent school way I think they should have. Not just that pitch, but the overall behavior."

    In the half inning prior to the beaning, shortstop Ethan Martin argued with the plate umpire and threw his helmet after becoming the ninth straight Stephens batter to strike out.

    Two batters later, Cody Martin, Ethan's younger brother, threw the pitch that hit the umpire. Hill, the catcher, dropped to his knees and ducked as the ball approached.

    As part of the penalty, Gosnell and his assistants must complete a sportsmanship education program.
     
  3. eagle9857

    eagle9857 New Member

    The background to this story is the previous inning, the pitcher's brother was called out on strikes, which was the ninth strikeout in a row for the opposing team. They were arguing the calls all game long and weren't happy with the home plate umpire. What makes this even more interesting is the pitcher's brother is Ethan Martin, who was just drafted by the Dodgers with the 15th pick in the MLB draft. Basically what happened was the Georgia High School Association fined the school $1,000 and put them on severe warning status (or as like to refer to 'Double-Secret Probation,' which was given in the movie Animal House." The catcher also had a scholarship to an NAIA school and that was pulled Wednesday evening. There's a lot going on. I wrote a few stories about it and so has the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But, everything happened in Cartersville, GA.
     
  4. Grimace

    Grimace Guest

    $1,000? It seems like they got off easy.
     
  5. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    A grand is a lot of money to some schools. But, since this team seams to be a good one, I'm sure its some wealthy school that spends $1,000 on Big League Chew.
     
  6. PeteyPirate

    PeteyPirate Guest

    Cinematography was awful.
     
  7. prhack

    prhack Member

    Sounds like the catcher is taking the biggest hit. According to the AJC, the college he is planning to attend has withdrawn its offer to let him join the baseball team as a preferred walk-on. The coach was pretty direct when asked about it. Here's the link:

    http://www.ajc.com/sports/content/sports/highschool/stories/2008/06/05/stephens_0606.html

    Personally, I think it's a shame that he's taking the fall alone. I find it hard to believe that the pitcher wasn't in the know.

    The most amazing thing about this is that it took so long to pop up here. The video has gotten 102,000 hits on You Tube.
     
  8. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    BTW, it's not an NAIA college. It's a juco. Not a big point in the overall scheme, but just sayin.

    As for the video, the catcher got his just deserts. It's really not clear yet what role, if any, Ethan Martin had in this, but there apparently will be no consequence at all for him.

    The pitcher, though, is a junior. Frankly, I think he should be banned from interscholastic competition his senior year. But apparently nothing will happen to him, either.
     
  9. tapintoamerica

    tapintoamerica Well-Known Member

    It's obvious. The catcher ducks his head and looks toward the ground.
     
  10. Dog8Cats

    Dog8Cats Well-Known Member

    Anyone else bothered by the laughing of one of the announcers when he pieces it together that the catcher had the "take" sign? If the umpiring had been such a sore point for the defense, anyone with a shred of baseball knowledge would have seen that act for what it was ... and he wouldn't have needed 40 seconds to figure it out.
     
  11. novelist_wannabe

    novelist_wannabe Well-Known Member

    He pantomined blockiing a pitch in the dirt on a pitch that was five feet off the ground. Even if he had been crossed up -- as the coach stated afterward -- it wouldn't have been that far off.
     
  12. three_bags_full

    three_bags_full Well-Known Member

    They fucked that all up. You gotta throw one in the dirt and let it get by. They deserve the fine, but not because they threw at the ump -- because the way they went about it.
     
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