Jerry Layne

Jerry Layne
24 - Jerry Layne
Jerry Layne
Layne in 2011.
MLB debut
1989
Umpiring Crew
L
Crew Members
  Jerry Layne (Crew Chief)
  Bob Davidson
  Hunter Wendelstedt
  Brian Knight
Career highlights and awards
Special Assignments

Jerry Blake Layne (born September 28, 1958 in Pikeville, Kentucky) is an umpire in Major League Baseball who has worked in the National League between 1989 and 1999, and throughout both major leagues since 2000. He wore uniform number 24 in the NL, but when MLB merged the AL and NL umpiring staffs in 2000, Layne was forced to switch to number 26, as AL umpire Al Clark, who wore 24 in the junior circuit, had more seniority. But when Clark was fired midway through the 2000 season by MLB, Layne reclaimed number 24 and has worn it ever since.

In October 2005, he umpired in his first World Series. He was also the home plate umpire when Barry Bonds hit his record 71st home run in 2001, and for the no-hitter pitched by Fernando Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 29, 1990 at Dodger Stadium.

Contents

Injuries

On August 18th, 2006, Layne was the plate umpire for a game between the Atlanta Braves and the Florida Marlins. In the 8th inning, he was struck by the barrel of a broken bat swung by the Marlins' Hanley Ramirez. Layne's injury delayed the game for 13 minutes, and he was carted off the field. X-rays were negative and Layne escaped serious injury, suffering only a bruised jaw.[1]

On June 7th, 2008, Layne was the plate umpire where he sustained a mild concussion when he was hit by a foul ball in the top of the third inning of a game between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals.[2]

Controversy

On October 19th, 2011, Layne was the plate umpire when Adrian Beltre nicked a ball off of his foot to St.Louis Cardinals third basemen David Freese in Game 1 of the 2011 World Series, which, by rule, is a dead ball. Layne ruled that Beltre was not touched by the ball and play continued, despite Beltre hopping around home plate as if in pain. Infrared replays showed that the ball appeared to have narrowly clipped Beltre's foot and that the ball should have been called foul or dead by virtue of batter's interference. Layne inspected the ball after Rangers manager Ron Washington argued the call; however Layne did not see any scuff from Beltre's shoe and upheld his original call.[3]

On October 28, 2011, Layne was the plate umpire for Game 7 of the 2011 World Series, as the St. Louis Cardinals hosted the Texas Rangers. During this contest, baseball's computerized Pitch f/x system indicated Layne missed 17 ball/strike calls, with 14 of these calls benefiting the Cardinals and three benefiting the Rangers.[4] Most notably, with St. Louis leading 3-2 in the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cardinals loaded the bases as Yadier Molina stepped to the plate with two outs. Molina took a 3-2 fastball from Scott Feldman for a called fourth ball, allowing a run to score as opposed to ending the inning had the pitch been called a strike. Pitch f/x indicates the pitch was located within the strike zone.[5]

During the Rangers' ensuing at-bat in the top of the 6th inning, with Texas hitter Mike Napoli facing St. Louis pitcher Chris Carpenter, Layne called a strike on a pitch that was seemingly in the identical location as Feldman's full-count pitch to Molina in the previous inning, causing Napoli to question Layne's call, and causing FOX commentator Tim McCarver to make mention of Layne's inconsistent strike zone favoring St. Louis.[citation needed][dubious – discuss] The Cardinals would eventually win Game 7 and the World Series. Further evidence of Layne's inconsistent strike zone is shown by BrooksBaseball.net's strike zone plot of Game 7's called balls and strikes. It's important to note that over the past 5 seasons, prior to Game 7, St. Louis was 8-1 with a 2.00 ERA when Layne was the home plate umpire, while Texas was 1-6 with a 5.40 ERA when Layne worked the plate.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ "Bat hits umpire in head in Braves' victory over Marlins". ESPN.com. http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=260818128. Retrieved December 20, 2010. 
  2. ^ "Umpire hurt in Royals-Yanks tilt". MLB.com. http://newyork.yankees.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20080607&content_id=2861183&vkey=news_nyy&fext=.jsp&c_id=nyy. Retrieved December 20, 2010. 
  3. ^ http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/20/adrian-beltre-foul-out-umpire-world-series-game-1_n_1021124.html
  4. ^ "Discussions: 2011 World Series". Umpire Ejection Fantasy League. http://umpireejections.blogspot.com/2011/10/discussions-2011-world-series.html. Retrieved October 28, 2011. 
  5. ^ http://img854.imageshack.us/img854/3936/zoneplotphppitchselallg.gif

External links

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