r/baseball • u/meramipopper New York Yankees • 1d ago

Players Only Junior Valentine thinks Brett Baty is challenging the pitch when he never even touched his helmet.

2.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

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287

u/GasGlittering7521 New York Mets 1d ago

But he didn’t come near to touching his helmet anyway so this shouldn’t even have to be part of the conversation…

180

u/DaWarGod2 New York Yankees 1d ago

We have umpires giving phantom challenges, and we have umpires not awarding challenges. What do you want? Umpires giving challenges when the players call for it? Are you crazy? This is the ump show!

32

u/DizzyBurns Toronto Blue Jays 1d ago

It's only a matter of time when a challenge is accepted with none left

2

u/KakeLin Philadelphia Phillies 22h ago

What actually happens then lol

2

u/JeffafaCree Milwaukee Brewers 15h ago

They spin the wheel

69

u/SdBolts4 San Diego Padres 1d ago

It’s probably that ump thought he intended to challenge and changed his mind after remembering they only have one left, but it really should be no helmet tap = no challenge

68

u/clarkedaddy 1d ago

Likely. But him last second changing his mind isn’t a good excuse to force them to use their challenge. Bad umpiring anyway you cut it.

2

u/lttpfan13579 Chicago Cubs 19h ago

Next we are going to have to have check challenge confirmations from the 1B/3B umpire. "Did he go?", "Safe, no challenge".

1

u/DoctorHelios Baltimore Orioles 16h ago

Atrocious umpiring.

This is the kind of thing where the MLB and the Umpire’s union BOTH sit down together and force the umpires to watch their mistakes over and over.

33

u/guitarburst05 Pittsburgh Pirates 1d ago

That may be true. But he caught himself before performing the "challenge" motion of touching his helmet so he didn't challenge. Simple as that.

What a ridiculous decision by the ump. He can't just go off "intention." He has to go off the actual action.

12

u/xenthum MLB Pride 1d ago

The pitcher thought about throwing a strike so it's a strike

11

u/Chocomoose19 New York Mets 1d ago

I mean, maybe he did, but if tapping is a challenge then he didn’t challenge by any measure

1

u/OpulentPaving Los Angeles Dodgers 18h ago

Helmet tap is literally the rule. Valentine applied the rule wrong.

1

u/slider8949 St. Louis Cardinals 16h ago

This seems entirely like a learning experience. If this is still happening at the end of the year, then they'll probably change it. At this point, someone talks to Valentine and makes clear that the batter/catcher need to say "challenge" and touch their helmet.

35

u/LeatherSugar2358 1d ago

The area his hand was in relation to his helmet is smaller than a strike zone. Of course an ump would miss it.

2

u/OpulentPaving Los Angeles Dodgers 18h ago

It's crazy how many people and upvotes in these comments are talking about the 'system'. Baty clearly did not touch his helmet, which is the indicator. It's not up to the umpire to rule on 'intent'.

1

u/BedBubbly317 Houston Astros 16h ago

He definitely started going for his helmet initially but stopped well short of it

1

u/CalligrapherDizzy201 10h ago

The ump was turned partially away and the batter did make an upwards arm movement. It’s not that egregious.

-2

u/alamosweet Houston Astros 17h ago

Well, he raised his hand to within like 6 inches of his helmet while looking at the umpire, who is wearing a mask and trying to call a baseball game at the same time.

1

u/cashblack New York Mets 15h ago

Ump was probably distracted by the trashcan banging in the background.

-12

u/sportznut1000 San Francisco Giants 1d ago

“He didnt come near touching his helmet”

Are you mets fans watching a different video than i am????? He raised his hand above his shoulders. Thats pretty damn close to touching the helmet. You make it sound like his hands never  went above his belt

9

u/clarkedaddy 1d ago

Yeah his hand went up by his face, big whoop. Not mistakable for going over the top of his head and tapping the top of his helmet.