This example of TrackMan (or K Zone), is too high, not as low as it should be, and not nearly as wide. And it causes problems with officiating contemporary baseball. (Press Pros File Photos)
Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall got the heave early in the College World Series finale for arguing balls and strikes, and in another of their wonderful public example of corporate management…the NCAA looked the worse for it.
I don’t know if you watched the College World Series final series. I don’t know if you even got a chance to. It didn’t last that long.
LSU won its eighth national title in baseball by defeating Coastal Carolina in the first two games of the three-game championship series, 1-0, and 5-3.
But the 5-3 win, itself, was only interesting in the state of Louisiana. Because…Coastal Carolina coach Kevin Schnall got thrown out in the bottom of the first inning for arguing balls and strikes, his first base coach got thrown out for probably intervening, or trying to protect Schnall, and from that point the post-game press conference was more interesting than the baseball, itself.
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And I won’t go into that here…it’s all over the internet if you want to watch, and read, and make your own judgment on when umpires should adhere to the letter or the law regarding arguments, in this case balls and strikes. Home plate umpire Angel Campos ran Schnell for arguing, but Schnell claimed afterwards (and the cameras backed him up) that all he said was “You missed three pitches.”
Campos, by the way, is a former major league umpire who was fired in 2014, oft-criticized for his quick temper and tempermental concerns.
Now some of you know that I spent several years of my life calling balls and strikes in the minor leagues. And I had a few ejections along the way because I was aggressive about calling strikes. When you do that your reputation precedes, but that, in and of itself, does not lead to ejections.
And it’s true…the letter of the rule says you’re not allowed to argue balls and strikes, largely to prevent five-hour games. Friends used to ask me, “How do you know when you throw someone out for arguing? And when do you decide you’ve heard enough?”
The thought crossed my mind when I watched Angel Campos abruptly throw out Schnall.
There’s any number of magic words that’ll get you dumped. But then sometimes you just struggle with the moment…the fear of being shown up…or that you’re not exhibiting administrative authority for the sake of the NCAA? Only Angel Campos knows, and umpires are very cautious with talking to reporters.
Umpires were trained differently in the 70s over when to eject someone for being a pain in the ass. Honestly, 75% of the ejections I had in minor league baseball were individuals who wanted to get thrown out. Frustrated over being in a slump, or going 0 for 4, they just simply pushed the button. And I can assure you that in 1980 if someone told you that you missed three pitches it wasn’t grounds for getting thrown out, especially in the first inning of a championship game in a best-of-three series. More than one umpire was known to say, “If I have to be out here, you’re going to be here, too.”
It was once an added feature to a baseball game. You might see the manager tossed.
Because, if you chased someone every time you heard, “Hey, you missed that effing pitch”, well, then you would have about fifty by the end of the season.
In fact, in Double A one year I had a partner who had thirty by the All-Star break, and I told him to knock it off because I was tired of helping him fill out the ejection reports to the league office. He must have had a half dozen, alone, for smoking in the dugout. And while it was a league rule, no one ever paid any attention if someone burned one between innings. No one really cared.
Back to Schnall, and the issue of his ejection and it being compounded when one of the base umpires tripped and fell over backwards, claiming that Schnall had bumped him. In total, Schnall was suspended for three games to start the 2026 season (two for extending the argument and one for bumping an umpire). And I’ve watched the film and I don’t know if he even made contact. I think the guy was just clumsy and fell down.
I’ll say this about college umpires and the responsibility of managing the game. What happened to Schnall and Coastal Carolina could happen more than it does during the regular season. It’s just the stakes aren’t as high, the emotions, and silly discipline isn’t worth missing two games. In fact, there should be no suspension for being ejected from a college baseball game…it’s not that big a deal…unless, that is, if you make physical contact with an umpire!
Back in the day we were trained to manage the game. Learn to ‘handle people’ instead of defaulting to an ejection. And it all starts with balls and strikes. You get those right and you magically have fewer problems everywhere else.
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Hitters are more aggressive, fielders make more plays, and the pace of play takes care of itself. Hall of famer Doug Harvey used to hold his thumb and forefinger about an inch apart and say, “If Greg Maddus is throwing that pitch consistently and you don’t call it a strike…you’re going to miss (Johnny) Carson’s monologue.”
The late National League umpire Frank Pulli liked to say, “Everyone’s happier when you call strikes.”
Today they don’t do it. They have K-Zone in the major leagues and TrackMan in college and they squeeze the strike zone like they’re refining crude oil into 93 octane.
There was a time when players, coaches, and fans actually respected and trusted the umpires. Today that’s not the case, either. The game has become reliant upon constant video replay. EVERY close play is analyzed after the fact to look for a loophole and a reversal. It disrupts the flow of the game, and it’s stripped the integrity of the umpires. Sure, getting the call right is important, but no one likes to be shown up publicly by having a play reversed.
Too much of this…the repeated use of video review on every close play has stripped trust and integrity from the umpires’ calls.
In the case of ejections, never has there been a bigger case made for the sake of sportsmanship. Everything now has to be related to sportsmanship, and what we’re teaching the kids – concern that arguments and ejections detract from respect for the same officials that we distrust when we turn to video replay. We’re asking people to believe that because there’s a disagreement, or ejection, it has to be poor sportsmanship, and that’s not the case. With baseball, in particular, it’s more the case of ‘gamesmanship’, leveraging a call in the third inning against one that might come later in the game. You lost one, and you might get the next. I has nothing to do with sportsmanship.
And, of course, there is the issue of tolerance and judgment. And in the case of being ejected for saying “you missed three pitches”, is really arguing balls and strikes? Or just gamesmanship?
Having watched Big Ten baseball now for more than a decade, there is a critical case to be made for the quality of officials in all sports, but I think baseball, in particular.
In the case of the balls and strikes, we’ve made it very hard on young pitchers barely out of high school – unreasonable to expect that they’re going to throw strikes at high velocity at a strike zone the size of a shoe box.
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I recently watched the OHSAA state tournament, and I can accurately say that the flow of the game and the issue of balls and strikes was diffused because the strike zone was managed more generously. Those guys, who literally make nothing for doing it, were very, very good. That fact was understood, accepted, and no one later claimed that they were disadvantaged because of balls and strikes. Generally, games were managed well, as well as what you see in an average college game.
Back to the college game, game management, and the question of one managing his own future? Some college umpires makes as much as $75,000 a year (some make more) as a part-time gig. And the reason they adhere to a marginalized electronic strike zone is because they’re competing for post-season tournament opportunities that pay more and push your name higher up the scale. And we know…it’s human to not resist the hand that feeds you.
So what if Kevin Schnall’s future happens to get in the way?
In his defense, there is no defense for getting thrown out when your team’s season hangs in the balance of one baseball game. He has to think it through, as well.
In defense of the umpire, there’s nothing wrong with ejections, just be mindful of down and distance…a beautiful football reference.
Publisher Sonny Fulks writes OHSAA sports and the Buckeyes for Press Pros Magazine.
It is what it is, and that won’t change until we go to robots, because it’s obvious that some are still working on the basis of their past, and not the present.
As for the fans, I’ve always questioned the modern argument that officials are leaving the game because of the behavior in the stands. It’s just another concession to the modern culture where the tail wags the dog. If you can’t stand that kind of heat, there’s no kitchen, anywhere, that’s right for you.
For the sake of the game, it’s quickly becoming over-regulated, too many rules, and we’re constantly reminded that no one comes to watch it be officiated…except officials, of course.
No fights, no arguments, no ejections. What a difference from the old days when the game policed itself.
Earl Weaver and Ken Kaiser.
When sportsmanship was found after the game…at the hotel bar.
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