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Please see the discussion on the talk page. | Robert Allan Davidson (born August 3, 1952 in Chicago, Illinois) is a professional umpire. He was on the full-time umpiring staff for Major League Baseball in the National League from 1982 to 1999. He resigned in 1999 as part of a labor negotiation strategy. Davidson has returned to professional umpiring and now works as a replacement for vacationing or injured Major League umpires. Davidson, who has been nicknamed "Balkin' Bob" due to his frequent balk calls, currently wears number 61, but wore number 31 during his career in the NL. When the AL and NL merged their umpiring staffs in 2000, number 31 was assigned to Mike Reilly, who wore the number in the AL. Image File history File links Unbalanced_scales. ...
August 3 is the 215th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (216th in leap years), with 150 days remaining. ...
1952 (MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will take you to calendar). ...
Flag Seal Nickname: The Windy City Motto: Urbs In Horto (Latin: City in a Garden), I Will Location Location in Chicagoland and northern Illinois Coordinates , Government Country State Counties United States Illinois Cook, DuPage Mayor Richard M. Daley (D) Geographical characteristics Area City 606. ...
This article or section does not cite its references or sources. ...
Major League Baseball (MLB) is the highest level of play in professional baseball in the world. ...
This article refers to the American baseball league. ...
In baseball, a pitcher may commit a number of illegal motions or actions which constitute a balk. ...
Michael Eugene Reilly (born July 2, 1949 in Sioux City, Iowa) is an umpire in Major League Baseball who has worked in the American League from 1978 to 1999 and throughout both major leagues since 2000. ...
He officiated in the 1992 World Series, as well as the National League Championship Series in 1988, 1991 and 1996. He also worked in the National League Division Series in 1995 and 1998, and in the 1987 and 1993 All-Star Games. The 1992 World Series was the first Series ever played outside of the United States of America. ...
In Major League Baseball, the National League Championship Series (NLCS) determines who wins the National League pennant and advances to baseballs championship, the World Series, facing the winner of the American League Championship Series. ...
The 1988 National League Championship Series was played between the National League West champion Los Angeles Dodgers and the National League East champion New York Mets. ...
The 1991 National League Championship Series was played between the Atlanta Braves and the Pittsburgh Pirates, with the Braves coming out on top in the series 4-3. ...
The 1996 National League Championship Series matched the Eastern Division Champion Atlanta Braves and the Central Division Champion St. ...
In Major League Baseball, the National League Division Series (NLDS) determine which two teams from the National League will advance to the National League Championship Series. ...
The 1995 National League Division Series (NLDS), the opening round of the 1995 National League playoffs, began on Tuesday, October 3, and ended on Saturday, October 7, with the champions of the three NL divisions – along with a wild card team – participating in two best-of-five series. ...
The 1998 National League Division Series was a best-of-five matchup that saw the Wild Card Champion Chicago Cubs face the Eastern Division Champion Atlanta Braves and the Western Division Champion San Diego Padres face the Central Division Champion Houston Astros. ...
The Major League Baseball All-Star Game, also popularly known as the Midsummer Classic or Midsummer Night Classic, is an annual baseball game between players from the National League and the American League, currently selected by fan vote for the starting position players and by the manager for pitchers and...
Davidson resigned from the NL staff in 1999 as part of a (failed) mass resignation during labour negotiations. He was out of professional baseball until 2003, when he resumed umpiring in minor league baseball, including the A-level Midwest League. In December 2004, he and fellow resignees Tom Hallion and Ed Hickox were guaranteed three of the next five positions on the Major League umpire staff, with Davidson reportedly guaranteed the first vacancy [1]. Since then, Davidson has worked as a fill-in at the Major League level. However, when Terry Craft retired in July 2006 to create the first vacancy since 2004, it was filled by International League umpire Lance Barksdale. The following are the baseball events of the year 1999 throughout the world. ...
The Midwest League is a minor league baseball league which operates in the Midwestern United States. ...
The International League (IL) is a minor league baseball league which operates in the eastern United States and Canada. ...
Davidson recently became internationally infamous for his work as an umpire during the 2006 World Baseball Classic, when he incorrectly ruled on a pair of critical calls, both in favor of the United States team. Thus, he was nicknamed the "Patriotic Ump" by the medias from other countries. The 2006 World Baseball Classic was the inaugural tournament between national baseball teams that included players from Major League Baseball. ...
USA Baseball was founded in 1978 and is the governing body for amateur baseball in the United States of America. ...
The World Baseball Classic, sometimes abbreviated WBC, is an international baseball tournament, first held in March 2006. ...
Japan vs. the United States
 Video replay clearly showed that Nishioka was still on third base when Winn caught the ball In the top of the eighth inning of a second-round game, with score tied at 3-3, Japan national baseball team Japan had Tsuyoshi Nishioka at third base and Akinori Iwamura at the place against American pitcher Joe Nathan, seemingly in good position to take the lead. Iwamura hit a pop fly to left field, which was easily fielded by American fielder Randy Winn. As soon as Winn caught the ball, Nishioka started from third base, attempting to score on a routine sacrifice fly. Winn threw home but did not catch Nishioka, seemingly giving Japan a 4-3 lead. Prior to the next at-bat, the American team executed an appeal play, arguing that Nishioka had not properly tagged up at third base. Third base umpire Neil Poulton had been out of position on the previously play and unable to judge whether Nishioka had left the base too early, so second-base umpire Brian Knight ruled that Nishioka was safe. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 150 KB) Summary Source: http://bbs. ...
Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1280x960, 150 KB) Summary Source: http://bbs. ...
The Japan national baseball team is the national team of Japan. ...
Joseph Michael Nathan (born November 22, 1974 in Houston, Texas) is a relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who plays for the Minnesota Twins (since 2004). ...
Dwight Randolph Randy Winn (born June 9, 1974 in Los Angeles, California) is a Major League Baseball center fielder for the San Francisco Giants. ...
In baseball, a batted ball is considered a sacrifice fly (denoted by SF) if the following four criteria are met: There are fewer than two outs. ...
In baseball, an appeal play occurs when a member of the defensive team calls the attention of an umpire to an infraction which he would otherwise ignore. ...
American manager Buck Martinez then argued, not just his view that Nishioka had left third base too early, but that the wrong umpire had made the call on the appeal play; it was not second-base umpire Knight's decision to rule Nishioka safe or out, but home plate umpire Davidson's. Davidson met with the other umpires and, after deliberation, ruled Nishioka out. John Albert Buck Martinez (born November 7, 1948 in Redding, California) is a former catcher, manager and is currently a play-by-play commentator in Major League Baseball. ...
Davidson was not overstepping his bounds in overturning Knight's call, because Martinez was technically correct in that it was never Knight's call to make. However video replay clearly showed that Nishioka had indeed properly tagged up at third base and not left the bag too early. So rather than having had the wrong umpire making the right call, the right umpire made the wrong call.
Human error is an unavoidable part of baseball. Baseball umpires have to make split-second decisions, do not have access to instant replay and are forbidden from watching the giant stadium video display which 40,000 screaming fans use to pass instant judgment on the umpires' work. In this particular case, Nishioka began moving his upper body in preparation of his sprint to home plate before lifting his foot off the bag, which may have confused Davidson. Donald Anton Denkinger (born August 28, 1936 in Cedar Falls, Iowa) is a former umpire in Major League Baseball who worked in the American League from 1968 to 1998. ...
Japan ended up losing the game by one run on an Alex Rodriguez double in the bottom of the ninth inning. It's possible that Japan would have lost anyway, as RodrÃguez's double would likely have scored two runs, but Davidson's blown call and the unusual circumstances around it created a minor international incident. Although the loss - whether Davidson's fault or not - put Japan's hopes of advancing to the next round in serious jeopardy, they ended up moving on anyway, ironically, at the expense of the United States. To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...
Mexico vs. the United States In the bottom of the third inning of a second-round game between Mexico and the United States, Mexican outfielder Mario Valenzuela hit what appeared to be a home run off of American pitcher Roger Clemens, off the foul pole in right field. In the rules of baseball, a ball hit off the foul pole is a home run, and the ball appeared to strike about two metres up the pole. Moreover, it hit the pole hard enough that some of the pole's yellow paint was visible on the ball. William Roger Clemens (born August 4, 1962 in Dayton, Ohio), nicknamed The Rocket, is one of the preeminent Major League baseball pitchers of the 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s, and is widely considered to be one of the greatest pitchers of all time[1]. He has won seven Cy Young Awards...
Baseball around the world is played under three major rules codes, which differ only slightly. ...
However, Davidson, this time serving as first base umpire, ruled that the ball had remained in play and that Valenzuela had only hit a double. This call would be correct if the ball bounced off the wall rather than the foul pole, but the ball hit far enough up the pole that many fans thought there should be no doubt. Moreover, incredulous Mexican pitcher Esteban Loaiza attempted to show Johnson the ball with the yellow paint of the foul pole on it, although this did not succeed in getting the call overturned. Esteban Antonio Loaiza [lo-EYE-sa] (born December 31, 1971 in Tijuana, Mexico) is a Major League Baseball starting pitcher who plays for the Oakland Athletics. ...
The call, once again, had little impact on the tournament. Jorge Cantu singled Valenzuela home later that inning anyway, meaning that the only impact the call had was on Valenzuela's individual statistics. Mexico won the game 2-1, eliminating the United States from the tournament. Jorge LuÃs Cantú (born January 30, 1982 in Reynosa, Mexico) is a major league third baseman and second baseman for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. ...
2006 Note Davidson continues to work as a replacement umpire for vacationing Major League umpires.
Other controversial calls - On September 20, 1998, St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Mark McGwire hit what appeared to be his 66th home run of the season, extending the record he had set earlier in that game. However, Davidson ruled the would-be homer a double due to fan interference after a fan reached over a yellow rail and caught the ball. The fenced-off area at Milwaukee County Stadium had been involved in other debatable home run calls, and had a reputation of being a difficult area for umpires to spot fan interference.
- Davidson also blew a call in the '92 World Series on what would have been the World Series' 1st triple play. Deion Sanders was ruled to have gotten back to 2nd safely and replays clearly showed otherwise.
- When Davidson egregiously blew a safe call on a would-be Andruw Jones infield hit in 2006 (incorrectly calling him out), TBS announcer Chip Caray declared Davidson had badly blown the call. Said father/partner Skip Caray: "Why does that not surprise me?"
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