Effectively Wild Episode 1844: Grill the Umpire

May 3, 2022

EWFI
Ben Lindbergh and Meg Rowley banter about April’s low offensive numbers and Zack Greinke’s deadball-style success, then (7:11) talk to 32-year MLB umpire Dale Scott and SABRcast host Rob Neyer, co-authors of Scott’s new memoir The Umpire is Out: Calling the Game and Living My True Self, touching on the definition of “nutcutter,” how Dale and Rob teamed up, whether Dale’s memories were accurate, the art of the umpire memoir, whether the book is a tell-all, umpire mechanics, the 7th inning of 2015 ALDS Game 5, whether players and managers know the rules, what makes someone want to umpire, replay review, the automated strike zone, why the zone expands and shrinks depending on the count, how pitch-tracking tech has improved umpires’ calls, how umps get graded and whether deserving umps are promoted and demoted, whether some umps disapprove of other umps, how Scott lived as a gay man while umpiring in MLB, and how he came out.