When the Umpire Says a Little More Than He Meant to on a Hot Mic

May 29, 2022, by Brett Taylor Baseball Is Fun

MLB umpires are now mic’d up to explain replay reviews and decisions. It’s a smart change made by the league, which allows fans and broadcasters to better understand what exactly was being looked at, and why the decision went the way it did.

… it also means there are more microphones around the field to potentially pick up stray chatter, and it means we might get an even better sense of what goes on behind the scenes with replay decisions.

For example, when an umpire, after explaining the replay decision, separately explains to the grumbling manager that, hey, it ain’t my fault the call was wrong:

"Once I send it to New York it's their fucking call"

Love when the ump has a hot mic pic.twitter.com/RZUCPB9Lzc

— Jomboy Media (@JomboyMedia) May 29, 2022

Hey, he’s right! Once the replay review goes to the centralized review umpire in New York, the field umps just have to go with whatever the decision is there. (Also, for the record, it looks like New York probably got it right, too – the catcher was not blocking the plate without the ball, only going into the running lane as he received the throw. That’s legal.)

By the way, if the umpire’s name, voice, and affect sounds vaguely familiar, it’s because he – Tom Hallion – was part of one of the MOST famous hot mic moments in baseball history: