Mike Krukow
By Reice Shipley on

Home plate umpires have become increasingly unpopular as the looming possibility of robot umpires replacing them becomes closer to reality. But interestingly, the strike zone wasn’t the biggest critique from San Francisco Giants color analyst Mike Krukow during Saturday’s game between the Giants and the Athletics.

In the top of the first inning, Athletics pitcher Luis Severino had some severe problems with his control, hitting two batters and loading the bases for the Giants. Tripp Gibson, the home plate umpire in the game, opted not to issue any sort of warning to either dugout about not hitting any more batters.

This prompted an animated Krukow to share his displeasure with how the situation was being handled, explaining how if Giants pitcher Logan Webb were to retaliate and hit a batter in the following inning, or at any point in the game, there would almost certainly be a warning issued to both dugouts.

“You know, the thing about baseball that is a bit odd,” said Krukow. “The Giants have had two hitters hit. The A’s could hit three more and they wouldn’t get warned. But if the Giants hit one guy, they’re going to get warned. Great rule, unbelievable…”

In the sixth inning, Krukow’s theory was put to the test when A’s reliever Sean Newcomb came into the game, hitting the first batter he saw in his outing, Dominic Smith, with a breaking ball. As Krukow predicted, no warning came towards the A’s, which seemed to pluck a nerve for Krukow.

“Unbelievable,” said Krukow. “Like I said, they keep hitting them, nobody is gonna get warned. The Giants do it one time, they are either going to get warned or kicked out of the game. That’s a breaking ball. No intention behind it. But it doesn’t matter. You’re hitting guys… Moral of the story is, if you’re a starting pitcher, you oughta go out and drill one guy in the first inning… The opposition can’t come and get your guys. That’s how you protect your players. They drill one of yours, they get warned, they get kicked out, they get suspended. That’s what that rule has set up; that’s the situation.”

Krukow later acknowledged that how hit-by-pitches are managed by umpires isn’t necessarily a rule in the MLB, more so a protocol that the vast majority of home plate umpires follow. Nonetheless, Krukow believes that this protocol needs some major adjustments to properly hold teams accountable for continuously hitting batters.

“I shouldn’t call it a rule,” added Krukow. “It’s umpire protocol. It’s what they have been told to do. A team drills somebody, a team retaliates and you react to it, it’s up to you to eject or not to eject. But considering how many times the Giants have been hit here in this last month, which has been ridiculous. It makes you think about how can you handle the situation. And that’s how you do it.”

Krukow does have a point. In June, the Giants as a team were hit the third-most of any team in MLB. And while none of the hit batters appeared intentional from the Athletics or sparked any kind of animosity between the two teams, there’s at least an argument that the Athletics should have been held accountable for their inability to control their pitches.

The Giants did, however, get the last laugh in the game, coming away with a 7-2 victory. But clearly, Krukow would like to see umpires handle this kind of situation far differently in the future.

About Reice Shipley

Reice Shipley is a staff writer for Comeback Media that graduated from Ithaca College with a degree in Sports Media. He previously worked at Barrett Sports Media and is a fan of all things Syracuse sports.

View all posts by Reice Shipley