2026 NCAA Baseball Tournament

[RonJohn]

I appreciate the answer. Can you elaborate a bit more as I am not quite sure what you mean (again, I was mostly following on gametracker).

I'm not gtrower, but:

Ramsey pointed to the dugout while on a mound visit. The officials declared that he had substituted pitchers and forced a pitching change. The "point" wasn't anywhere close to the dugout, and it was more of a gesturing motion than pointing.

The balls and strike calls were horrible in the last two games. It did go both ways, so no bias towards either team. There were strikes called where the catchers mitt was lined up with the opposite batter's box line. There were strikes called that were close to the ankle. There were balls called high that were at the belt. There were balls called outside that were at least over the corner. It was extremely inconsistent.

 

[RonJohn]

It is possible you are 100% correct. I'll add my interpretation of the exact same sequence.

The gesture - I think Ramsey did make a gesture that could have been interpreted as pointing for the change. I DO NOT believe he was gesturing for a change; but it "could" (and I assume was) interpreted that way. Yes... a bad error from the crew, there. I'd love to know the remedy... which plays into my next thought.

The actual pitching change - No question Ramsey was hot when he figured out they'd somehow thought he wanted a change... rightfully so. However, I think it is possible (no way to know unless he's commented on it honestly... I have not heard anything). It is possible he intended to make the move ... but wanted to give Barfield a few more pitches in the pen before calling for him. I would think IF Ramsey did not make the gesture and then said to ump I am not calling for a change here.. they would have sent Barfield back to the pen. I believe Ramsey was (rightfully) upset they messed up his timing of the who thing.

Your interpretation would explain why the held the new pitcher up and then he eventually still came in.

 

[4shotB]

I'm not gtrower, but:

Ramsey pointed to the dugout while on a mound visit. The officials declared that he had substituted pitchers and forced a pitching change. The "point" wasn't anywhere close to the dugout, and it was more of a gesturing motion than pointing.

The balls and strike calls were horrible in the last two games. It did go both ways, so no bias towards either team. There were strikes called where the catchers mitt was lined up with the opposite batter's box line. There were strikes called that were close to the ankle. There were balls called high that were at the belt. There were balls called outside that were at least over the corner. It was extremely inconsistent.

Thanks RJ! I was unaware of your first point as I was in and out of chat all evening.

As to your second point, I was extremely aware of it as I was in and out of chat all evening.

 

[DecaturJacket]

Here is a question for you who saw the game. (I followed on a gametracker that lagged the live TV action and sort of followed in chat). There was a lot of criticism of the umps in chat last night and most seemed to feel it was bad either way. My question - the OU pitchers did not seem to be affected as much by the umps. (Again, I did not see it so I am "guessing" a bit). Is there a certain type of pitching style that their pitcher(s) have or had that would make them less vulnerable to this? for example, a flame thrower who is trying to just blow the ball by the batter vs a finesse style pitcher trying to hit exact locations that might be called differently from inning to inning or even batter to batter? thanks for any insight.

Several times OU pitchers did react. Twice the pitcher started to walk off on what he thought was strike 3. One time the catcher did too. Honestly they were probably right too.

It’s not all balls/strikes. They literally forced Tech to do a pitching change that we never intended to do, requested, or triggered by some violation. That’s a major ****up and is the kind of thing that can change the course of a tournament.

Hindsight says it probably didn’t affect the outcome of the game, and hopefully doesn’t have rippling affects to today. But can you imagine if that had happened with a starter that was cruising in the 3rd or 4th because Ramsey had a mound visit to set the defense?

Ramsey hasn't made a mound visit a single time this season where he didn't make a move. He was definitely making a move, he just wanted to stall longer. Taylor comes out for non-move visits. Ramsey literally only comes out when a move is coming.

It is possible you are 100% correct. I'll add my interpretation of the exact same sequence.

The gesture - I think Ramsey did make a gesture that could have been interpreted as pointing for the change. I DO NOT believe he was gesturing for a change; but it "could" (and I assume was) interpreted that way. Yes... a bad error from the crew, there. I'd love to know the remedy... which plays into my next thought.

The actual pitching change - No question Ramsey was hot when he figured out they'd somehow thought he wanted a change... rightfully so. However, I think it is possible (no way to know unless he's commented on it honestly... I have not heard anything). It is possible he intended to make the move ... but wanted to give Barfield a few more pitches in the pen before calling for him. I would think IF Ramsey did not make the gesture and then said to ump I am not calling for a change here.. they would have sent Barfield back to the pen. I believe Ramsey was (rightfully) upset they messed up his timing of the who thing.

I didn't think Ramsey was all THAT upset (because he knew he was making the change). He "argued" with them, but I think it was more of just letting them know that he didn't make the signal. He wasn't really all that heated like say he was in the game where a ball came on the field and the 3B ump called time and then allowed the play to happen. He was LIVID there. He was not livid last night.

 

[4shotB]

Several times OU pitchers did react. Twice the pitcher started to walk off on what he thought was strike 3. One time the catcher did too. Honestly they were probably right too.

Yeah, the chat consensus seemed to be that they were terrible for both sides last night. Tough for everyone when it's like that. Hopefully it will be a non-factor today!!

 

[CEB]

Here is a question for you who saw the game. (I followed on a gametracker that lagged the live TV action and sort of followed in chat). There was a lot of criticism of the umps in chat last night and most seemed to feel it was bad either way. My question - the OU pitchers did not seem to be affected as much by the umps. (Again, I did not see it so I am "guessing" a bit). Is there a certain type of pitching style that their pitcher(s) have or had that would make them less vulnerable to this? for example, a flame thrower who is trying to just blow the ball by the batter vs a finesse style pitcher trying to hit exact locations that might be called differently from inning to inning or even batter to batter? thanks for any insight.

The strike zone was all over for both teams. It seemed to get more inconsistent as the game went on.
I don’t think there was a style of pitching by OK that made the difference. It was the fact that we were down and trying hard to work pitchers and it’s hard to do with the strike zone moving. To be fair, several times our guys watched meat only to swing at off speed / out of zone stuff. It was partly self inflicted.
The other thing that (I think) happened was we seemed to be looking for one pitch and “just missed” several times with hard hit balls…. (oK made defensive plays, to be fair). With a lead, they were happy with contact and base runners… seemed like everything they put a bat on found grass. We couldn’t seem to find a hole anywhere last night.

The other thing unfortunately… OK had 3 errors to our none. They flat out booted routine balls several times early and that’s how we got out to the big lead. We didn’t have a great night at the plate… despite the appearance of the early score

 

[DecaturJacket]

Yeah, the chat consensus seemed to be that they were terrible for both sides last night. Tough for everyone when it's like that. Hopefully it will be a non-factor today!!

Yeah it was definitely a frustrating zone. The low part of the zone was nothing close to consistent, BUT the guy was consistently inconsistent imo. We got away with a few when we were hitting too.

I think the last few innings the offense focused too much on making the kid throw pitches. We watched a lot of pitches that weren't close to questionable early in counts. He seemed to be attacking the zone early in counts and then playing with the edges once he got ahead. So we'd take prime cut pitches, fall behind in the count, then be forced to expand the zone and chase or take a pitch close enough that the umpire would call it. It's a fine line between being aggressive and having good at bats. It's not easy when you're up there. I just think we needed to make an adjustment that we didn't make.

 

[DecaturJacket]

The other thing that (I think) happened was we seemed to be looking for one pitch and “just missed” several times with hard hit balls…. (oK made defensive plays, to be fair). With a lead, they were happy with contact and base runners… seemed like everything they put a bat on found grass. We couldn’t seem to find a hole anywhere last night.

Yeah, we hit some balls on the head that didn't fly/fall our way. Schmidt hit warning track balls that he squared up three at bats in a row. JA had a soft liner that the 2B just barely got up to. There were a few others, but those stand out in my mind.

 

[MWBATL]

Yeah, the chat consensus seemed to be that they were terrible for both sides last night. Tough for everyone when it's like that. Hopefully it will be a non-factor today!!

Same crew…why would they be any better today?

 

[4shotB]

Same crew…why would they be any better today?

Luck? Chance? fate? Hope? The random nature of the universe? maybe yesterday was just a bad day at the office? That's all I got MWB.

 

[XXX]

FWIW, the home plate ump was ACC affiliated.

 

[XXX]

Ramsey hasn't made a mound visit a single time this season where he didn't make a move.

I'm not disagreeing with the point you're try to make, which is a good one.

One minor note
I believe there has been at least once maybe twice early in the season whereby Ramsey made the mound visit and left the pitcher in

 

[CEB]

FWIW, the home plate ump was ACC affiliated.

So clearly the fix was in!!!!

 

[g0lftime]

They DO! That is one thing I am very sure on.

I have no doubt about the hitters and fielders. I want the guy on the mound to pitch with confidence and no fear of losing.

 

[DecaturJacket]

I'm not disagreeing with the point you're try to make, which is a good one.

One minor note
I believe there has been at least once maybe twice early in the season whereby Ramsey made the mound visit and left the pitcher in

I'm 99.9% sure he has not. I'm an addict and have watched every game this season at least twice.

Ramsey is very detail oriented. When he comes out there it's with one purpose. When it comes to speeches and adjustments it's Taylor that comes out.

 

[Home Park Jacket]

One minor note
I believe there has been at least once maybe twice early in the season whereby Ramsey made the mound visit and left the pitcher in

I agree @XXX , I know there was one, thought there was 2.

 

[DecaturJacket]

I'm not disagreeing with the point you're try to make, which is a good one.

One minor note
I believe there has been at least once maybe twice early in the season whereby Ramsey made the mound visit and left the pitcher in

I agree @XXX , I know there was one, thought there was 2.

Maybe you guys are thinking of an injury check up? I'm fairly certain he hasn't walked back to the dugout without making a change on a normal mound visit.

Either way though, once or twice out of what at least 100? I'm pretty sure he was making a move.

 

[gtstudent]

Maybe you guys are thinking of an injury check up? I'm fairly certain he hasn't walked back to the dugout without making a change on a normal mound visit.

Either way though, once or twice out of what at least 100? I'm pretty sure he was making a move.

There was definitely a Patel visit at one point I remember he was asked about it in an interview what he said and his response was “I just wanted to be a part of a Mason Patel mound visit for once.” Maybe that was UNC or FSU when things got dicey.

 

[stinger78]

It is possible you are 100% correct. I'll add my interpretation of the exact same sequence.

The gesture - I think Ramsey did make a gesture that could have been interpreted as pointing for the change. I DO NOT believe he was gesturing for a change; but it "could" (and I assume was) interpreted that way. Yes... a bad error from the crew, there. I'd love to know the remedy... which plays into my next thought.

The actual pitching change - No question Ramsey was hot when he figured out they'd somehow thought he wanted a change... rightfully so. However, I think it is possible (no way to know unless he's commented on it honestly... I have not heard anything). It is possible he intended to make the move ... but wanted to give Barfield a few more pitches in the pen before calling for him. I would think IF Ramsey did not make the gesture and then said to ump I am not calling for a change here.. they would have sent Barfield back to the pen. I believe Ramsey was (rightfully) upset they messed up his timing of the who thing.

Who knows what anyone’s intent is? You can’t call any sports event off of what you think intent was.

Ramsey did, indeed, make several gestures with his finger pointed, as if he was setting up his defense. His question to the ump was wtte: “You didn’t even ask me!”

Usually, when making a change, a coach will hold his hand on his arm to make sure they get the right guy. Ramsey did NOT do that, rather, he made several rapid pointing motions.

Look at it this way: If his intent was to go with the change, why would he even argue? OTOH, the umps blew it badly, forcing us into a pitcher change that we didn’t want.

In all my years, I have never seen that. IMPO, it was egregious.

 

[FredJacket]

Who knows what anyone’s intent is? You can’t call any sports event off of what you think intent was.

Ramsey did, indeed, make several denatures with his finger pointed, as if he was setting up his defense. His question to the ump was wtte: “You didn’t even ask me!”

Usually, when making a change, a coach will hold his hand on his arm to make sure they get the right guy. Ramsey did NOT do that, rather, he made several rapid pointing motions.

Look at it this way: If his intent was to go with the change, why would he even argue? OTOH, the umps blew it badly, forcing us into a pitcher change that we didn’t want.

In all my years, I have never seen that. IMPO, it was egregious.

I've never seen it either. I hope I didn't come across as suggesting Ramsey was in any way at fault. He never made a gesture that would 'normally' be considered 'the gesture'.

My only quibble with your comment. He argued because he did not gesture and they called the guy from the bullpen. He's not going to ignore that even if he planned on making the move. The umps need to be paying attention and not get the easy things wrong. CJR's job is to hold them to account to the extent he can.

I'm with @DecaturJacket ... had he REALLY never intended to make a move, he would have lost his mind. The arguing would have been much more animated. My amateur lip reading toward the end of the discussion (with both HP and 3B ump together) had him saying something like "...give my guy time to get ready....that's all I'm asking for..." he repeated it. Seems like words you'd use if he simply was bothered by the timing of the bad 'call'.