Announcers' Ejection Rules
2018 Edition
OFFICIAL EJECTION RULES COMMITTEE
Kenneth Smith Harrelson, Chair
Joe Allen Simpson, Ph.D., Psychologist
Copyright © 2015-2018
by nobody in particular
All rights reserved, except those that aren't.
FOREWORD
This code of rules governs the administration of personnel ejections during contests held by Major League Baseball and the leagues that are members of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues.
RULE 1.00 - JOE WEST
1.01) Joe West is not permitted to eject anyone.
RULE 2.00 - TERMS
1 FOOT - Approximately five inches.
200 FEET - The distance between an announcer's face and their TV monitor.
ALMOST - Approximately sixteen inches.
ANGER - The emotion experienced by an umpire whenever they do something you don't like. It is generally characterized by a neutral expression and a relatively calm demeanor when compared to team members expressing the emotion known as passion.
ASKING - Vehement arguing at excessive volume, usually accompanied by wild gestures and extended periods of uncontrollable forward motion
BATTERY - The mental connection between a pitcher and catcher that prevents the pitcher from possibly throwing a pitch that the catcher did not call for.
BEFORE - After.
BELOW THE KNEE - The area below the knee begins above the knee and ends at the foot.
BETWEEN INNINGS - The period of time where the ball is live, the batter is in the box, the catcher is in their crouch, and the pitcher has engaged the rubber.
CROSS-UP - A figment of your imagination.
DOWN IN THE DUGOUT - On the field.
IMMEDIATELY - No less than seven seconds afterwards.
INADVERTENTLY - Intentionally.
NOBODY - The umpire, manager, catcher, batter, pitcher, coaches, players in the dugout, first five rows of fans, and the broadcast team.
NO DOUBT - A phrase used to instruct the listener that whatever follows is blatantly false.
NOT CLOSE - Close.
QUICK HOOK - An ejection that occurs less than forty-eight seconds after the beginning of an argument.
RESPECT - Something earned by players willing to make a blood sacrifice for their team.
SWING - It is a swing if the bat moves forward.
WHOLE - Incomplete or lacking parts.
RULE 3.00 - WHEN EJECTIONS ARE NOT PERMISSIBLE
3.01) Joe West is still not permitted to eject anyone.
3.02) When a player is in a Safe Zone they are not subject to ejection for any reason. These zones are
(a) the dugout
(b) the jersey of a catcher currently playing defense
(c) anywhere that is not directly in front of and facing the umpire
(d) directly in front of and facing the umpire, provided seven seconds have not elapsed since the disputed event.
COMMENT A. If the catcher is ejected in violation of rule 3.02(b), the umpire is required to make a subtle mechanic so as to not show up the catcher.
COMMENT B. If the catcher is ejected in violation of rule 3.02(b), the umpire is required to make a full ejection mechanic so as to not be cocky and nonchalant.
3.03) No individual shall be ejected during a Big Moment.
(a) For players, a Big Moment is during any game which may have an impact on the postseason.
(b) For managers, the announcers are the sole arbiters of whether or not a Moment is Big. Umpires should confer with them before ejecting a manager.
3.04) Managers shall not be ejected while defending a player.
3.05) No team member shall be ejected if three team members have already been ejected during the game.
3.06) Umpires may only eject a pitcher if they hit the batter with a pitch.
3.07) Umpires may not issue ejections between innings.
3.08) The following personnel are not subject to ejection under any circumstance
(a) exciting kids
(b) anyone that someone in the crowd may have paid to see
COMMENT A. Rule 3.08(b) shall be in no way interpreted to extend to umpires.
3.09) Players who have not thrown a helmet on the field shall not be ejected.
RULE 4.00 - WHEN EJECTIONS ARE PERMISSIBLE
4.01) Members of the opposing team may be ejected at any time for any reason.
(a) Unless the umpire is Joe West.
RULE 5.00 - GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR UMPIRES
5.01) Umpires should remember that they have a collective disability that prevents them from distinguishing between different voices.
5.02) The umpire shall conduct a poll of the crowd before making any decision, but especially in these cases
(a) If the decision could result in an ejection, the umpire shall first conduct a poll to discover whether or not anybody in the ballpark knew that anything happened. If someone did know that something had happened, the umpire shall then poll the crowd to determine whether or not the ejection should occur.
(b) Prior to the game, the umpire shall determine which player the crowd has paid to see. They should then conduct themselves with this in mind.
COMMENT A. If Janet is in the crowd, hers is the sole vote which shall be counted.
COMMENT B. Rule 5.02(b) should in no way be interpreted as "which player the crowd has paid to see [play the game of baseball]", as such an interpretation would require the acknowledgement that baseball has rules governing personnel conduct and that umpires are an integral part of the game of baseball and are unlikely to not be or become involved.
5.03) Umpires should get the idea that batters become noncorporeal at the conclusion of their at-bat and thus cannot interfere with the defense in any way.
5.04) Umpires should apologize after every call.
5.05) On check swings, only the umpire who does not make the call is permitted to make the call. If the umpire who does not make the call makes the call, then the umpire who made the call is required to make the call instead and the umpire who did not make the call must not make the call. If the umpire who made the call is requested to unmake the call, the umpire who did not make the call must make the call except when the umpire who did make the call unmade the call in such a way as to make the made call unmade prior to the making of the original call. Calls made and/or unmade in such a manner are the sole responsibility of the umpire who made the call after not making the call, unless the umpire who made the call made the call in which case the umpire who made the call has priority over making the call.
5.06) Umpires should remember not to insert themselves into the middle of the game of baseball, as umpires have no role in the game proper. As such, umpires should not call attention to themselves or have any effect on the game in any manner, including but not limited to the following:
(a) Making a call that is not expected.
(b) Enforcing the rules.
(c) Saying words.
(d) Making gestures.
5.07) As looking in the direction of a player assists the umpire in hearing them, umpires are forbidden to look at players.
5.08) Before ejecting an offender, the umpire should consider the quality of game a player or coach has had so far. If the player has not had a good game, the umpire should not eject the offender.
RULE 6.00 - GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR ANNOUNCERS
6.01) Regarding replays, if an angle shows the umpire was wrong, they were wrong. If no angle shows they were wrong, and the call favors the opposing team, assume a missing angle would show the umpire was wrong.
6.02) Announcers should remember that no pitcher has ever been ejected after hitting a batter following warnings being issued, and should react to such an event accordingly.
6.03) The K-Zone is accurate.
6.04) The K-Zone is not accurate.
6.05) An umpire’s accuracy shall be determined by taking the total number of calls, dividing it by the number of incorrect calls, subtracting pi, multiplying by the price of tea in China converted to British Pounds, and throwing that number away and replacing it with 0%.
(a) An accuracy of 105% or higher shall be considered to be “good”.
(b) An accuracy of 102-104% shall be considered “acceptable”.
(c) An accuracy of 101% shall be considered “borderline incompetence”.
(d) An accuracy of 100% or lower shall be considered “needing accountability”.
RULE 7.00 - REPLAY REVIEW
7.01) All ejections shall be subject to replay review. The criteria for overturning such a call shall be whatever we feel like at the time.
RULE 8.00 - AER PROCEDURE
8.01) AERC members and board staff may move to have a submission heard at the next meeting so long as such movement occurs within one month of the incident that prompted the submission.
(a) No investigation shall be performed at any time in regards to the aforementioned time period.
8.02) Non-AERC members may petition the board to hear their submission at the next meeting so long as such petition occurs within one week of the incident that prompted the submission.
(a) Five AERC members must approve the petition before it may be held for official vote.
(b) AERC members may not vote against a petition, only in favor of it.
8.03) A majority of AERC member teams must approve a submission for it to pass.
(a) Votes shall be either "Yes", in favor of passing the submission, or "No", in favor of failing the submission.
(b) Voting may be done in absentia.
(c) There shall be no option to abstain. Failing to appear shall record a vote as "Yes".
8.04) AER participants shall be awarded, based on the outcome of voting,
(a) 2 points for each submission that passes.
(b) -3 points for each submission that fails.
(c) -4 for each submission that fails after being entered as a petition.
(d) -5 for each petition that is denied.
8.05) AER participants shall be awarded, based on the purpose of their submission or petition,
(a) 2 points for each rule addition.
(b) 1 point for each rule modification.
8.06) AER participants shall be awarded, based on the awarding of awards,
(a) 5 points for mid-season awards.
(b) 10 points for post-season awards.
