Wednesday, August 17, 2005
Even Harry Caray got this one right
I was at a wake Sunday evening, and caught only bits and pieces of Sunday's Cubs-Cardinals game on Sunday Night Baseball. I did catch one Joe Morgan faux pas, though. 
Derrek Lee pulled a ball onto Waveland Avenue, and the third-base umpire originally ruled it a home run. After a brief argument from the Cardinals, the umpires conferenced. Morgan was right when he said just one other umpire would have had a good angle on the ball and it was the home plate umpire, Bruce Froemming. Froemming's name is pronounced "Fremm-ing" as this is a German name (sometimes his attitudes mimic his ancestors circa 1935 -- but that is a different story for a different day).
But Joe Morgan kept calling him Bruce "Fro-ming." Not once. Not twice, but at least four times during this conference which resulted in the home run call being reversed and ruled a loud foul.
Now if Froemming was a substitute ump, called up from duty in the International League to fill in for someone, this would be understandable. I'd even understand it if Froemming had only been around five or six years.
Problem is, Froemming is the senior umpire in Major League umpire. When the two leagues had separate staffs, Froemming was a National League umpire. His first season, 1971, was Morgan's last season in Houston before being traded to the Reds. Froemming umpired the 1973 and 1980 National League Championship Series and the 1976 World Series. Joe was on the field there. While Froemming never had the awe-inspiring presence of Doug Harvey (nicknamed "God" by National League players), he's been a part of the game for 34 years! You'd think Morgan would at least know who HE is.
Derrek Lee pulled a ball onto Waveland Avenue, and the third-base umpire originally ruled it a home run. After a brief argument from the Cardinals, the umpires conferenced. Morgan was right when he said just one other umpire would have had a good angle on the ball and it was the home plate umpire, Bruce Froemming. Froemming's name is pronounced "Fremm-ing" as this is a German name (sometimes his attitudes mimic his ancestors circa 1935 -- but that is a different story for a different day).
But Joe Morgan kept calling him Bruce "Fro-ming." Not once. Not twice, but at least four times during this conference which resulted in the home run call being reversed and ruled a loud foul.
Now if Froemming was a substitute ump, called up from duty in the International League to fill in for someone, this would be understandable. I'd even understand it if Froemming had only been around five or six years.
Problem is, Froemming is the senior umpire in Major League umpire. When the two leagues had separate staffs, Froemming was a National League umpire. His first season, 1971, was Morgan's last season in Houston before being traded to the Reds. Froemming umpired the 1973 and 1980 National League Championship Series and the 1976 World Series. Joe was on the field there. While Froemming never had the awe-inspiring presence of Doug Harvey (nicknamed "God" by National League players), he's been a part of the game for 34 years! You'd think Morgan would at least know who HE is.
