Umpires to face discipline for attempt to cover up mistake

A group of Korean baseball umpires could be disciplined for a hot mic incident in which they apparently tried to cover up a missed call during a game on Sunday.

The incident took place during the bottom of the third inning of the Korea Baseball Organization (KBO) regular-season game between the NC Dinos and the Samsung Lions at Daegu Samsung Lions Park in Daegu, some 240 kilometers southeast of Seoul.

With a runner at first and Lee Jae-hyeon at the plate, Dinos starter Lee Jae-hak threw a fastball over the outer part of the plate.

Home plate umpire Moon Seonghoon ruled it a ball, even though the automated ball-strike system (ABS), implemented for the first time this season, had called it a strike.

The ABS uses a tracking system to make calls and delivers the info to the home plate umpire through an ear piece.

A KBO official working in the ABS control center in the league headquarters in Seoul confirmed that the pitch had been called a strike.

Teams have each received a tablet this season that tracks all ABS calls, though they show up on the screen on a delay. After seeing the tablet screen showing the strike call on the pitch in question, Dinos manager Kang In-kwon came out of the dugout to argue with Moon, but did so after Lee had thrown three more pitches in the same at-bat.

Moon and the crew chief, Lee Minho, gathered to discuss the situation, with third base umpire Chu Pyungho joining them.

A few moments later, Lee grabbed a microphone connected to the stadium PA system to announce the decision not to accept the Dinos’ challenge and to stick with the earlier call.

“On that pitch, the home plate umpire had heard the ‘ball’ call, but after reviewing the ABS monitor, we saw that the pitch was indeed a strike,” Lee told the fans. “The Dinos appealed, but they should have done that before the next pitch was thrown. Based on that rule, we will maintain the original ball call.”

That would have been a reasonable explanation, except that it turned out later the umpires had apparently plotted an exit strategy.

The conversation between Lee and Moon was caught on a mic during the game’s broadcast.

“We should tell people you heard the ‘ball’ call. Understand? That’s the only way we can get out of this,” Lee was heard telling Moon.

Moon said, “Yes,” and Lee went on. “So just make sure to say what you heard was ‘ball.’ If you don’t want us to get hammered for this, you have to listen to me,” Lee insisted.

The clip has gone viral on social media and was covered on major evening news programs. The KBO said it has asked the umpiring crew to submit a detailed written report on the incident.

“We will try to ascertain all the facts,” a league official said. “Based on our findings, we will discuss disciplinary measures for these umpires.”

The Dinos were up 1-0 at the time of the pitch in question, but gave up three runs during that third inning en route to a 12-5 loss.