Racism Against Team Japan?

I think calling it racism is a bit too much. It was a bit strange. I figured it was to prevent a preemptive celebration that might cause problems with a potential call. It would fit the power struggle theory, though.

Why was Bob Davidson umpireing the game anyways?

I thought it was entirely unnecessary. I swear, that guy just keeps calling more and more bad attention onto himself. (Though I thought it was really cute when Oh-kantoku went over and put the one guy's foot back into the dugout.)

Just commented on this in another forum, before I saw this page. It really was absurd and the commentators mentioned it (Joe Morgan in particular). I feel there should absolutely be some kind of investigation regarding Davidson. His actions throughout the tournament indicate some kind of bizarre agenda, or at least deranged thought process!

The thing is, Davidson wasn't the home plate ump in the final. It was some other jerk American (and I'm American). Where did they find these fools? Nothing wrong with enforcing a rule, but to use such emphatic, insulting gestures? Even if it was the second warning (I thinik it was), the guy should have just politely called Oh over and requested he get his players behind the line.

I think that foot was Uehara's. LOL.

Well considering how xenophobic the guys in Japan were to foreigners in Japan, I'm not surprised that they get some of it back.

That surely couldn't be the reason why Davidson gave the Japanese players so much stick. I don't want to accuse him of having some kind of bias, but his treatment of any player or team that wasn't American was harsh, to say the least.

I'm going to give some examples of BS given to team Japan that didn't happen to other teams.

Kyuji Fujikawa is forced to remove his black bracelets and put them back in the dugout, but I saw Huston Street wearing a bracelet when he pitched. Alex Rodriguez also had a huge gaudy diamond cross necklace dangling around everywhere for most of the Mexico match.

Naoyuki Shimizu is given balls for licking his fingers on the mound. Bob Davidson gives him no warning and no communication. Huston Street and Dontrelle Willis were allowed to do this, though.

Of course the ridiculous sac fly call and numerous bad calls by Davidson. Maybe he should stick to being umpire for the good ol' boys playing drunk softball at whatever podunk town he hails from. He definitely shouldn't be doing this for a living.

There definitely needs to be an investigation into Davidson. Everything else has been said, so I won't repeat it.

I was on the JapanBaseballDaily website and watched a video of some young people (college looking) who were telling the Japanese media that team Japan should have beaten Korea. WHAT!?! Americans were telling Japanese that the Japanese should have beaten Korea!?

And just like that, I have a new reason to not go back to Nebraska.

Apparently Davidson thrives on any kind of attention, good or bad, which fits in nicely with his big ego. But the fact that the big wrong calls were all pro-American still makes it look suspect. I can't believe he was allowed to ump in the semi-final and final games though. What is MLB thinking, or is it just there were no clauses in the contract to replace bad umpires?

Most of those calls start in the opposing team's dugout. They try to get some psychological advantage by doing it, plus it is their right. Rules are rules.

So the team that presses the unpires on selective enforcement of the rules as a tactic is playing the smart game, eh? Anything for a win?

The goal of the rules is to allow the talent (and luck) on the field to be displayed, and any other usage is an abuse to be disallowed, even punished.

The umpiring at the WBC was one of the most notable failures, though w/o Davidson it wouldn't have been so noticeable. Several umpires had a really stupidly overly aggressive attitude (in one of the Domincan games too, I think it was, the umpire went bizarrely ballistic, ala Japan's feet on the dugout).

At least the final was, on the field, well-officiated, though: generally good balls-and-strikes calls, and excellent calls on the few close plays (I'd thought the touch at home was an error in our favor until the replay showed it correctly called, with the plate umpire exactly where he could see it).