Phillies

Thanks to a Hot Mic, We Got a Look Inside the Mind of an MLB Ump

By Kyle Pagan

Published: May 22nd, 2024 · 11:42 AM EDT

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We got a look into what umpires are thinking when they make a close call on the field, via a hot mic:

alan porter forgets how to toggle his microphone pic.twitter.com/cUCdKLKbtZ

— jaiden (@steph_turkey) May 22, 2024

“See that’s one where we all thought it was gone. We’re like it’s just a crew chief review and we’re just gonna go. We’re not going to flip it and fucking look stupid if it didn’t leave (the ballpark).”

That was Alan Porter, who was the crew chief Tuesday night, and I have to admit it was actually pretty good thinking by him. You don’t get a ton of critical thinking from umpires and referees in any sport nowadays. It’s easily more embarrassing to call that ball a home run, have it overturned, and then have to send Corey Seager back to second. Then Bruce Bochy comes out and wants to argue, it delays the game, they might toss him, and you have a bigger shitshow on your hands then you want. No casualties involved.

Unlike this lady’s nachos. That’s $20 of food that fell onto the field:

Phillies fan tries to catch a home run with her nachos pic.twitter.com/WNKCevLRcn

— Crossing Broad (@CrossingBroad) May 22, 2024

That woman’s internal monologue:

We need more hot mic incidents in Major League Baseball. Take us into the mind of the umpire while they make shitty call after shitty call. You’d also get great content like this: