Last night, Matt Wieters was ejected for arguing with home plate umpire Dan Bellino after a strikeout. Wieters attempted to check his swing on a two-strike pitch in the dirt, and Bellino called a swinging strike three on his own, without checking with the third base umpire. Obviously, the Orioles ended up winning, so this call and subsequent ejection didn't cost the team a game. I'm actually not even convinced it was a bad call, so it may not have even cost the team an out (although it did cost them their catcher). This may not be the best example, but it highlights two things in the MLB rulebook that I've had an issue with for years: the lack of a clear definition of what a swing is, and the fact that there is no good reason for a plate umpire to ever make the call on a borderline checked swing.
Wieters' ejection highlights MLB's checked swing problem
