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Jerry Crawford should be fired...seriously.

Crawford blew a call, then blew it as a professional. He should be fired for the latter only.

Well, did he REALLY blow the call on Votto's first inning checked swing? Yes, actually. He blew it.

A checked swing is only subjective up to a point. That's why umpires use guidelines to help them make such calls.

Umpires often judge a checked swing by whether the batter "broke his wrists," meaning that his top hand got closer to the pitcher than his lower hand did during the swing. Joey didn't break his wrists on this swing.

Also, umpires use the benchmark of "crossing the plane," meaning that the head of the bat crossed the middle of the plate. Joey's swing did not do this.

So Crawford blew the call. It happens. He's human.

But Crawford is an unprofessional douchebag. Allow me to make that case:

Joey cursed, saying "That's fucking bullshit! It wasn't even close! That's fucking bullshit!" Lather, rinse, repeat. Bad Joey! You said naughty words out loud at a sporting event! It happens. He's human.

What Crawford then did was to walk angrily AT Votto, screaming "Bullshit! Bullshit!" That's unacceptable behavior for a professional umpire. If you're emotional because a player got pissed at a close call and cursed (though not personally insulting you, and mostly while walking away), then you need really should find another line of work. If your anger becomes so powerful that you can't control yourself enough to resist stomping pridefully at a professional athlete, cursing back at him, then you need to be corrected and suspended. If you further cannot harness your prideful anger to the point that you eject a player for cursing (about the call you just blew, not you) while walking away from you, AND it's the first inning and that player is pivotal to one team to the point that such an ejection could very well change the outcome of the game, then you need to be fired.

And you're a douchebag.

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