“It undermined the fairness of the league.”
The KBO has confirmed the first-ever disciplinary action to dismiss a referee suspected of attempting to cover up the misjudgment. The KBO held a personnel committee meeting on the 19th and decided on the level of disciplinary action against judges Lee Min-ho, Moon Seung-hoon and Choo Pyeong-ho, who were at the center of the controversy over the misjudgment in the Daegu NC Dinos-Samsung Lions on the 14th. Judge Lee Min-ho, the chief referee and the party involved in the controversy, decided to terminate the contract. This is the first time that KBO has disciplined a referee to dismiss him.
Judge Moon Seung-hoon, the main referee who caused controversy over misjudgment, was given a three-month suspension (unpaid) first. Judge Moon Seung-hoon caused a problem as he passed the ABS strike call to the ball without properly hearing it as the referee in the match against NC and Samsung on Wednesday. Judge Choo Pyong-ho, who was a third baseman who was obliged to listen to and check the ABS call together, was also given a three-month suspension (unpaid) punishment. Regarding the grounds for judging the suspension for three months, the KBO said, “The maximum period of suspension is stipulated by the regulations.”
Judge Moon Seung-hoon, however, decided to take additional personnel measures after the three-month suspension. As a referee, the responsibility for causing misjudgment was also heavy.
Referee Lee Min-ho was fired because of his remarks in question. Samsung’s offense situation in the bottom of the fourth inning when NC was leading 1-0. It was when NC’s starting pitcher Lee Jae-hak faced off Lee Jae-hyun with two outs and a runner on first base. With the ball count at 0-1, NC’s second fastballer Moon Seung-hoon declared the ball, but when NC’s manager Kang In-kwon checked the data sent to the tablet PC for ABS verification, the ball in question was marked as a strike. Due to ABS’s delay in data transmission time, Kang was only able to appeal to the judges after Lee Jae-hak threw three more pitches.
There was clear evidence that the second ball was a strike. The umpires started discussing after receiving complaints from Kang, but it was difficult to argue that the umpires made no mistake. However, things got complicated when Judge Lee Min-ho admitted his mistake and decided not to admit his mistake and fix the situation.
Judge Lee Min-ho pressed referee Moon Seung-hoon, saying, “If you couldn’t hear me, you should’ve signed you saying you couldn’t hear me, but you just let it go.” Then, he said, “Listen that the voice was clearly recognized as a ball (do it). Okay? That’s the only way for us to get out. Voice is a ball. Okay? If we don’t want to break it, we have to do it.” As the voice of judge Lee Min-ho was broadcasted on the air, baseball fans were enraged. It was a remark that could have made even more referees sweary.
Referee Lee Min-ho did not even know that the voice that the referee was discussing was conveyed to the fans, but said, “The pitch was delivered to the ball through voice only. When I checked the ABS monitor, it turned out to be a strike. We will proceed with the count as the statute of limitations has expired,” adding to the anger of the fans.
KBO took out the contract termination card because it judged that remarks on issues such as “if we want to get out” and “if we don’t want to break” undermine the fairness of the league. If the misjudgment is viewed as an area of mistake, the statement in question was an act of intention, so the dismissal could not be avoided. This is the background of the divided level of disciplinary action by Judge Lee Min-ho and the other two judges.
KBO said, “The three judges undermined the league’s fairness by making mistakes and inappropriate words and actions related to ABS decisions in the match against NC-Samsung in Daegu on the 14th,” and emphasized, “KBO held a personnel committee as it judged the issue to be very serious and confirmed the disciplinary action as above.”
The NC Dinosaurs who suffered damage sent an official letter to the KBO asking for an apology after the game, and the KBO gave the answer by taking disciplinary action against the referees. In addition, the KBO decided to install voice receiver equipment in the dugout of both teams to prevent recurrence of such incidents. The intention was to prevent such a problem if the club can check with the voice receiver at the same time as the referee, even if ABS data is transmitted slowly to the tablet.
KBO said, “The manual will be strengthened so that ABS field personnel can actively intervene in the event of confusion in receiving strike/ball decisions by the primary or third base umpire.” In addition, both teams also decided to deploy voice receiver equipment as soon as possible so that they can receive strike/ball decisions at the same time as the referee and third base umpire.”
On the spot, it is believed that the KBO neglected the problem that could have been supplemented and prevented earlier, leading to the dismissal of the referee. Manager Kang In-kwon said, “As we used ABS through exhibition games, we always raised questions about the time transmitted to tablet PCs. KBO was also aware of it, and he also told me that it will definitely improve when the season begins. It’s a pity that those points haven’t improved a little early. I also heard that voice receiver equipment would be introduced a week later, and I’m sorry that this situation would not have occurred if you had done it a little earlier. I think it’s right not to make a situation rather than to judge someone’s fault.”
“One ball has to pass (the result of the ABS ball judgment) to be released,” LG Twins manager Yeom Kyung-yeop said. The KBO is also aware of that. It had a meeting with working-level officials and coaches on the opening media day 고소득알바. Anticipating this situation, he asked what to do if a miss (missing) comes out. He said it would be reversed because it was a situation that could happen enough, and he said he would make an announcement as soon as possible. The KBO is also trying to cut back on the game. “It was faster than the exhibition game, but the next ball will fly only when it comes in,” he said in a similar voice.
KBO put out the urgent fire by imposing heavy punishment on the three judges in question. Attention is focusing on how additional personnel changes involving Judge Moon Seung-hoon will be made in the future.