American Association Daily provides insights and features on the American Association of Professional Baseball League, as well as player and coaching profiles and transactions going on with teams around the league. In today’s edition, Robert Pannier discuses the surprise return of umpire Joe Stegner to the league for the upcoming season, and the impact that should have. 

Joe Stegner Returns to Umpire in 2018

It was September 24, 2012. Monday Night Football. The NFL was in the throes of a heated negotiation with its officials and opted to go with a group of replacement referees, most of whom had never officiated above the Division-II level in college football.

There were seconds left in the contest between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks. The Packers were clinging to a five point lead when Seahawks QB Russell Wilson launched a Hail Mary pass into the end zone. Green Bay defender M.D. Jennings clearly had possession of the ball, with Seattle receiver Golden Tate only having one arm on the pigskin. However, replacement side judge Lance Easley inexplicably raised his hands signaling touch down for Seattle.

The decision was quickly (and accurately) deemed as the worst call in the history of the NFL. Making it worse was that this was during the league’s signature game, Monday Night Football, and during a time where the league was assuring fans and media types that the replacement refs were doing an adequate job.

The play soon became known as the “Fail Mary” and the “Inaccurate Reception” and, fueled by public outcry, the league folded and signed an agreement with its regular referees two days later, ending the lockout.

Setting the Stage for the Worst Call in Baseball History

The NFL learned a valuable lesson that day. One call instantly lost the league a huge amount of credibility and they were quick to react to make sure that America’s popular sport did not become the regular joke on late night television.

One league learned their lesson but, sadly, another has not. The American Association has had their own version of the Fail Mary. That came in Game 4 of the 2017 American Association Championship series.

Let’s set the stage. The Wichita Wingnuts were winning by a run with two down in the bottom of the ninth inning. There were two strikes on Casey Turgeon with Wes Darvill at second base. Wichita closer Ryan Kussmaul fired a pitch, Turgeon grounded to third baseman T.J. Mittelstaedt, who threw to first baseman Matt Chavez to end the contest and the Wichita Wingnuts were the 2017 American Association Champions.

But were they?

Home plate umpire Joe Stegner called a balk on the play, a call that no one but American Association Commissioner Miles Wolff agreed with. Darvill moved to third and scored when Turgeon doubled to tie the contest. Winnipeg eventually won in 18 innings and would win Game 5 to become champions.

It was truly the worst call in sports history. A completely unnecessary call. The action of Kussmaul had not been different than that of any other pitch he had thrown to Turgeon, yet Stegner opted to make the most inexplicable call in baseball history. Even SI.com was stunned by the call.

A League That Did Not Learn from Its Mistakes

The call was unbelievable. The reaction of fans, players, managers, and media were swift. “How stupid of a call was that!”

To their credit, the Wichita Wingnuts organization took it in stride. They had just had their championship stolen from them in a way that no fan could possibly imagine, yet they did not complain, at least not publicly. However, Wolff had the audacity to belittle the Wingnuts organization, referring to them as “whiners” in an interview with the Winnipeg Sun.

A month later was the American Association owners’ meeting. The last order of business on the final day was umpires. Before the Wichita Wingnuts ownership group, lead by Nate Robertson, could say anything, it is reported that Wolff announced that Stegner would not return and that he as well as Director of Umpires Kevin Winn would be stepping down at the end of the 2018 season. This took the wind out of Robertson’s sails, who believed that the situation had been resolved. Clearly, Wolff was not to be believed.

Not only does it appear that neither Wolff or Winn will not step down at the end of this season but, in what has to be deemed as an even worse call than Stegner’s blown balk call, the league has resigned Stegner for the upcoming season and he will return to the league to umpire starting this week.

If that was not bad enough, in what has to be a clear message of “F*** you” to the Wingnuts, Stegner will be part of the umpiring team that will be officiating the Wingnuts series at home when the Winnipeg Goldeyes come to town. So, they are sending the umpire to Wichita to officiate the game between the two teams where he made the stupidest call in baseball history. Did that not register to anyone in the league office as the stupidest decision they could possibly make? Literally the stupidest. Unfortunately, arrogance does not always come with intelligence.

A Record of Inadequacy

If this was the only bad call that Joe Stegner had made, one may be able to look the other way, however, that is not the case. One owner had become so dissatisfied with the umpire that he had told the league that Stegner was not allowed to umpire in his city and the league agreed to that for a year. The word is out, and it is that Joe Stegner should not be umpiring in the American Association.

However, this is not even the worst part of the whole situation. If the reports are true, and there is every reason to believe that they are, Wolff flat out lied to the owners of this league. He assured them that the umpire would not be back. However, he has not only allowed his return, but allowed him to umpire games for the team he stole a championship from.

Stegner was actually scheduled to begin the season in Wichita but, due to a scheduling conflict, was not able to begin until this week. However, he will umpire Wingnuts games on the road in July and August where he will have another opportunity to influence the team’s chances of earning a second league title.

It had appeared that some level of credibility had been restored with the hiring of Josh Buchholz as Executive Director of the American Association, but that clearly looks to be over. Every call Stegner makes that is the slightest bit questionable is going to be challenged and, should they occur in favor of the Goldeyes, most are going to be screaming “fixed.” I guess that is more important to Wolff than a league that looks fair and impartial.

By Robert Pannier
Member of the IBWAA