Ryan Blakney Explained

Number:36
Ryan Blakney
Birth Date:May 24, 1985
Birth Place:Wenatchee, Washington, U.S.
Debutleague:MLB
Debutyear:April 21, 2015
Umpirecrew:17
Crew3:
  1. 36 Ryan Blakney
Highlights:Special Assignments

Ryan Benjamin Blakney (born May 24, 1985) is an American Major League Baseball (MLB) umpire. He has umpired in MLB since 2015.

Career

Blakney made his MLB debut on April 21, 2015.[1] For the 2018 regular season he was found to be one of the ten best home plate umpires in terms of accuracy in calling balls and strikes. His error rate was 7.97%. This was based on a study conducted at Boston University where 372,442 pitches were culled and analyzed.[2] Blakney was promoted to a full-time umpiring position before the 2020 Major League Baseball season began.[3]

Blakney was the home plate umpire during Reid Detmers's no-hitter on May 10, 2022.[4]

On May 4, 2024, in a game between the New York Yankees and Detroit Tigers, Blakney called Yankees player Aaron Judge out on strikes on a pitch from Tigers pitcher Tyler Holton. When Judge disputed the call at the plate, Blakney ejected him, the first ejection of Judge's career.[5]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ryan Blakney. Retrosheet. Retrosheet. July 4, 2017. Retrosheet.
  2. Web site: MLB Umpires Missed 34,294 Ball-Strike Calls in 2018. Bring on Robo-umps?. BU Today. June 29, 2019.
  3. News: MLB promotes five to full-time umpiring staff . February 7, 2022 . MLB.com . February 27, 2020.
  4. Web site: Rays at Angels Box Score . ESPN . May 11, 2022 . May 10, 2022.
  5. Web site: Dierberger . Tom . May 4, 2024 . Aaron Judge's First Career Ejection Elicited a Fiery Response From Anthony Rizzo . May 4, 2024 . Sports Illustrated.