UMPIRES
How many times do we have to hear how the human element of umpires is better than the technology that gets it right? The Umps blew game 2 in Chicago and today miss the Catcher's interference that would have resulted in a bases loaded with 1 out situation instead of the inning ending double play. I don't really care who wins this series but I'm feeling pretty bad for Mike Scoscia.
In a long season, the bad calls probably even out, but in the playoffs, every bad call is magnified by a factor of 162/7. They put umpires in the outfield, why can't they put one in the press box and give him the ability to over rule critical calls?
And what's with the romance of every umpire having their own strike zone? Remember when Maddux and Glavine had a different strike zone than everyone else?
We have wild cards, interleague play, steroids, domes, night games in Wrigley, 2 divisions, 3 divisions, free agency, and yet the superstition of the wonderful human element lives on. Or maybe it's just the Umpires Union.
UPDATE: ESPN re-ran a story of Don Deckinger, the umpire famous for blowing a call in Game 6 of the 1985 World Seriee that cost St. Louis the title. They showed and read the nasty email some of which threatened his life. They had sad music and Don had a long face and his poor wife spoke about the incident. I certainly didn't come away from that story thinking that the "human element" in umpiring is all that rewarding as a sports fan.
3 comments:
If you save replay for the playoffs and communicate the right call straight from the booth to the crew chief, without the crew chief going under the hood and all that nonsense, I can't see that taking more time than the gathering of umps on the field to make their best guess at what the guy in the booth can see quickly and definitively. Unlike football, there is not a lot of nuance and interpretation in most baseball calls, it's either safe or out.
...or fair or foul, or ball or strike, or interference or no interference, or balk or no balk. You get the point.
Yeah, it could be very simple with an earpiece worn by the home plate ump.
Post a Comment