After the fiasco when umpire, Jim Joyce, blew the final out in an otherwise perfect game, earlier this year, any other Commissioner would have used that omen to institute instant replay before the upcoming playoffs!!! Last night, the second base umpire blew the call when Buster Posey was obviously out on what should have been a stike'em out/throw'em out double play. Posey later scored the only run in a 1-0 pitcher's duel. When Posey was asked by a reporter, after the game, if he was safe, his response was, "I'm just glad we don't have instant replay." (Insert Posey laughing.) I can tell you that the Braves and their fans are not laughing this morning! How do they continue to let human error enter into such important decisions, when every other sport has decided to use the available technology to get the calls right?! Wake up Selig@!!! Can someone please check that man's pulse. He looks like "death, warmed over"!
I think MLB needs to add instant replay to the entire game. That called last night was horrible. The Jim Joyce call cost a guy a no hitter and the guy was out by 5 steps.
Instant Replay is the way to go! Can each manager have a red flag to throw on the field? That would be coo!
the human element of the game , why dont we just get rid of umps and use K ZONE for strikes and balls, how come Lincecome was given strike called pitches off the plate on the right side away from lefties that extended the strike zone! BUT YOU CANT ARGUE balls and strikes! the Joyce call it seems they COULD have got together on the mound had a conference with all the umpires and made the correct call. I am sure one of them saw it right, as well as the call last night! who cares how long it takes for a baseball game as a fan if I have to pay 8.00 for a water, soda 12 bucks for a beer 6 bucks for a slice of pizza i rather it take as long as it can go so i get my monies worth! if a game goes extra innings it takes longer as well! so why they try to regulate time on a game confuses me! and ROB dont be a Yankee hater! haha just because we are getting our brooms out in the first series! For the Yankees, they are saying what the barber says in the barber shop "NEXT">>>>>>>>>>>>>>> ps Q he was out by a step , Five steps? heck no Girard wasnt running haha
Hey Mike I would have love to have had the K Zone when Tommy Glavine pitched for you all those years. His called strike on the outside corner was closer to the guy on deck! Congrats on MVP. You're still the most feared hitter in the league. RC
Hey Mike Go Giants! Brooks Conrad is now my favorite player! Hell, he's the Giants' favorite player, too!
JK Giants
OK, seriously, you are right. If everyone would bombard MLB headquarters with phone calls, that'd lite up the switchboard - or, um, the digital answering system! Tell them you want replay, damn it!!!
I'm not sure Selig can institute the polcy himself. I think the owners and players' union might have something to say as well. But he sure could nudge them a bit! Selig should have overturned the Joyce call and given the kid a perfecto. Man, he worked his butt off for it.
And Q, no. More like a half step, not 2 or 5. It was bang-bang, but Joyce got the wrong bang! Sometimes the feet are faster than the eyes. Hey, it ain't easy. Try it someday. Oh yeah, I forgot; I did you see ump! (just kidding).
And Mike, I sincerely feel horrible for Conrad. Seriously. I can't imagine he's going to get any sleep tonight. And truthfully, I hate winning like that. Hope the kid gets another chance and bounces back.
TV ruined baseball officiating. it survived years of bad calls before one deminsional evidence was available to critique umpire performance. video review is cumbersome and still not good enough to replace judgment. even with tv cameras at every angle I am amazed at the calls umpires make and 99% of the time get right. the subtle manipualtion of the strike zone by umpire. catcher, pticher and batter are a big part of the game. I fear that dance will disappear with the embarce of video judgements. other electronic review debatable.
They will never take balls and strikes out of the hands of the umpires. Even I would not advocate that! But we need to take the blatant blown calls out of post season play. I don't get the warm nostalgic feelings for the bad calls over the years. One extra umpire in the replay booth is all that it would need. No review by the guys on the field. That takes too long! Give the managers the ability to challenge a limited number of calls a game, and give the umpire in the booth 2 minutes to look at it. If it is obvious that the call was wrong, then change it! It is not rocket science. Just get the calls right.
All in all it is a game played by humans, for humans and officiated by humans. The game itself is meant for entertainment. Instant replay can only make things slower as well as more difficult on the umpires. THey will be making more bad calls than ever thinking that they are going to be questioned about any given one. The direction that needs to be taken is the same as in the nfl. The office of officials review the games and any calls that are questionable. Then they review with, not only the umpire involved, but all umpires. When one umpire makes too many bad calls he is no longer used. In the case of baseball... demoted to the minors. Before instant replay it was a part of the game to have bad calls. Now that Pandora's box i open we want to see more. I want to see more training an review of the umpires not more big brother making them nervous.
