tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21666786.post9074513035733674581..comments2023-10-31T09:01:11.464-04:00Comments on Church of Baseball: I umpire you when you're stupidCathiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07291479913130967235noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21666786.post-82764404975432802482010-10-08T17:05:17.095-04:002010-10-08T17:05:17.095-04:00I agree. Just like people always want to say a pla...I agree. Just like people always want to say a player is the best ever, when they never saw Cobb, Ruth, or DiMaggio. Fans see a blown call, and say the umpires are getting worse, but don't give the umps credit for the other 99% of the calls that were routine, and correct.John Sharphttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12839504730875750409noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21666786.post-48491081535149434772010-10-08T14:08:49.956-04:002010-10-08T14:08:49.956-04:00I think I have two points here that I am blurring ...I think I have two points here that I am blurring together. My main point is that there are people going around saying umpires are getting worse when it's just the technology getting better that allows us to see blown calls where we wouldn't have before (though the Posey call needs no technology to see it was wrong.) That's what I started with, got sidetracked by something for work (heaven forbid), and moved on in another direction.<br /><br />The other point is that there is nothing we can do about changing the call, so people should stop saying these playoffs are "marred" by umpiring. Journalists who somehow maintain jobs as professional writers despite their obvious lack of writing skill are drumming up "controversy," which will only serve to diminish the accomplishments of the teams. Selig and the others who make decisions can see the umps messing up without having it sprayed all over the interwebs in faux outrage.<br /><br />I'm still unsure of what I think about replay. I'd rather not have it, as I like the human element of the game, and just like it takes "luck" to have a ball go an inch fair or foul, I suppose it takes some "luck" to have the calls go your way. I mean, technically, according to the rule book, the umpires are a part of the field as much as the chalk lines. But I'm not going to be all bent out of shape if replay is expanded.Cathiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07291479913130967235noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21666786.post-15126704583598526532010-10-08T13:22:50.273-04:002010-10-08T13:22:50.273-04:00"The umpire did not lose that game, the Brave..."The umpire did not lose that game, the Braves did."<br /><br />Not so. It's impossible to lose a game when you don't permit a single run to be scored against you. <br /><br />Look, I agree with the point that umpires are human and people shouldn't be so hard on them, and I agree that our enhanced ability to see and analyze their calls is probably what makes it seem like umpiring is getting worse.<br /><br />But the answer isn't to "sit back and enjoy the game of baseball" -- it's to realize that we have the ability to get these calls right, quickly and easily. The fact that no human being can do the job perfectly is an argument for, not against, implementing a machine that <i>can</i> do it perfectly (more or less). They should be replaying everything that can possibly be replayed, and it's a big black mark on Selig's record (not that you can see it for all the other black marks) that they haven't already been doing that for at least a few years now.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07840958382433052735noreply@blogger.com