Problems with MLB umpiring

[Oxy]

I hope that balls and strikes are always called by human umps. I like the fact that if a catcher is set up an inch off the outside corner and the pitcher nails that spot exactly without making the catcher move his glove at all it is often called a strike. I also like that if the catcher is set up in that same spot but has to reach all the way across the plate to catch a ball that just nicks the black on the inside corner, that it is often called a ball. A pitcher should be rewarded for being intentionally precise with his pitches. A computer would completely take that away.

[adambr2]

I hope that balls and strikes are always called by human umps. I like the fact that if a catcher is set up an inch off the outside corner and the pitcher nails that spot exactly without making the catcher move his glove at all it is often called a strike. I also like that if the catcher is set up in that same spot but has to reach all the way across the plate to catch a ball that just nicks the black on the inside corner, that it is often called a ball. A pitcher should be rewarded for being intentionally precise with his pitches. A computer would completely take that away.

 

I disagree. They can be intentionally precise right on the corner without being an inch off. Why should a pitcher be rewarded for a pitch that by definition, should be called a ball, just because the umpire is deceived? Scoring is down enough as it is without hitters having to expand the corners of the zone to account for such things.

 

I agree with you that position of the catchers glove and how far he has to reach is often a determining factor in whether a ball or strike is called, but by rule it's not supposed to be that way.

[trwi7]

Easiest job in all of professional sports and they're completely inept. Every single one of them.

[Ennder]

The umpiring in tonight's game has been just dreadful. To be honest there are probably 3-4 bad calls in every single game I watch these days, just horrible.

[TooLiveBrew]

Easiest job in all of professional sports and they're completely inept. Every single one of them.

Hyperbole like this makes this kind of discussion completely impossible.

[trwi7]

Easiest job in all of professional sports and they're completely inept. Every single one of them.

Hyperbole like this makes this kind of discussion completely impossible.

 

No, it really is easy. Just watch his foot and listen for the catch. Quite simple, yet these clowns blow a call practically every game. That was an easy call. Blown. The Jerry Hairston play, easy call completely blown.

[Ennder]

Easiest job in all of professional sports and they're completely inept. Every single one of them.

Hyperbole like this makes this kind of discussion completely impossible.

 

No, it really is easy. Just watch his foot and listen for the catch. Quite simple, yet these clowns blow a call practically every game. That was an easy call. Blown. The Jerry Hairston play, easy call completely blown.

 

 

Basketball is tons easier than baseball.

[trwi7]

Basketball is tons easier than baseball.

 

I've done both and found baseball to be easier.

[TooLiveBrew]

Easiest job in all of professional sports and they're completely inept. Every single one of them.

Hyperbole like this makes this kind of discussion completely impossible.

 

No, it really is easy. Just watch his foot and listen for the catch. Quite simple, yet these clowns blow a call practically every game. That was an easy call. Blown. The Jerry Hairston play, easy call completely blown.

You made an absurdly overstated claim & then back it up by saying that one play was (obviously) terrible.

 

Refs in all sports make mistakes in almost every game. You're convinced that since you found umping easy, it's easy to do at the big-league level. Obviously some calls are easy, that's really not the point at all.

[Glennron]

Is it safe to say that Ed Rapuano made a make-up call in the bottom of the 6th inning when Burriss was called safe on that infield hit? I'm not sure what would be worse; that Rapuano had made up his mind that the next close call would go the Giants way, or him missing two fairly easy calls minutes apart during a very critical moment in the game.

[RockCoCougars]

I hope baseball never goes to replay. The human element of umpiring has always been part of the game. Replay has made the officiating absolutely horrible in football- and despite what it's proponents say, it adds a lot of time to the games.

[dlk9s]

Is it safe to say that Ed Rapuano made a make-up call in the bottom of the 6th inning when Burriss was called safe on that infield hit? I'm not sure what would be worse; that Rapuano had made up his mind that the next close call would go the Giants way, or him missing two fairly easy calls minutes apart during a very critical moment in the game.

 

It was TOTALLY a make-up call. And people can criticize RR all they want for not getting tossed, but it sure looked like he accused the ump of a make-up call, as well. RR was pretty damn mad - he just didn't go so crazy to get himself tossed.

[Oldcity]

I hope baseball never goes to replay. The human element of umpiring has always been part of the game. Replay has made the officiating absolutely horrible in football- and despite what it's proponents say, it adds a lot of time to the games.

Getting calls correct >>> Games going 15 minutes quicker.

 

The delay for baseball wouldn't be nearly as long. Plus, how much time is wasted when managers come out to argue?

[Nottso]

That extra time could be easily made up by prohibiting batters from stepping out after every pitch and futzing with their batting gloves, helmets, protective gear, etc.

[RockCoCougars]

I guarantee you that a short time after replay is instituted, nearly every bang-bang play on the basepaths will result in a 'safe' call. We've seen this in football, where officials are now scared to make a call because they know that replay will be in play.

 

In the end, today we live in a video game type of society where everything needs to be black and white... there can be no 'injustice'. It follows that replay will be implemented in baseball sooner rather than later. As a traditionalist, I don't like that one bit. Relative to other sports, there are far too many plays (and close plays) in a given baseball game, and once you let the cat out of the bag with replay, there is no going back. Where do you draw the line? If you are going to replay, you may as well remove umpires from the equation and have a video booth make the calls. I'm sure the networks will love it though, as they will have even more time to shove commercials down our throats.

[Dragonbait]

And as we've seen in football, even with replay, they don't always get the calls right.

 

Not to mention, its gonna add MORE rules to the book, just like in football... ie 'the process'

[adambr2]

They don't always get the calls right, but they get a lot more than they otherwise would. They don't always get them right because there is still that non-reviewable "subjective" element. (holding, pass interference, etc).

 

I am sure that when the automobile was invented, many traditionalists of that time swore up and down that they would never need more than a horse and buggy to get around, but eventually it was accepted that technology offered a better way to do things.

 

Change is inevitable, and if they instituted full replay next year, baseball would go on and 20 years from now it would still be going on and still be popular. Every time in professional sports something new comes around that threatens the tradition of the game; i.e, gloves back in the 1800's, helmets, smaller ballparks, biomechanics, bullpen roles, etc, people panic that it's going to ruin the game. But it never does, and as much as people complain about instant replay in the NFL, the NFL is even more popular than it was before instant replay.

 

The strike season of 1994 season and the steroid era of the late 90's and early 2000's came and went, and the game survived, as it would survive instant replay.

[dlk9s]

I do agree that the nature of baseball makes it difficult to determine exactly what sorts of calls should be subject to review and that there likely needs to be some limit put on how many reviews that can be made (potentially reviewing every safe/out call, for example, would be nuts), but to be against replay because of tradition or the desire to maintain the "human element" of the game is just absurd.

[bani1717]

to be against replay because of tradition or the desire to maintain the "human element" of the game is just absurd.

 

Disagree. It depends what your goals for the game are. If the #1 goal is to make baseball as fair of a game as humanly possible, then yes. However, some might say that baseball is a form of entertainment, and it certainly makes the game more "entertaining" when the human element is involved. Baseball is an emotional game, and the "human element" makes it moreso.

 

(I wouldn't consider myself as particularly leaning in either direction, just pointing out competing viewpoints)

[jerichoholicninja]

to be against replay because of tradition or the desire to maintain the "human element" of the game is just absurd.

 

Disagree. It depends what your goals for the game are. If the #1 goal is to make baseball as fair of a game as humanly possible, then yes. However, some might say that baseball is a form of entertainment, and it certainly makes the game more "entertaining" when the human element is involved. Baseball is an emotional game, and the "human element" makes it moreso.

 

(I wouldn't consider myself as particularly leaning in either direction, just pointing out competing viewpoints)

 

My thoughts exactly. Even if you have the replay option for every call the human element is still involved in instances where you have to choose where to put runners.

 

For example, two outs and a runner on first. Ground ball hit to the second baseman who makes a diving play in shallow right field. The umpire calls the runner at first out but after replay he is safe. Now a fast runner is going to get to third on that play. How are the umpires going to determine if the runner gets third or not? If the call was safe at first they might have thrown to third and got the runner out. There are way to many variables involved and it will all be decided by the human element. I say leave replay the way it is now. Adding it in more circumstances is just going to become a mess.

[Crew2323]

Basketball is tons easier than baseball.

 

If you think Basketball is easier than baseball, I suggest you officiate a high level varsity boys game or a men's college game. Then tell me how easy you think it is. I've been doing it for years and there's nothing easy about it.

[RockCoCougars]

I do agree that the nature of baseball makes it difficult to determine exactly what sorts of calls should be subject to review and that there likely needs to be some limit put on how many reviews that can be made (potentially reviewing every safe/out call, for example, would be nuts), but to be against replay because of tradition or the desire to maintain the "human element" of the game is just absurd.

 

If you don't want a human element, then why even bother having on-field umpires? Put a few guys up in a booth somewhere with some TV monitors and 'Pitch Track' or whatever. This way, we wouldn't have to worry about a call being overturned.

 

Personally, I don't want to watch games in which every close play results in a five minute delay, but that's me. There have been blown calls throughout baseball history, and officiating is probably no worse these days than it has ever been. The problem is that with every single game televised and the internet, every blown call becomes an international incident.

[Bigblast]

I consider it a sport and the goal should be to get every call correct no matter what means you have to and for it be expeditious. I see no reason you cant have a central location or someone upstairs reviewing calls and no reason why it can't be a fast process. Nothing more than upstairs buzzing down to the homeplate doing a quick review and issuing the correct call. The umpire could even have a little headset in his pocket to talk to upstairs.

 

Players and managers arguing with the umpire on a call wastes just as much time if not more than a simple replay system would. In addition you could ad rules that once a call is made from upstairs thats it if a manager or player argue it there ejected.

 

 

The nfl drives me nuts with how slow there process is. It could be much faster if it was set up just like college is.

[Baldkin]

Yes, there's no excuse for the NFL not to have a replay official in the booth. The hilarity of having the lead ref walk over into his tiny hooded tv camera is just dumb.

[MJLiverock]

Basketball is tons easier than baseball.

 

If you think Basketball is easier than baseball, I suggest you officiate a high level varsity boys game or a men's college game. Then tell me how easy you think it is. I've been doing it for years and there's nothing easy about it.

 

No kidding. I refed a few freshman basketball games and it was way harder than any umping I've ever done. I'd never want to do basketball again. Basically there are fouls being committed all over the court and you have to decide which to call and which to just ignore or the game stops every 10 seconds all the while being complained to by the players, coaches and fans. Umping was a cakewalk in comparison.