Updated throughout the day with quick takes from staff.
The saga of Tuesday night's Dodgers-Giants game rumbles on, with news today that MLB are now saying the umpires misinterpreted the rules in the ninth. Rather than ejecting Don Mattingly and letting Dodgers' closer Jonathan Broxton pitch to the current batter, as MLB is saying was correct, the umpires ruled Broxton had to be replaced immediately.
Tim McClelland, the crew chief, still thinks otherwise, saying, "I am not of the opinion [that's the way the rule should have been applied]. The league is of that opinion. It's a difference of opinion in a situation that's not covered." Still, it's another gaffe in a season apparently filled with them, leading veteran writer Tom Krasovic to pronounce that umpiring has "never been worse in my 16 years of covering baseball."
After the jump, we'll look at a few high-profile exhibits for the prosecution in the past few weeks.
So, is the standard of umpiring really so low? Or is it just that they are under ever-increasing scrutiny? Hard to say. But I certainly can't recall another season when there were so many flagrantly-bad mistakes being made, in high-leverage situations.
4 comments
Comments
Bit of an over-reaction
First, the second balk call by Joe West on Buehrle was CLEARLY a balk. Buehrle, did not step directly to first base.
It sucks it came in a perfect game, but it was a bang-bang play in REAL-TIME at first base. Did he blow it, ya but the ONLY reason people are up in arms over it is because of the perfect game, not becuase it was a horribly missed call.
The Cuzzi was bang-bang also. They get missed,
by puboiler on Jul 22, 2010 4:41 PM EDT reply actions
Agree....
….that ever since the late 1990’s (Eric Gregg anyone?) the umpires in MLB have for the most part been on a upward trend of goodness.
Mistakes happen. We move on from them.
So no…I don’t think that baseball umpiring standards are declining at all. I think it is the way that sports are looked upon now (more TV coverage, internet…etc) that allow for more analyzing, second guessing and all of that good stuff. Just usually tends to make more out of something than it should be. Because more and more people saw it, read about it and as a result…talked about it.
The Once and Future King
by FlaGators on Jul 22, 2010 11:02 PM EDT up reply actions
Standards are still good
This is just a list of six incidents in the past four months or so. There are over 250 decisions made just by the umpiring crew in any given game. That is 607,500 decisions over the course of a regular season and add in over 10,250 more decisions in the postseason if every series goes the distance. As for blown calls, they will shake themselves out, even in the postseason. Case in point is the non-homerun that Joe Mauer had vs the Yankees in their 2009 ALDS. That run likely wouldn’t have mattered in the long haul because the Yankees were the better team and have proven so by sweeping the season series vs those very same Twins.
by Jessy S on Jul 23, 2010 4:06 AM EDT reply actions
Any list regarding Umpire incompetence that doesn’t include Bill Hohn is incomplete. He alone shows how baseball has lowered it standards for officiating. There have been three or four incidences over the past couple years involving him that should have resulted in his dismissal. That goes to the core of baseball’s problem, accountability. The umpires can make bad calls or in Hohn’s case have a habit of holding grudges (Braves and Roy Oswalt) and the worst they get is a stern talking to from Bud. Baseball either needs to install more comprehensive instant replay to lessen the impact of bad calls or make the clowns like Joe West, Angel Hernandez and Bill Hohn accountable for their actions with real consequences. Unfortunately Bud Selig doesn’t seem like the kind of guy who will tackle a problem head unless he’s forced to.
by zdbrave on Jul 23, 2010 11:13 AM EDT reply actions
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