According to a post by Oakland A’s beat reporter Susan Slusser, Major League Baseball on Thursday acknowledged that the A’s were on the wrong end of a replay review on what was clearly a game-tying home run by Adam Rosales on Wednesday night.”
She also pointed out that “Joe Torre, MLB’s vice president of baseball operations, allowed the decision to stand – no homer for Rosales, though baseball officials in New York realized that the ball hit the railing above the left-field fence. Any thoughts of picking up Wednesday night’s game with two outs in the top of the ninth and the game tied were crushed.”
Pretty lame, right?
Sounds like the umps were having a really bad week. In the game between the Houston Astros and the Los Angeles Angels (of Anaheim), something really weird happened.
Astros manager called to the bullpen for a relief pitcher who warms up and then, before he throws a pitch, is replaced by another relief pitcher — apparently after seeing which batter the Angels were sending to the plate.
The norm is for the reliever to throw at least one pitch before being replaced.
Check out this clip. The umps met 3 times to discuss whether it was okay. Angels manager Mike Scioscia filed an official protest to no avail.
What’s going on? Are the umps having a collective brain kack?
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ESPN’s Jayson Stark wrote a piece titled, “MLB must get replay right,” that has some good points about accountability and getting the call right.
> If players and managers have to explain themselves when things go wrong, umpires should never be exempt from that responsibility. Ever.
> There’s nothing worse than a critical missed call with two outs in the ninth. But it’s a billion times worse if the umpires review it and still get it wrong.
We have the technology. If the umps on the field are only given one view on a tiny monitor, call for backup. The fans and MLB executives are all benefiting from big hi-res screens and multiple video angles. No excuses. A hotline to a central control booth will suffice.
This is a change that needs to happen straightaway. No explanations. No excuses. No apologies.
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