Wednesday, October 21, 2009

The umpiring problem

I have thought for the last few years that the umpiring has been getting worse and worse. It has now reached a crisis this postseason, it has never been so bad. The game last night was the worst umpired game I have ever seen. I don't know how you miss the calls they did, Swisher being out at second on a pickoff, Swisher not leaving early on a tagup and Posada and Cano both being out at third. They also had a problem with the Angels catcher and the homeplate umpire where he was saying the catcher was blocking his view and you can see the catcher trying to squat lower and clearly messing up his game. I don't know what can be done about this issue but it is time for something to happen. I personally don't like replay in baseball but there has been this idea of putting some umps, maybe the line umps up in a box and they can buzz the homeplate umpire when there is a clear mistake and it can be changed. I wouldn't want challenges like their are in the NFL and of course balls and strikes and balks could not be changed as they are judgement calls. I personally think their training and the way they are graded needs to change. If you make mistakes as bad as they did last night you will not umpire any big games anymore or something like that so there is recourse for their actions. I think the biggest thing with these umps is if you aren't sure then don't call it. If they didn't call Swisher out on the tagup no one would of argued although Torii Hunter seemed to think he left early. I just think they need to pay more attention and be in the right position to make a call and not get spooked by the crowd or whatever else may influence them. I am sure Bud Selig was on the phones today trying to come up with something but hopefully something will be done after this postseason.

No comments:

Post a Comment

 

Resistance Bands is a Free Blogger Template