Man Utd fans would beg to disagree, but no sports group has had a more trying week than the MLB umpiring fraternity.
The season had not begun well for the umpires.
Marty Foster made one of the most mindboggling incorrect strike calls against the Tampa Bay Rays’ Ben Zobist in a game against the Texas Rangers on 9 April. It was an odd error of judgement made all the worse as it ended the game and made for a very unsatisfactory way for closer Joe Nathan to log his 300th career save.
Foster didn’t duck from the incident, admitted his mistake and his regret that he couldn’t go back and re-do things. It showed his decency and met our expectations that no one feels worse than the umpire when they get an important call wrong; however it did nothing to quell the growing feeling that in this day and age there’s no reason why technology should not be used to stop such a blatant error determining a result.
We’ve all seen balls-and-strikes calls go against our club and nothing is more frustrating, especially if a player ends up getting ejected for showing displeasure when they know they’ve been wronged. Still, it’s a split-second decision that is nowhere near as easy as it may look.
A Baseball-Reference blog post in 2010 put the average pitches thrown by a team as 146 per game. With 290 instant decisions to make, you have to accept not every single one will be correct and it’s likely bad luck, rather than anything more meaningful, if one of those happens to come at a potential crucial moment.
Whether that acceptance means living with the errors or allowing them to be reviewed is a matter of personal preference, with arguments on either side.
However there can be no arguments with the two umpiring mistakes witnessed this past week.
The botched review of Oakland A’s infielder Adam Rosales’s double/home run on Wednesday was so calamitous that it must lead to changes in the instant replay process. Whatever MLB might want to do – such as issuing an ‘oh well, mistakes happen’ press release and trying to leave it at that – their Commissioner’s Office has to be seen to do something in response.
The incident was exactly what the replay system is there for: a decision at a crucial moment (A’s trailing by one run in the top of the ninth inning) that was difficult to call with one look in real time. It is completely unacceptable that the umpiring crew, led by Angel Hernandez, could get that decision wrong by reviewing the footage and not ruling that the ball hit the railing above the yellow line and was therefore a clear home run.
The decision was so inexplicable that Peter Gammons gave credence to the possibility that it may have been an act of protest by the umpiring crew against the use of replay. That’s something I’m sure would be vehemently denied by all concerned, although the only other realistic explanation – gross incompetence – isn’t something that MLB and the umpires would want to admit to either.
It is believed that an expanded form of instant replay reviews will be introduced in 2014. If so, this incident highlights two things that need to be changed as part of any expansion. Firstly, the decision should be made by a fifth umpire (probably from a central office rather than posting an extra official at every game) and secondly we should be able to see exactly what is being looked at as part of the decision-making process. That’s how it works in cricket and rugby: you can follow what camera angles are being used and see the additional official replaying and focusing in on specific things.
The current method of the umpiring crew leaving the field, huddling in their little ‘ump cave’ and reviewing the play in secret whilst everyone else twiddles their thumbs none the wiser as to what the umpires are looking at is completely farcical and needs to end.
The last thing MLB umpires needed was another glaring error and unfortunately for them one followed the very next day.
Fieldin Culbreth and his crew incorrectly allowed Houston Astros’ manager Bo Porter to change relievers in their game against the Los Angeles Angels before the reliever originally brought in, Wesley Wright, had thrown a pitch to a batter. Angels manager Mike Scioscia was furious and his team played the rest of the game under protest, ultimately put to bed due to his team coming back to win the game.
It was a genuine mistake by the umpires, but it was right that the crew were disciplined for it (I don’t think fining umpires for such a mistake is the most appropriate way to go, but that’s how it works). Getting split-second judgement calls wrong in the heat of the moment is one thing, incorrectly applying a rule when you have ample time to discuss it as a crew and to get it right is just not on.
All of which made it a week in which the credibility of MLB umpires, who normally do a good job, took a real hit.
With so many people clamouring for expanded replay, and with the increasing likelihood that it will be on its way, that’s something they can ill afford.
There’s a general sense that some umpires feel their authority is being compromised and that may account for a few of their number being especially precious about players ‘showing them up’, as seemed to be the case a week ago when John Hirschbeck ejected Bryce Harper in the first inning of a game.
However, the fact that they have a tough job does not mean umpires should be allowed to make mistakes and if they want to continue to have the respect of players and fans (the latter often coming grudgingly) then they have to continue to earn it.
Mistakes like they made this past week really won’t help their cause.
