The blown call lost the Pirates a guaranteed double play (batter Scott Proctor tripped out of the box), cost them a game against the Cardinals & Brewers in the Central Division standings, robbed the teams & fans of a 20th inning, & added yet another black eye to Bud Selig's reign as commissioner.
The 'human element' would have worked here if umpires CB Bucknor, Dan Iassogna, & Dale Scott had pulled Meals into a huddle & discussed the play. Umpires do that for disputed home runs & alleged fan interference, why not here? Did they fear disagreeing with Jerry Meals? Where the as tired as everyone else playing, watching the game & decided sleep was more important two teams fighting for their pennants? The fact that these three men did not even care about the fourth blowing the call to smithereens shows exactly why baseball needs to be done with the 'human element'.
Bud Selig needs to accelerate Major League Baseball into the 21st century (Hell, he needs to activate Ludicrous Speed) & utilize another two word phrase; instant replay. With all the cameras & camera angles that are present in any Big League ballpark nowadays, it just makes sense to adapt some sort of instant replay system in games. The NFL fought tooth & nail to kept instant replay out of the mix, but lost the fight. Now, games are fairer & more exciting. When was the last time football was in the news for a blown call by the refs? What about hockey (aside from penalties)?
Basketball? Coincidence?
Just look back to last June & a little game played by the Cleveland Indians & Detroit Tigers. Well respected ump Jim Joyce completely butchered a call at fist base that destroyed Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga's perfect game bid. He was one out away when Joyce incorrectly ruled Jason Donald safe at first. Same deal there, none of his umpire
brothers bothered to call a huddle to try & make the right call. Why didn't they? Then & Tuesday night?
Word on the street is that adding instant replay to baseball games will make a already long, boring game longer, more boring. Not necessarily. The was the argument against its inclusion into football games. Do Sundays last forever or do all the games finish around the same time? Give or take ten-fifteen minutes? Would Pirates fans minded ten extra minutes Tuesday?
There must be limitations to the use of instant replay to make it work. If managers could use it to argue balls & strikes then baseball transforms into American cricket, games lasting days even weeks. Challenging close plays at the bases & home plate needs to happen. Questionable homers, sliding catches, close calls for steals? Yes, yes, & yes. The NFL allots coaches two red challenge flags a game (a third if they win both challenges).
That dog wouldn't hunt in baseball. One per manager with a second if you get it right? Maybe. A fifth umpire who watches the game & calls down to the crew if they screwed up? A baseball War-Room like Toronto for the NHL? Grand suggestions, but the result has to be the same: instant replay in the MLB.
Knowing Mr. Selig, there is going to have to be a disaster before any ideas of changes even make it to the drawing board. What happened to the Pirates, despite how bad it hurts, was small potatoes all-in-all. What befell upon poor Armando was heartbreaking, but not heartbreaking enough for Bud. Does something have to happen in September during a pennant race in get him thinking about? How about during a playoff series? Will Bud see the damn light if the World Series is damaged by some ump's bad call? Think about it; a World Championship team crowded because of the 'human element'. Does the guy who ruined the All-Star Game care enough about the game to protect teams, fans, himself from that kind of mistake!
If a umpire blows a call that sways who wins the World Series! . . . that is a black eye that Bud Selig wouldn't be able to find a streak or pack of frozen peas big enough to cover.
Written by, Andrew Brown
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