Comments on: MLB to changeup umpire assignments for the World Series

By: sweaty armpits

sweaty armpits — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:44:54 +0000

There usually obviously a lot to know about this. I think you made some really points in Features also.

By: watercott

watercott — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 00:58:16 +0000

The idea of having an umpire in the booth/dungeon with a video feed is so fantastically simple and perfect that there is no excuse whatsoever that can justify not doing it.
No challenges, no crazy rules about when or how often one can challenge, no time consuming hood-tent viewing festivals. Just have an umpire tell the other umpires when they got something wrong. They already do this! They just do it incredibly randomly and by appealing to other umpires on the field that only might have had a better view of the play than the original caller.
This would be so simple and effective that there is probably zero chance it will ever be done.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 22:32:41 +0000

You’re quite correct, of course, but this is just Bud Selig and Co. panicking because of all the bad publicity from the excruciating mistakes of the first few games. By next year, after the umpire’s union has quietly and privately handed Bud his touchas during the offseason, it’ll be back to the slightly adjusted status quo.

By: Larry

Larry — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 19:59:39 +0000

I don’t get it. They want umpires with experience, but don’t want to give umpires experience. I mean, there has to be a FIRST time that you do something. Sure, I wouldn’t want to be the first person a doctor operates on, but SOMEONE has to be the first one. In the same way, these guys need to get the experience somewhere.
I think it’s a good idea to say that umpires cannot work the World Series until they have worked at least some number of LDS and LCS series, but if they have proven themselves in the regular season they NEED to be given postseason assignments.

By: Old Gator

Old Gator — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:17:00 +0000

Ah, the search for perfection among flawed humans. Could it be that blown calls are encoded in our mitochondrial DNA and that MLB has actually found a test for them?
The fact is, this whole discussion is a red herring. There are no blown calls. Like the old joke goes, you ain’t safe and you ain’t out till the ump calls it. He is the reservoir of reality in a ballgame, the ultimate arbiter of in which of a number of alternate universes the play was executed. Now, if MLB really wants perfection, they ought to be buying their umpires out of the Tyrrel Corporation android catalogue. “Calling balls and strikes tonight, Roy Batty….”

By: Rod

Rod — Fri, 23 Oct 2009 11:13:36 +0000

Wow… like that idea of umpire in press box. That would really change the game.