Comments on: What they’re saying about the Jerry Meals call

By: dts1624

dts1624 — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 06:52:42 +0000

ok first of all he clearly touched home plate on the slide second yes he was tagged. I am a braves fan and i was shocked at the call but not dissapointed. Yes the ump missed the call but instant replay is not nessacary because the rulebook says all call are made in the judgement of the umpire and it has always been that way. Meals had been making terrible ball and strike calls all night and it caused braves player mclouth and manager fredi gonzalez to be ejected but if u bring instant replay in managers will try to use it on balls and strikes. Keep the game the way it is and let the umpires do there job… If u wanna make the game better become an umpire yourself

By: jeffrp

jeffrp — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:39:12 +0000

D’oh, blog reading fail.

By: Craig Calcaterra

Craig Calcaterra — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:34:17 +0000

Or did you just not read the other posts on the blog today? Because I did a separate post dealing with Neyer’s take directly.

By: jeffrp

jeffrp — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 18:30:41 +0000

So did Craig stop following Neyer or just leave him out because his comments didn’t fit the narrative?

By: jerseydevi1

jerseydevi1 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 16:14:17 +0000

I love it, 4 thumbs down and no rebuttals. What didn’t you agree with? The fact that I said I didn’t see the glove touch him or that I didn’t jump all over the guy who just spent 6 or 7 hours on his feet paying more attention to the game than anyone on here?

He’s human. There is no replay. How many mistakes did you make yesterday?

buncha hypocrites.

By: Utley's Hair

Utley's Hair — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 15:31:59 +0000

Have a nice day.

By: steve7921

steve7921 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:30:08 +0000

Unfortunately, because of the blatant and obvious missed calls the past few seasons…video replay is gaining traction. I hate this and I think the best solution is not replay but to hold the umpires accountable like they do in other pro sports and if the season-long grades are below standard, replace them!

The problem will not be solved by video replay, the same boneheaded umpires will be looking at the replays and determining if their original call was right or wrong…do you think Joe West will really over-turn one of his calls?

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:26:41 +0000

Kind of like when Ronald Reagan famously caught a touchdown his senior year for a game winning diving catch in the last second. The ref ruled it a catch. However, Reagan told the ref he dropped it, so the other team won, and no one was angry at him.

Unfortunately for Ron, microfilm from newspapers reporting on the game in question were readily available at libraries, and a story of valor like this had to be confirmed. His team lost by twenty something points. Another key fact: Ronald Reagan wasn’t on the team.

By: deathmonkey41

deathmonkey41 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:20:47 +0000

Hey, I still can’t believe that other guy blew the no-hitter call. When I watch that, I can’t help but think there was some personal vendetta going on there. Not that I have any proof or history of bad blood- just because I found it humanly impossible to blow such an obvious call.

By: stevejeltzjehricurl

stevejeltzjehricurl — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:15:57 +0000

Agreed. It takes less time than watching most of these guys walk from the on-deck circle to the batter’s box. The best way to sell it to Bud would be to tell teams that they can sell sponsorships of replay reviews.

“This review is brought to you by Safelite AutoGlass. Because there’s some things that can’t be fixed by a replay.”

By: stevejeltzjehricurl

stevejeltzjehricurl — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:12:30 +0000

That’s the dumbest instruction I’ve ever heard. It’s fine to say it’s final, but refusing to apologize for screwing up? We all make mistakes at work, and that includes people who work as the boss. Saying that the person who has final authority doesn’t have to apologize for a mistake is what leads people to think that person is an arrogant d-bag.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:10:15 +0000

I would prefer the flagless review like in college. Have a 5th ump in a studio monitoring multiple games, and stop the game temporarily on a close call that results in a safe/out call. It would be far faster than having the coach slowly wander out to the plate, then the ump slowly disappear below the stands.

By: junimation

junimation — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:03:44 +0000

The game can benefit with a review scheme that NFL uses. 2 Manager Challenge per game. 1 Challenge can be used for anywhere on the field, but one can only be used for home base plays. or the manager can decide to use both challenges at home plate.

That was a blown call, its a shame with our technology today we don’t have a review scheme in place.

By: jerseydevi1

jerseydevi1 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:03:24 +0000

I have to say I have seen the replay many times, and I am still not sure I saw the glove touch him. The best angle for me so far was the on-deck angle that woodenulykteneau posted. I think I see the glove flex right when it gets near his knee. That being said, Meals looked like he was in position to see it best. He had also just called 18+ innings, so given those 3 things, I am willing to cut him a little slack. He did not have the opportunity to see 87 replays at 42 different speeds from 94 angles. He had to make a call based on what he saw. Yes, there should be replay, but there isn’t right now, so complaining about it won’t help.

This is not to defend the call or lack of replay, just trying to be fair about the whole thing. I am neither a Braves or Pirates fan so I have no dog in this fight other than finally getting to see the Pirates play this year.

By: yankeesgameday

yankeesgameday — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 14:02:17 +0000

You want to talk integrity of the game… I am writing for the day that the manager who benefits from this kind of call walks over to the imo and opposing manager to say, “my guy was obviously out. Let’s keep playing, i’m sending the next batter up to the plate.”

What’s the ump going to do, throw him out for being honorable?

By: The Common Man

The Common Man — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:46:49 +0000

A challenge system is not necessary. Stop trying to turn this into football. Baseball has play stoppages in which a 5th guy in the booth who can say “hey Jerry, you missed that one” and corrective action could be taken.

By: The Common Man

The Common Man — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:44:50 +0000

And therein lies the problem, both with the attitude of a large percentage of umpires and the system as a whole that treats umps’ judgment calls as sacrosanct.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:42:44 +0000

That’s what I tell my wife everyday. Marriage counselors said I was wrong.

By: Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward

Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:41:00 +0000

Every other major sport has a back-up call correction system of some sort. Why doth baseball umpires insist on playing God? Why doth thou ne’er be questioned?

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:40:34 +0000

Robocops.

By: hasbeen5

hasbeen5 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:40:13 +0000

Dale Murphy’s on twitter? I might finally have to sign up.

By: Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward

Mr. Jason "El Bravo" Heyward — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:38:59 +0000

Humans.

By: steve7921

steve7921 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:36:05 +0000

I think Selig should form an All-Star umpire crew – Joe West, Angel Hernandez, Bob Davidson and its newest member Jerry Meals!

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:33:29 +0000

Ha! Well said.

By: phukyouk

phukyouk — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:27:23 +0000

i dont think that Leno or Letterman could have topped some of those. pure gold

By: lucky5934

lucky5934 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:26:52 +0000

As a referee of two sports I can tell you that it is easy to second guess and question an umpire’s call with all of the technology we have at our disposal. But he didnt have that. He made an incorrect judgement. I am not questioning that. But if for one second anyone thinks it is easy to make a split second decision based on only one angle and get it right EVERY single time is out of their minds. It is a very difficult job! Replay would help. And I believe replay should cover all base running Safe/Outs. But maybe limit a manager’s challenge to two a game. Or else we risk delaying the game for too long.

By: hermitfool

hermitfool — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:25:42 +0000

Julio Lugo represents divine retribution for every naughty act ever committed by human beings.

By: hittfamily

hittfamily — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:24:58 +0000

I think it was extremely close. I applaud the ump for actually taking into the account that just just because the ball beat him, doesn’t mean he’s out. For a lesser umpire, the plays over whether he tags him or not. In real life speed, the legs tragegectory isn’t altered, and the swing of the glove doesn’t show any signs of being impeded by an immovable object.

Slowed down to 60 frames per second, it is an obvious call. An answer to this problem has been implemented in every other sport, including college sports. Meals admitted his mistake after watching the instant replay. Unfortunately, per Bud’s rules, he has to declare a winner and loser prior to watching the replay. He shares no fault in this, in my mind.

By: pmcenroe

pmcenroe — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:17:02 +0000

actually i thought the on-deck view confirmed that he made the tag

By: easports82

easports82 — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 13:14:46 +0000

I think you’ve just illustrated everyone’s frustration with the system.