Comments on: Former chief of the umpires loves replay, hates challenge systems

By: misterchainbluelightning

misterchainbluelightning — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 18:18:36 +0000

Lmao!

By: jcmeyer10

jcmeyer10 — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 13:08:17 +0000

“Hey Ump! What, do ya got dirt in your lense?” – fan heckling a robot umpire.

By: firstcauseproject

firstcauseproject — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 05:19:45 +0000

A challenge system can be implemented without it being problematic; if nothing else, you can restrict challenges to certain types of plays, and it wouldn’t be a big deal. As for the
‘human element’ enthusiasts, as long as the game is played and officiated by HUMANS, there will always be a HUMAN element. Seriously…people act like it’s rocket science, and it’s pretty annoying.

By: The Dangerous Mabry

The Dangerous Mabry — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 01:38:05 +0000

Anxovies, you’ve gone for the reducto ad absurdum and for that I salute you. The thing is, for me, and I assume for baseball fans in general, we watch the game to see players play. We love watching a great matchup between pitcher and batter. We want to see if the speedster can steal second with the cannon-armed catcher behind the plate. What we aren’t tuning in to see, however, is whether Joe West will call the neighborhood play at second. Whether Jim Joyce will make a call down the line. The spectacle of baseball is the players and the game; not the officials. Any time you’re talking about what an umpire did, something has gone wrong.

So in a nutshell, removing umpire error (or for that matter umpires) doesn’t lessen the game in any way. They’re not why we watch. Removing the players on the other hand, removes the whole spectacle.

By: hlang

hlang — Sat, 26 Jan 2013 00:32:47 +0000

I totally agree. I’m amazed at commentary and analysis that accepts and implicitly endorses umpire-specific strike zone and even praises umps who are at least “consistent” in enforcing their idiosyncratic interpretation of the rule at the plate. The argument from the absurd extreme (“replace players with robots too then”) and from misplaced sentiment (“human error is part of the game”) are both drearily stupid. It is possible to get balls and strikes as well as other calls right 99% of the time now. Do it. People who enjoy watching umpires can go to a little league game.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:53:09 +0000

Boooo! You need glasses! Booooo!

By: anxovies

anxovies — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 23:25:18 +0000

Why go halfway? Just replace the players with avatars and let the computer do the whole game. No messy human players to deal with, avatars work for free, and no disgusting tobacco juice or unsightly crotch-grabbing. Oh wait…

By: misterchainbluelightning

misterchainbluelightning — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:46:55 +0000

I’ll call balls and strikes perfectly 99% of the time, I won’t be influenced by players or managers. Ill go out and do my job consistently and near perfectly every game, and never become part of the story and allow the players on the field to decide the game. You just have to give me a chance

- The Perfect Ump

(aka a computer)

Bring em on

By: sparty0n

sparty0n — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 22:10:27 +0000

An official in the booth that can “correct” the calls without a challenge process from the dugout.

Problem solved!

By: ireportyoudecide

ireportyoudecide — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:57:58 +0000

No replays for balls and strikes, instead the computer should call balls and strikes to get it right 100% of the time instantly. I know I know “Human Error” clap clap clap “Human Errror” clap clap clap. The technology is available to get it right instantly every time on balls and strikes, use it.

By: natslady

natslady — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:43:59 +0000

Craig, 100% agree. Pointy-ball has made a mess of it. The game is slowed, and players are picking up challenge flags and hiding them!!

Institute a system that is simple and accurate. Nats have the smartest manager in MLB, so I am not saying this lightly. Don’t get the managers into a “challenge system.” Preserve our great game. If it can be improved, ok, but don’t try for perfection.

By: smoochytherhino

smoochytherhino — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:30:36 +0000

Baseball, because it has so many lulls in the action, is the one sport where a replay system done correctly (moreso even than football because of the hurry up offense) with an extra ump in the booth and no ridiculous trips to the clubhouse by the on field umps. So long as replay is never ever used for balls and strikes there’s no reason why Baseball can’t have a seamless replay system.

By: historiophiliac

historiophiliac — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:28:51 +0000

…and then this wise man handed the reins over to Joe West…

By: The Dangerous Mabry

The Dangerous Mabry — Fri, 25 Jan 2013 21:28:16 +0000

He’s just right about everything.

The only odd thing is I don’t remember hearing him say any of this while he was in office. I wonder if he’s changed his mind on the whole thing, or if he just didn’t have a channel to air his thoughts publicly at the time.

Either way, nice job, Mr Port. Here’s hoping MLB listens to what is certainly an informed opinion.