When it comes to major league umpires, how good is good enough?
I sat with MLB umpire supervisor Jim McKean at a couple of last weekend?s Orioles-Twins games. McKean, a former Canadian Football League quarterback who umpired for 28 years in the bigs, became a supervisor in 2002. He watches the game from a different perspective, all the while making notes about the umpires on the field. He?s quite serious about his work.
I asked him about the somewhat controversial QuesTec system, a video device that?s been installed at most major league ballparks. It?s designed to measure the accuracy of ball-and-strike calls by the home plate umpire and, according to McKean, it works.
“We?re getting the ball-and-strike calls correct more than 95 percent of the time,” McKean said. “We?re always working with our umpires to improve, and there?s some newer technology coming that might get us a few points higher.”
For years, there?s been speculation that some kind of holographic strike zone could be projected over home plate, and that a computer could actually determine balls and strikes. McKean doesn?t think a system like that is coming to baseball anytime soon.
“I just don?t believe that fans want to see the human element removed from umpiring,” he said. “Fans have certain expectations when they go to a sporting event. They want to see the big hit in football, an impossible dunk in basketball, a fight in hockey and a manager argue with the ump at a baseball game. How do you argue with a microchip?”
McKean also doubts that instant replay is around the corner in baseball.
“With games already close to three hours long, stopping the action to go upstairs and check a videotape will only bog things down,” he said. “It?s the human element again.”
He did say that, speaking only for himself, some form of replay might ? and he emphasized “might” ? be acceptable in the World Series some day.
I thought of that issue again on Tuesday at RFK Stadium in Washington. Phillies? second baseman Chase Utley hammered a pitch from Nationals? right-hander Ramon Ortiz down the right field line with two men on and the first base umpire waved it foul. From behind home plate, it appeared to strike the wall about a foot to the right of the foul pole. There was no protest from Utley, or anyone in the Phils? dugout on the first base side.
Television replays from the camera above third base, however, showed the baseball skimming the right side of the pole before it bounced down and struck the wall. A three-run homer by the boards in a game the Phillies eventually lost. With the NL wild card race in the balance, I?m sure they?d like a do-over on that one.
McKean said he sees more and more umpires calling the letter-high strike these days, correctly pointing out that many pitchers no longer throw the ball up there, a la Bob Gibson or Jim Palmer. As a fan, it?s encouraging to know that guys like Jim McKean are genuinely devoted to improving the game?s officiating, and not settling for the status quo.
Phil Wood has covered baseball in the Washington/Baltimore market for more than 30 years. You can reach him at [email protected].
