When I worked as an official scorer in Baltimore in the early 1990s, I?d get a letter from the league just before opening day. The letter confirmed my appointment, and included a number of helpful hints. One suggestion made rather strongly: if you?ve got access to video replay, use it, since the league was concerned with accuracy insofar as hits and errors were concerned.
That letter came to mind this week when I was reading e-mails I?d received regarding Sunday?s play at the plate where Melvin Mora was tagged out trying to score the game-tying run. It was the back end of a double play: Brian Roberts had flied to right, and Mora was attempting to score on the arm of Angels? rightfielder Vladimir Guerrero. It ended the game with L.A. winning 4-3.
After home plate umpire Gerry Davis signaled “out,” there was no dispute on the field. Mora got up, brushed himself off, and headed for the dugout. Orioles? manager Dave Trembley didn?t rush out onto the field. In real time, there was no question about it.
Replays, however, showed that Mora had hit the plate before he was tagged. The throw beat him there, make no mistake about that, but he was actually safe. That there was no argument ruffled the feathers of enough fans that some actually took the time to write e-mails to columnists and presumably call the radio talk shows.
The argument they made is that umpires are frequently out of position to make the right call. Davis, in this case, instinctively gave the out sign simply because he knew the ball got there before the baserunner. Asking for help from the base umps would have been futile; they were in no position to see it any better than he did.
There was another example on Wednesday night in Chicago, although this one went the Orioles? way. Corey Patterson made a diving catch of a sinking liner hit by Tadahito Iguchi, but replays clearly showed he trapped it. It bounced into his glove. No argument from the White Sox? dugout, though. In real time, it sure looked like he caught it. It likely cost Chicago a run, and we?ll never know how it might?ve changed the outcome of the game, an eventual Oriole win.
Technology is all around us, and many fans seem to think it shows that umpiring has gotten worse. I take the opposite view; I think umpiring has gotten better over the years, but technology has raced past it, magnifying every mistake. There was no replay when I was growing up watching the game 40-plus years ago. Did I see questionable calls? Sure, but there was no way to confirm my belief that the man in blue had gotten it wrong. Now, with slow motion and super-slow motion, we can count the grains of dirt disturbed on every sliding play.
I?m an advocate of using instant replay in the postseason, specifically to determine whether a ball is fair or foul, or is actually a home run or not. Holographic strike zones aren?t really necessary. Let?s not take the human element entirely out of the equation, but if you?re using instant replay to score the game upstairs why hesitate to incorporate some part of it on the field? Maybe it?s time to give that some serious consideration.
Contact Phil Wood at [email protected]
