MLB history was made as the new instant replay
system was put to the test in spring training games in Florida and Arizona. The
first day yielded three challenges and I’m here to tell you that in all three
cases, the calls on the field survived the video review by the desk-blue inside MLB’s
NYC headquarters. As an amateur umpire,
I’m not surprised the pros went 3 for 3, but I’m also not about to gloat. Professional umpires are not perfect; they all make mistakes on occasion, but
just not as often as you think, or should I say not as often as managers think.The new system is in place as a safety net, especially when the game is on the line, but I think it's going to turn the table of scrutiny around on the managers who will be publicly proved wrong the vast majority of the time when they've marched on to the playing field certain they just witnessed a gross injustice...
I’m going to call this the "beer-goggle" effect where the manager is the guy who had too many grape sodas and simply sees an imagined ideal more than the reality of the situation. This is nothing new, but the review process is, and that changes the whole dynamic of the classic manager-umpire relationship. In the old days, meaning last year, the proudly defiant manager would at least leave the field with the dignity of agreeing to disagree with the umpire after getting the benefit of the last word of the argument. Under the new system and protocol, when he is wrong, the umpires ironically will get the last word as the rebuffed Skip schleps off the field. The new system may yield the desired results but you can't say it doesn't tinker with the game's DNA.
just not as often as you think, or should I say not as often as managers think.The new system is in place as a safety net, especially when the game is on the line, but I think it's going to turn the table of scrutiny around on the managers who will be publicly proved wrong the vast majority of the time when they've marched on to the playing field certain they just witnessed a gross injustice...
This is the story – that the mind of a biased observer is convinced it saw what it wanted to see - but the impartial viewer saw something
entirely different.
I’m going to call this the "beer-goggle" effect where the manager is the guy who had too many grape sodas and simply sees an imagined ideal more than the reality of the situation. This is nothing new, but the review process is, and that changes the whole dynamic of the classic manager-umpire relationship. In the old days, meaning last year, the proudly defiant manager would at least leave the field with the dignity of agreeing to disagree with the umpire after getting the benefit of the last word of the argument. Under the new system and protocol, when he is wrong, the umpires ironically will get the last word as the rebuffed Skip schleps off the field. The new system may yield the desired results but you can't say it doesn't tinker with the game's DNA.
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...But the difference of opinion between managers and umpires is more than a psychological trick. With regard to the calls themselves, the plays involved a tag at second, a pulled foot by a first baseman as well as the oldest close-call in the book, a bang-bang play at first following an infield grounder. I have to say that the replays, at least the ones I saw, didn’t so much prove the initial calls absolutely correct as they proved to be inconclusive. Baseball can be the literal "game of inches" so without a view of the play from the perfect angle, it will often be difficult to tell conclusively if a tag was made or a toe just came off a base. Most players, fans and managers don't realize that the professional umpires on the field stealthily adjust their positions in order to get the right angle and be stopped and set to get a clear look at a play while everybody else is busy doing their thing from a great distance or a poor angle. Sometimes an umpire will find himself in a bad position, just like a player might, and/or be blocked for an instant at the worst possible moment and the call might be wrong. Bad calls don't happen for no good reason - yes, an intended double negative.This is why the safety net of replay is a good idea, but I think we'll see that most of the time, the impartial observer with the closest view from the best angle gets it right.
Jim Tosches is an amateur umpire and blogger in Encinitas, Ca and author of the book, "The Rules Abide: The Thinking Fan's Guide to Baseball Rules (With History, Humor and a Few Big Words)"
March Spring Training sale: "ThE RuLes aBide" eBook just $2.99
...But the difference of opinion between managers and umpires is more than a psychological trick. With regard to the calls themselves, the plays involved a tag at second, a pulled foot by a first baseman as well as the oldest close-call in the book, a bang-bang play at first following an infield grounder. I have to say that the replays, at least the ones I saw, didn’t so much prove the initial calls absolutely correct as they proved to be inconclusive. Baseball can be the literal "game of inches" so without a view of the play from the perfect angle, it will often be difficult to tell conclusively if a tag was made or a toe just came off a base. Most players, fans and managers don't realize that the professional umpires on the field stealthily adjust their positions in order to get the right angle and be stopped and set to get a clear look at a play while everybody else is busy doing their thing from a great distance or a poor angle. Sometimes an umpire will find himself in a bad position, just like a player might, and/or be blocked for an instant at the worst possible moment and the call might be wrong. Bad calls don't happen for no good reason - yes, an intended double negative.This is why the safety net of replay is a good idea, but I think we'll see that most of the time, the impartial observer with the closest view from the best angle gets it right.
Jim Tosches is an amateur umpire and blogger in Encinitas, Ca and author of the book, "The Rules Abide: The Thinking Fan's Guide to Baseball Rules (With History, Humor and a Few Big Words)"
March Spring Training sale: "ThE RuLes aBide" eBook just $2.99
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