Steve Davis: Umpires And Replay In Baseball
Two more examples last weekend about how baseball still doesn't have its act together. First up, the Orioles and the umpiring. It was an issue all weekend, and there were some brutal calls in Sunday's game by home plate umpire Angel Campos. The third strike call on Markakis in the 4th was awful, and the first strike call when he came up in the 6th stunk too, so much so that Buck got tossed. I don't totally blame the umpire. They now have positioned these umps so far off the plate for their own safety that it's hurting the game. Are they getting hurt at such a high rate that we now need to compromise the strike zone?
Then there was the call in the Rangers-Tigers game. 11th inning, bases loaded, Alberto Gonzales lays down a squeeze bunt, the runner is safe, and the winning run scores. The problem is, he fouled it off his leg, and it should have been a foul ball. The ump missed it, Leyland argued, and tough luck, Tigers lose. What if they miss the playoffs by a game? With today's technology, replay needs to be in place to overturn that call. Just ridiculous what happened last weekend.
