Does Baseball Need Umpires?
That’s the title of my article for the Wall Street Journal. Tremendously fun story to write and report. Got to talk to Earl Weaver, Sandy Alderson and friend of JonahKeri.com, Steven Goldman, among other luminaries.
As for the thesis question…there really are no easy answers. But we sure can ask a lot of questions along the way.
Tags: Earl Weaver, MLB, Playoffs, Sandy Alderson, Steven Goldman, Umpires
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13 October 2009 at 12:51 pm
I emailed aomething of this nature to Chad, Sam and Josh over at LoHud a few days back….(see below)
Dear Chad, Sam, and Josh,
If we can ignore those dubious personnel selections in the broadcast booths – the frantic, urgent, monotone delivery of Don Orsillo, the simple fact that we were listening to Chip Carey – and the sometimes quirky production, TBS has, at least, proved ample evidence of a situation which MLB can no longer ignore. If the game is to survive, technology must be brought in – wholesale – to solve the problem of egregious umpiring decisions. We already have the ‘reviewable home run’, now we must go beyond that.
If you pose the question, ‘Can this work in a world-class sporting event?’, you need look no further than the hallowed halls of the All-England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Association at Wimbledon. Elite players can serve at speeds in excess of 130mph, and the position of the tennis ball at impact is measured with astounding accuracy. It is not beyond the bounds of imagination to conceive of a situation where ALL post-season MLB games are electronically monitored, where a fully-staffed review booth (‘upstairs’) gives the word to umpires who are in radio contact with off-field officials. I’m not just talking home runs, or even foul/fair decisions here. I’m talking about base-running calls, and even the Holy Grail of balls and strikes.
The game is no longer in the dead-ball era; neither are we playing Old Time Base Ball where the pitcher politely asks the batter, ‘Where would you like the ball, sir’? No, this is a multi-billion dollar industry, with world-wide pretensions, and it has to get it RIGHT. By all means borrow from other sports – ball-monitoring from tennis, and a review system from the NFL. Give the team managers red ‘challenge flags’ (two per game, perhaps), to force officials to reach more accurate decisions. Whatever you do, it will be an improvement.
But what of the human element, you say? What of the unconscious ‘make-up’ call? What of the World Umpires Association? Simple. It’s time for a Ronald Reagan moment. Given the fact that TV replays have revealed that the game-day performance by certain umpires has bordered on the ludicrous – both Chuck Meriwether and C B Buckner should have have been escorted from the field by MLB officials during recent games and told to find another line of work – the reform must be root and branch. Just as with the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association in 1981, there can be no soft solutions. Commissioner Selig and the owners must look towards the future – and the future is technology-driven.
Kind regards,
Ross Sharp
p.s. This ex-patriot Englishman is thoroughly enjoying the ‘new, improved, with added optical brightener’ LoHud Yankees blog. Well done, everyone!
13 October 2009 at 12:57 pm
I’m approving this comment, but not because the commentary was intelligent and well-stated (which it was).
Rather, it’s for the misplaced praise of the LoHud Yankees blog. I say, if you’ve got something nice to say about Deadspin, USSMariner, Daily Kos, DeerHunters.org, WackyPicturesofDogsdoingthetango.com, or any other blog, by all means come on down to JonahKeri.com!
13 October 2009 at 3:10 pm
Thank you for those few kind words….next time I plunk a deer (it will be a first) or photograph a wacky dog (again, a first) I shall bear your invitation in mind!
14 October 2009 at 12:57 am
Has there ever been a photo of dogs doing the tango that wasn’t wacky? Are there dogs out there doing somber tangos?
Also, I’d like to see Questec or some similar, more intricate system (PitchFX, what have you) call all the balls and strikes for baseball. The home plate umpire’s job would then mostly consist of relaying what the system says to the players on the field, and then handling other duties that a machine can’t. Except when he fails, then instant replay would (hopefully) fix their errors. Alas, I feel the umpires union is too strong for this to happen.
14 October 2009 at 8:25 am
Those are pretty much my thoughts re: umpires too. I just tried to present both sides in the article.