Oh, I hope they never go to electronic balls and strikes. I’d also like to see them get rid of instant replay completely (that goes for all sports). Human error is part of the equation, and the umps do get the calls right almost every time. But I am a hopeless traditionalist, doomed to one day go the way of the dodo…
My problem with the calls in last night’s game (I can’t comment on Game 1 because I didn’t see it, just listened to the radio) was that the zone was horribly inconsistent. Yes, it was equally bad on either side, so there was no advantage to be gained, but that’s not the point. Normally if an umpire is “off”, he’s at least off in the same manner on every pitch. Sure, he might be calling strikes on balls that are a foot off the plate, but as long as he’s consistent that’s all right. But last night the same pitch, in the same location, was a ball the first time, then a strike later on, then a ball a while after that.
The Giants radio announcers mentioned during both games that the home plate umpires were “not good balls and strikes guys”. Apparently this was suppose to excuse their poor behavior, but it just made me wonder why, if they can’t call balls and strikes very well, they are calling balls and strikes in the NL Championship Series. Can’t they find 4 umpires in all of the National League that can do their job properly?
Someday maybe someone will prove to me that a blown call by a person is better than a correct call by a machine. For now it makes no sense at all to me. It’s different sports, but I’m a big tennis fan and the introduction of limited instant replay in tennis has been a huge success. It’s been almost universally acclaimed, and there are almost no complaints from players or fans. And it does show that the line judges are usually right.
:rolleyes: Those was one dumbass. I’m talking a stadium full of people who think it’s the height of amusement to whistle at a player with long hair because they think it’s effeminate. It’s not even funny, it’s just pathetic and juvenile. Is Philadelphia perhaps existing in the 1950s? “HE HAS LONG HAIR! HAW HAW HAW.”
I know it is the playoffs and those seats are really expensive, so it is no reflection on the fanbase. But. Those empty seats behind home plate in Yankee Stadium are really lame.
Lee was awesome. Petite wasn’t bad, either. I don’t get why the Rangers wasted all of those runs in this game, though. They might need a couple of them tomorrow night.
Greatest moment in Yankee history. The place was like a funeral, a bunch of old rich people sitting on their hands afraid to make a sound. By the time the Rangers scored their fifth run the stadium was empty except for a few pockets of Texas fans screaming their hearts out.
The simple answer is that a correct call by a machine is better. Unless the system substantially holds up the pace of the game, machines are better. I don’t give a shit about tradition or what’s “part of the game.” They’ve changed lots of parts of the game to make it better.
To the greatest extent technically possible the game should be determined by the PLAYERS, not the umpires. If a machine can call balls and strikes better than the ump and do it instantly - and by all accounts they can do that, as evidenced by the Fox pitch tracking thingy - there is really no reason at all why that machine shouldn’t be calling balls and strikes. Nor is there any reason hi-def slo-mo and can’t be used, sparingly, to challenge critical calls.
I know. People who say human error is part of the game forget that what human error does is fuck up the game. There are famous blown calls in every sport and few people look back on them fondly. You can’t tell me the history of baseball would be poorer if Armando Galarraga had gotten credit for a perfect game or if Don Denkinger hadn’t blown that call in the 1985 Series to start with. Just because something is “part of the game” doesn’t mean it has to remain that way forever.
Was there a game last night? Pettitte pitched well but Lee was excellent and nobody hit at all. They have to win these next two, which means surviving a start by Burnett.
Lee was as dominant, really, as Halladay was in his no-hitter. I don’t know what the hell that guy does differently when the playoffs roll around, but he was just ridiculous.
I imagine the Yankees will buy him in the offseason, so I’m kind of hoping this is the last year he’s like this.
Amazing fact: In the entire history of Major League Baseball, there have been eight playoff games in which the starter struck out at least ten men and walked nobody. Cliff Lee has four of them. And last night wasn’t one of them.
Lee had some bad babip (batting average of balls in play) luck when he first got to Texas, but really he has been like this all year. Giving up one walk in a start is actually bad for him. I’m leary of giving a lot of years to a pitcher, but Lee might be the exception. Not a lot of wear and tear (like Halladay sucking for a while helped!) and the control is so good that he would be an effective pitcher even if he lost a few miles off his fastball. I don’t know there is a pitcher who I would rather have the next five years of. I’m hoping Texas goes crazy resigning him, so he doesn’t end up a Yankee.
Actually, my beef with Instant replay isn’t really with the technology itself, but with the way it’s currently being used. I was a big proponent of it whan the NFL introduced it, but they’ve never managed to do it right. It breaks the flow of the game because the officials take way too long to review plays; the definition of “indisputable evidence” that’s supposed to be required to overturn a call isn’t defined anywhere; the rules concerning which plays can and can not be reviewed are confising and seem arbitrary. The NBA and MLB suffer from some of the same issues, primarily the fact that some plays are reviewable and others are not. If they’re going to institure instant replay, they need dedicated officials, separate from those on the field, whose only job is to review close plays, and they need to give those officials the ability to overturn any call at any time, according to their discretion.
Basically I guess my argument boils down to “either implement Instant replay across the board, or don’t do it at all”.
And with that I think I’ll jump down off my soapbox and get ready for Game 3 in a couple hours.
Man. This game is tough to watch. The way they are swinging the bats I don’t have a lot of hope for the Phillies in this game. But, there are still a few innings left. Rough!
Cody Ross has been an awesome thorn on the Phillies’ side this series! Wish a Phillie could be a surprise superstar like that!
Pettitte pitched well but Lee was excellent and nobody hit at all. They have to win these next two, which means surviving a start by Burnett.