MLB deciding whether to review call

sports.espn.go.com ^ | 6/3/10 | u7nknown

[ICAB9USA]

NEW YORK -- Major League Baseball was still deciding Thursday morning whether to review the umpire's blown call that cost Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga a perfect game.

Commissioner Bud Selig has the power to reverse umpire Jim Joyce's missed call that came with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night in Detroit. Joyce ruled Cleveland's Jason Donald safe, then admitted he got it wrong.

Selig would likely consult with his top advisers before making such a ruling. St. Louis Cardinals manager Tony La Russa says the call should be overturned.

Joyce was scheduled to be back at work Thursday afternoon, umpiring at home plate in the game between the Tigers and Indians.

[Col Frank Slade]

Instant replay for close home runs, foul balls, base running, fan interference, and stolen bases.

NOT for balls / strikes.

[Retired Greyhound]

How exactly would instant replay on safe/out fair/foul calls ruin the game?

Seems it would greatly improve it.

[ICAB9USA]

Am I the only one who thinks the runner was safe because of a bobbled ball?

___

You may be.

[MosesKnows]

If they reverse an umpire’s call after the game, then baseball as we know it is dead

Yes indeed, you nailed it. Baseball will go the way of Nobel awards, Pulitzer prizes, and Sammy Sousa's corked bat.

[TChris]

If they reverse an umpire’s call after the game, then baseball as we know it is dead.

That game has been dead a very long time.

This is an industry we're talking about.

[1rudeboy]

It would make a slow game even slower, and unwatchable.

[Dansong]

Overturn it: The ump admitted he blew it...Baseball traditon may be sacred but so is truth!

[softwarecreator]

I am a Tiger's fan and am disapointed for Galarraga on the call, but, the ruling needs to stand. If not, where do we end it? Is there a statute of limitations on reversing calls? Wouldn't Babe Ruth have 104 Home Runs in ONE season because he hit the foul pole multiple times and it was not considered a homerun (as it is today)?

The call should stand, IMO.

[ICAB9USA]

The commissioner of baseball is a god-like position. He can simply announce that this is a one-time only ruling that should not be used cited as a precedent for any other ruling. The particular circumstances of this particular blown call make it a no-brainer to correct.

____

I tend to agree with that.

[Retired Greyhound]

The bad Cards call is Exhibit A for why replay is needed.

This is Exhibit B.

Replay is needed.

(The ump that blew the 1985 call received death threats for 20 years because of it. Had there been replay available to correct the call, there would have never been an issue).

[ICAB9USA]

Apologize, reverse it and let Gallaraga fade back into obscurity.

LMAO

[BushCountry]

Are they going to look at every pitch to see if the home base ump made a bad strike call that got a batter out early, thus allowing a possible perfect game? Was the strike zone to big? Were there any other questionable calls? etc...

[ICAB9USA]

It would be more interesting to award him a perfect game while leaving the hit on the record. It would create a great new trivia question. "Who is the only play ever to get a hit in a game where the opposing pitcher threw a perfect game?"

ROFL

[Non-Sequitur]

Perfect game. My bad.

[thesharkboy]

Thanks for the explanation. If that happened, then I’d have to agree with you—bobbling the ball after the out is inconsequential. I’ll have to watch it again.

[ICAB9USA]

..... ping

[Dr. Sivana]

Been done before. George Brett's pinetar homerun comes to mind.

There is a difference between the two types of incidents. In the Pine Tar case, MacPhail ruled not that the bat didn't have too much pine tar on it, but that a penalty not allowed in the rules was applied. In this case, the acttual judgement of safe or out has nothing to do with the rules themselves, but with facts.

One could argue that one could appeal errors in law (umpire applied a non-existent penalty or made up a rule. Lets say he arbitrarily decided a team forfeited, or called a game for rain after the third inning and counted it as a complete game.) but not an error of fact (player was out but umpire erroneously calls him safe because his vision stinks.)

[Mich Patriot]

I don’t agree the ball was bobbled. He caught it at the very end of the mit (a “snow cone”), but the ball wasn’t moving. He only adjusted it back into the mit after touching the base at which time the batter’s out. The adjustment after that doesn’t matter.

[ICAB9USA]

Slow it down ...... more.

[SeaHawkFan]

Baseball umps should follow the example of good basketball officials and consult with the other umps. Just as in basketball, the closest ref does not always have the best view.