Cliff Lee pitched a hell of a game, but the real let-down was that the Rays allowed 3 runs that shouldn't have scored...and one of those needed help from the 1st Base Umpire. This brings us to the nasty little dark secret of Major League Umpiring: Major League Umpires are grossly incompetent. Check out a couple of the most grievous issues:
Pena called for a "foul ball" in the 1st inning of Game 1:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12756591
Blatantly blown call on Michael Young, resulting in a 3-run homer in Game 2:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12766341&topic_id=14873500&c_id=mlb
Andrus comes off 2nd Base and is tagged out in Game 3...unless you're an umpire:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12790473&topic_id=14871222&c_id=mlb
Finally, Guerrero scores after the umpire denies the Rays the 3rd out:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=12815307&topic_id=14872768&c_id=mlb
For the sake of objectivity, I looked for umpiring mistakes that favored the Rangers, but couldn't find any that were as blatant as the first few. In short, MLB umpires can't do their job. There has been a lot of discussion over the last year or two about replay in baseball, and I think that this one 5-game series proves that it is necessary. We have been seeing a ton of these kind of mistakes over the past few seasons, and I think this makes it very clear that the umpires, by themselves, simply aren't good enough. No Major League Baseball game should ever hinge on a blown call. If the officials can't get the plays correct, then they should be augmented with replay. Let's get it right, people!
No comments:
Post a Comment